Organizational Strategies for Work-Life Balance : For Whom, Why, and Under What Conditions

This book provides a systematic review of the research literature related to the effectiveness of organizational policies and programs on work-life balance (WLB). It discusses policies and practices related to workload management, flextime, flexplace, alternative job arrangements, and family care. Based on the evidence, the authors make specific recommendations to organizational executives and HR directors to design and implement work-life balance policies and programs to maximize their effectiveness and help employees achieve their optimal level of work-life balance. Specifically, the authors discuss how to: (1) identify employees with greater need for WLB programs, (2) evaluate environmental circumstances for WLB programs (3) design effective WLB policies and programs, (3) facilitate effective implementation of WLB policies and programs, (4) provide management support for WLB policies and programs, and (5) evaluate performance of WLB policies and programs. Written lucidly by experts in the field and with many case studies and examples, this book appeals to a wide range of academic and professional readers.

M. Joseph Sirgy is a management psychologist (Ph.D., U/Mass), Virginia Tech Real Estate Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA), and Extraordinary Professor at the WorkWell Research Unit at North West University – Potchefstroom Campus (South Africa). He has published extensively in marketing, business ethics, and quality of life (QoL). He co-founded the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) in 1995, served as its Executive Director/Treasurer from 1995 to 2011, and as development Co-Director (2011-present). In 1998, he received the Distinguished Fellow Award from ISQOLS. In 2003, ISQOLS honored him as the Distinguished QOL Researcher for research excellence and a record of lifetime achievement in QOL research. He also served as President of the Academy of Marketing Science (2002-04) from which he received the Distinguished Fellow Award in the early 1990s and the Harold Berkman Service Award in 2007 (lifetime achievement award for serving the marketing professoriate). In the early 2000s, he helped co-found the Macromarketing Society and the Community Indicators Consortium and has served as a board member of these two professional associations. He co-founded the journal, Applied Research in Quality of Life, the official journal of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, in 2005. He also served as editor of the QoL section in the Journal of Macromarketing (1995-2016) and is its editor-in-chief (2020 onwards). He received the Virginia Tech’s Pamplin Teaching Excellence Award/Holtzman Outstanding Educator Award and University Certificate of Teaching Excellence in 2008. In 2010, ISQOLS honored him for excellence and lifetime service to society. In 2012 he was awarded the EuroMed Management Research Award for outstanding achievements and groundbreaking contributions to well-being and quality-of-life research. In 2019 the Macromarketing Society honoredhim with the Robert W. Nason Award for extraordinary and sustained contributions to the field of macromarketing. He previously edited several collaborative ISQOLS/Springer book series and is currently the series editor of Human Well-Being and Policy Making (2015-present). He also serves as Executive Director of the Management Institute for Quality-of-Life Studies (MIQOLS). This institute received the Award for the Betterment of the Human Condition by ISQOLS in 2023.

Dong-Jin Lee is Professor Emeritus at the School of Business, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech and has published extensively in quality-of-life studies. Before joining Yonsei University, he was on the faculty of the University of Western Australia (1996–1999) and the State University of New York at Binghamton (2000–2002). He served as Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for Publication, and Program Area Chair for the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) in 1997–1999, 2007–2009, and 1997–1998, respectively; he was Section Editor of Applied Research in Quality of Life (ARQOL) from 2009 to 2011; and Dean of Sangnam Management Institute at Yonsei University from 2017 to 2018. He won the best paper award from ARQOL in 2021. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Management Institute for Quality-of-Life Studies (MIQOLS).