Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Implementing a work-life balance culture in SMEs though
relational learning
Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro 1 , Mª Eugenia Sánchez-Vidal 1 and David Cegarra-
Leiva 2
1
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Spain
2
Universidad de Murcia, Spain
juan.cegarra@upct.es
meugenia.sanchez@upct.es
davidcegarra@um.es
Abstract: A possible explanation for <strong>the</strong> numerous failures in <strong>the</strong> implementation and use <strong>of</strong> work life balance
(WLB) practices may relate to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> companies have only introduced <strong>the</strong>m without exploring
<strong>the</strong> market. This paper analyses <strong>the</strong> relationships between relational learning and WLB culture and tries to
identify whe<strong>the</strong>r WLB culture impacts on <strong>the</strong> business performance through an empirical study <strong>of</strong> 229 SMEs in
<strong>the</strong> Spanish metal industry. Our findings show that in order to support a positive attitude toward WLB, managers
need to provide and support a relearning process. These findings provide interesting insights into <strong>the</strong> drivers <strong>of</strong>
organisational performance for SMEs using a WLB-supporting culture.
Keywords: learning context, work-life balance culture, and organisational performance.
1. Introduction
In recent years, work life balance (WLB) practices have ranked among <strong>the</strong> most popular benefits for
employees, as <strong>the</strong>y can help foster employees’ quality <strong>of</strong> life and, as a consequence, workers will be
more satisfied, motivated and committed to <strong>the</strong> company (Allen, 2001). However, scholars have
highlighted that <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> WLB practices does not guarantee <strong>the</strong>ir use. Research has revealed
that organisational support for WLB (operationalised in this paper as WLB culture) has greater impact
on employees´ and organisational outcomes than <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> formal WLB initiatives. The
importance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> WLB culture is even higher in SMEs, as WLB practices are not formalised but
individually negotiated between <strong>the</strong> manager and <strong>the</strong> employees. The key benefits <strong>of</strong> encouraging a
WLB culture in SMEs are clear; it enables <strong>the</strong>m to retain skilled workers, reduces costs through better
productivity and efficiency (improving services to customers) and increases pr<strong>of</strong>itability (Hughes and
Bozionelos, 2007).
However, despite <strong>the</strong> opportunities that a WLB culture will <strong>of</strong>fer as a result <strong>of</strong> its influence on
productivity, turnover and absenteeism, <strong>the</strong> fact is that SMEs have been slow to adopt WLB cultures
(Kirby and Krone, 2002). This is largely because very few organisations are prepared to face this
challenge (Poelmans et al., 2003). Regarding this, previous studies in business management confirm
that <strong>the</strong> numerous failures in <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> WLB cultures are a consequence <strong>of</strong> ignorance
(Poelmans et al., 2003). It should be noted, however, that creating new a new culture frequently
generates internal problems when it conflicts with <strong>the</strong> current culture in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> beliefs, habits and
things individuals take for granted (Argyris and Schön, 1978).
The ideas outlined above provide an illustration that, in order to streng<strong>the</strong>n a WLB culture and thus
positively influence employee satisfaction, an SME must be flexible when configuring (combining)
knowledge in a way that is appropriate for delivering value to <strong>the</strong> company and be effective in
updating <strong>the</strong> actual knowledge <strong>of</strong> its staff. Under this framework, <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> an internal context
that fosters <strong>the</strong> replacement <strong>of</strong> old knowledge could be essential for SMEs that try to create new
knowledge (e.g. a change <strong>of</strong> attitude). The relational learning process represents <strong>the</strong> mechanism by
which <strong>the</strong> organization transforms <strong>the</strong> tacit and explicit knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment into valuable
knowledge (Cegarra & Rodrigo, 2003). At its heart, this process attempts to re-orientate
organisational values, norms and/or behaviour by changing cognitive structures and core
assumptions which guide behaviour (Cegarra, 2007). Thus, <strong>the</strong> contribution <strong>of</strong> that process is related
to its ability to pave <strong>the</strong> way for new knowledge.
There is no empirical evidence, particularly in relation to SMEs, to support <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> relational
learning and how it relates to a WLB culture, or to <strong>the</strong> improvement <strong>of</strong> organisational performance
(Lavoie, 2004). In this paper we test our postulated hypo<strong>the</strong>ses about such relationships, <strong>the</strong>
relational learning, <strong>the</strong> WLB culture and <strong>the</strong> improvement <strong>of</strong> organisational performance. These
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