Work-Life Balance - Book Report/Review Example

? Book Review Introduction Work life balance has become a topic of debate in the recent past. This has been as a result of the high level of development where people are now in a position to work at home. This has blurred the border between work and personal life. Moreover, a deteriorating economy with the rising cost of livings have forced people to take more that one job in order to meet all their daily needs. Women are greatly affected by this because unlike traditionally when they mainly stayed at home, they now take formal jobs and still carry out their duties back at home. When studying the causes of stress, overworking and failure to strike a good balance of work and other aspect in general has been associated with stress and other illnesses (Kaiser, 2011). This follows that in order for people to have greater, physical, intellectual and social well being, they should be able to balance work and life. This topic has stirred interest in people across all disciplines. Managers are interested in this topic because by helping their employees get a good balance between work and life, they can get better performances from them. There are various theories that have been put forward to explain this can be achieved (Allen, 2006). In the article Perspective on the Study of Work Life Balance David tries to explain issues surrounding the topic of work life balance. This paper evaluates this article in explaining how the philosophical approach affects the researcher and investigates the theory that David tests in this article. Summary of the article The author introduces the article by giving insight on the reason why the topic of work life balance has become a topic of concern today. The author explains how this topic has become of crucial as a way of enhancing the value of work life which influences the quality of life in general. He has highlighted the contribution of technology increasing the work pressure. Technology has come with a huge load of information, the urgency for giving immediate feedbacks and the need to give customers quality services. There has also been a concern at the community level of deteriorating family and society life with increase in wealth, number of single parent families and people isolating themselves more from the other members of the society. The author then gives the different perspectives on this topic and voices his concern that the source of work life balances and the effects is said to have been based on inadequate evidence. The author explores the different definitions of work and life as a way of trying to understand this better ((Guest 2001). He then gives the different models that are evidences to the imbalance. Subsequently, he gives the consequences of work life imbalance and finally gives recommendations on how this issue can be tackled. Analysis of the philosophical approach of the author in this article The author in this article uses the philosophical approach of interpretative social science. He uses social construct such as shared meanings, development in meanings and language to base his argument. This is done through first defining the terms related to this topic. Fro some, work may be defined as that which comes with some form of payment. Defining it this way does not account for other forms of work that a person may performs like taking the children to school, cooking for the family, walking to work and so on. The same problem is experienced when defining non-work. Could it be the time spent away from formal employment or is it just leisure or time spent with family doing nothing? The author then explains that balancing work and life means finding equilibrium between the two where none affects the other negatively. The author goes on to explain how differentiating work and life has become much harder with the current development in technology (Allen 2006). This is because people rely on computers and internet to do both work and non-work related activities. For instance, one may be working behind a computer and the same time shopping for shoes or clothes. It is also possible to entertain oneself on the internet while still doing some work. He further gives the different definitions that these terms have been given and show how this influences the topic at hand. He again uses deductive approach where he gives the traditional perspective on the topic which is given in five different models in that he uses to develop the theory that is appropriate for this topic. Five models have been used to explain the link between life outside work and work. The first model is the segmentation model which assumes that there is a distinct boundary between the two concepts. This has been seen to be impractical and has been rejected (Kossek et al 2001). The spill over model assumes that the two areas have an influence on the other. There is evidence to support this second theory but it is too general. The third theory is the theory of compensation where lacks in one area are provided in another. This has been used to explain why people who may not have a good social life become workaholics or succeed in their careers. However, the evidence is not fully convincing. Then there is the instrumental model where one are benefits the other. For instance, one may take two jobs in order to buy a home. The there is the conflict theory that starts that life is full of conflict and sacrifices must be made which sometimes drain the individual. He then shows how these models have been incorporated in the border theory which gives a comprehensive explanation from cause to effect of the work life balance ((Guest 2001). It is form the above discussion that the author now introduces the new comprehensive model that takes into account all the issues that have already been discussed. This is specifically geared towards giving a new perspective on work life balance especially for people taking more than one job and women working in demanding careers. After establishing how the imbalance can exist he given several evidences of the imbalance or balance and gives a conclusion. How philosophical approach influences researchers The methodological approaches in conducting quatitive and quatitive researches have been seen to be different. Quantitative researches are based on formal methodologies such as carrying out experiments. Qualitative research on the other hand has been used to study phenomena in the social sciences. The methodologies applied here include observation, interviews, fieldwork and book review. In conducting qualitative or qualitative research, a philosophical approach is employed as a way of ensuring validity of the research result (Hagan, 2010). In qualitative studies, there are three main approaches that can be used and these are the critical, interpretive and positivist approaches. From the analysis of the philosophical approach of the author, it can be observed that the author David wrote this article using interpretive research which is one of the approaches towards qualitative studies. In this article, in order to appeal to the reason of the readers, the author gives the information that has already been put forward on this topic before introducing new concepts (Thistlethwaite & Wooldredge 2009). He explains how theories put forward on this topic have are plausible or not depending on evidence and incorporates them to his new model (Perry-Smith & Blum2000). It can be seen from this article that the author has applied the principle of interpretive research where researchers try to explain fact through the meaning that people assign them. Throughout the article, it can be observed that the author has arrived to conclusion only through giving convincing arguments that have been supported by testable evidences. It can be seen that philosophical approach as influenced the writing of this article ((Guest 2001). This is because the approach has helped him create an innovative way of addressing the topic at hand. In this case, the author has adopted different approaches taken by people from different disciplines such as psychologist and managers in developing a comprehensive method of studying work life balance. The theory being tested by the author In the article, the author tries to test border theory. According to this theory, people are said to be constantly crossing the borders between work and life. This creates a room for analysis on the nature of these borders, how flexible or permeable they are and how they can be managed. For instance, it is hard to define the boundary between work and life for people who work at home. Working at home has become a common occurrence where people work virtually via the internet (Chick 2004). It is also hard to define work and life for people who are in traditional jobs such as restaurant keepers and farmers. From this theory, the author tries to explain the importance of borders and whether they really exist. It is again used to examine the porosity of the border between work and life especially for jobs that have been mentioned that seem to have no boundaries. By defining where this boundary exist, it possible to define what the balance should be placed. Outlining the equilibrium then helps in identifying the factors that may cause the imbalance the consequences of the imbalance and how this can be corrected (Guest 2001). The author has then asserted that although it could be possible to draw a distinction between work and life, there are complexities in classifying life outside work. This is because although a person may not be engaging in some work that is income related, they may also be doing some work that is equally involving. For instance, baby sitting one’s children is not taken to be work. However, there are people who do the activity as their formal job. Free time and leisure are also seen to be two distinct entities. Free time entails that time when one is not committed to any responsibility. Leisure on the other hand involves engaging actively in some entertainment activity. It has been noted that more often that not, a spill over of work into home life is experienced. This means that work in most cases affects the personal life more. In relations to this theory, companies have been forced to develop home friendly policies that enable their worker strike a good balance between work and their personal life (Peiperl &Jones 2000). This is expected to make their lives more fulfilling and thus promote their contribution to the companies. Many writers and theorists have focused on reducing work related pressure ignoring the home related ones. The author has voiced his concerns that although this is a good move, the fact that home demand may have influences on work. People may be getting a lot of pressure from their personal life which again affects their efficiency in work and life in general (Kaiser 2011). In establishing a good balance, both worlds should be put in check in ensuring that they do not pass the limits affecting the quality of life of the individual. The author touches on another theory put by psychologist that is somehow convincing on this topic. The psychologists’ theory states that the limitations in one sphere of life are rewarded in another. This tries to explain the motivation behind workaholics (Guest 2001). These are seen as people whose social or personal life are less fulfilling and thus they seek satisfaction from the work and tend to well in this area. People who have many responsibilities outside work this could be in the family and community tend to have lesser motivation fro work. In conclusion, it can be observed that the author has been greatly influences by philosophy when writing this book. He uses deductive reasoning to convince the readers of the facts presented in the article. |He again applies the interpretative approach to define the boundary between work and life. This is then used to define the cause of the imbalance and how balance can be maintained. The author has tried to give a comprehensive analysis of the topic considering that it is an area of interest in our contemporary world. References Allen, I. (2006). Balance: Real-life strategies for work/life balance. Kingscliffe, N.S.W: Sea Change Publishing Chick, E. D., & American Society for Training and Development. (2004). Fundamentals of work-life balance: Career development. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press. Guest E. David (2001). Perspective on the Study of Work Life Balance. The Management Center Kings College, London. http://www.ucm.es/info/Psyap/enop/guest.htm Hagan, F. E. (2011). Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Kaiser, S. (2011). Creating balance?: International perspectives on the work-life integration of professionals. Heidelberg: Springer. Kossek, E., Colquitt, J. and Noe, R. (2001). “caregiving decisions, well-being, and performance: The effects of place and provider as a function of dependent type and work-family climates”. Academy of Management Journal, 44,1,29-44. Peiperl, M. and Jones, B. (2000). “Workaholics and overworkers: Productivity or pathology?” Working Paper, Centre for Organisational Research, London Business School, London. Perry-Smith, J. and Blum T. (2000). “Work-family human resource bundles and perceived organizational performance”. Academy of Management Journal, 43,6, 1107-1117. Perry-Smith, J. and Blum, T. (2000). “Work-family human resource bundles and perceived organizational performance”. Academy of Management Journal, 43,6, 1107-1117. Thistlethwaite, A. B., & Wooldredge, J. (2009). Forty studies that changed criminal justice. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.     Read More