Work-Life Integration: Case Studies of Organisational Change - Softcover

Lewis, Suzan; Cooper, Cary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470853433 ISBN 13: 9780470853436

Publisher: Wiley, 2005

Synopsis

Developments in IT and communication technology, coupled with the global 24 hour market, have led to boundaries between work and personal life becoming ever more blurred, while work/life policies and practice struggle to keep up. This book aims to challenge traditional thinking on work life balance, and to explore different ways of promoting change at many levels. It provides a historical overview of the topic, critiques contemporary approaches and offers creative ideas for integrating work and personal life in local, national and global contexts.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"More people today want a life beyond work. Employees can work more effectively if they can integrate their work, families and personal lives in more satisfying ways. This becomes a win–win situation for all involved. This collection moves us in this direction."
—Ronald J. Burke, Professor of Organizational Behaviour, Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada

"Work–Life integration", "work–life balance", "flexible working arrangements": these are all terms for the same thing ... how to succeed at work without sacrificing your personal life.

From the employers' perspective, the question is how to create the appropriate working environment so that workers are happy and productive.

Composed of real-life case studies from a range of organisations, Work–Life Integration explores what organisations can do to achieve win–win outcomes. In this innovative work, Suzan Lewis and Cary Cooper argue that there are no quick fixes and that work–life policies are not sufficient for long-term sustainable change unless accompanied by broader changes in organisational cultures and practices. They focus on the processes of change and organisational learning, and use the case study examples to illustrate how these processes can work in different types of organisations. Work–Life Integration provides unique insights by exploring not only what companies have done right, but also the problems encountered and the lessons learned on the way.

This is a useful tool for any company going through a change in working practices and is essential reading for HR professionals and consultants. It will also be of interest to MBA and other management students, and attendees of management training programmes, as well as students, postgraduates and lecturers in organisational psychology.

About the Author:

Suzan Lewis is Professor of Organizational and Work-Life psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, and a Director of the Work-Life Research Centre. She is a founding editor of the international journal Community, Work and Family.

Carl L. Cooper is Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, Lancaster University Management School and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (External Relations) at Lancaster University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0470853433
• ISBN 13: 9780470853436
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192