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

Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro, Mª Eugenia Sánchez-Vidal and David Cegarra-Leiva
Relational
learning
Unlearning
context
0. 459 *** 0. 447 ***
Notes:
The fit statistics for <strong>the</strong> measurement model were: GFI=0.927; CFI=0.980; IFI=0.973; RMSEA= 0.037
***p < 0.01
Figure 1: Model statisitcs
4. Discussion
R2 R =0. 20 2 =0. 20
Organizational
performance
A possible explanation for <strong>the</strong> numerous failures in <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> WLB supporting cultures
may relate to <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> companies have only introduced WLB practices without
modifying <strong>the</strong> existing prevalent culture in <strong>the</strong> company. 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.
Therefore, <strong>the</strong> first contribution <strong>of</strong> this research is to question <strong>the</strong> existing models which relate to WLB
culture and business performance.
Our findings show that in order to support a positive aptitude toward WLB, managers need to provide
and support a relational learning. We think that this is an important finding, as potential for any small
enterprise to develop will depend substantially on its ability to maintain a balance between
responsibilities at work and at home, thus, managers may be trapped in a suboptimal stable
equilibrium. As many overloaded managers are paring <strong>the</strong>ir resources, <strong>the</strong>y are not actively listening
to <strong>the</strong>ir employees, and managers may be over-investing in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> WLB practices
preserving and following old beliefs and traditions (i.e. <strong>the</strong> old culture).
Adapting to a new culture is not an easy task, particularly while <strong>the</strong>ir founders or owners are still
actively involved with <strong>the</strong> business. For example, not everyone has <strong>the</strong> time or inclination to build a
WLB supporting culture. Under this framework, relational learning could be a necessary task to adopt
a new WLB culture that is not compatible with <strong>the</strong> current culture, especially for those companies
urged to retain skills and knowledge for longer periods <strong>of</strong> time (Harrington and Ladge, 2009). As
Chirico (2008) noted, a bad knowledge creation network proves a cause <strong>of</strong> difficulties and
misalignments to <strong>the</strong> operational environment <strong>of</strong> family firms, mostly due to <strong>the</strong> peculiar nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
decision-making processes in SMEs, which are generally not very formalised and are very centralised
(Chirico and Salvato, 2008). In this regard, this paper provides a starting point to bring toge<strong>the</strong>r
managers and employees in <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> a WLB culture from which WLB practices for <strong>the</strong>
diverse needs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> workforce can derive. From our framework, we suggest that any SME wishing to
implement a new WLB culture should initially make efforts to update <strong>the</strong> relevant knowledge <strong>of</strong> its
workforce. This is vital to <strong>the</strong> processes that are needed to meet <strong>the</strong> changing needs <strong>of</strong> building a
new culture.
This research’s second contribution is provided by <strong>the</strong> results <strong>of</strong> empirically testing <strong>the</strong> proposed
hypo<strong>the</strong>ses. The managerial implications <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relationships observed between <strong>the</strong> factors that
constitute <strong>the</strong> conceptual framework shown in Figure 1 are discussed in more detail below.
With respect to <strong>the</strong> test <strong>of</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis H1, <strong>the</strong> results support <strong>the</strong> position that, in order to implement a
WLB supporting culture and hence foster <strong>the</strong> adoption <strong>of</strong> WLB practices, companies need to provide
and support a relational learning process. One interpretation <strong>of</strong> this relationship is that through <strong>the</strong>
relational learning process, a company can allow individuals to adjust <strong>the</strong>ir mental models and <strong>the</strong>
nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> assumptions shared to break current workplace culture. Without care, organisations can
fall into a ‘competence trap’ (Leonard-Barton, 1992), increasingly exploiting obsolete competences, or
<strong>the</strong>y can fall into a ‘failure trap’ (Levinthal and March, 1993), where a failure while exploring new
opportunities may lead to more research and change, and so to failure again, which leads to more
research and so on. This means that a relational learning process can encourage individuals to
question not only <strong>the</strong> information <strong>the</strong>y own but also whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>ir particular approach to adopt a new
WLB culture is applicable or not (Sinkula et al., 1997). Such questioning may also lead to new
203