Work–family culture and organizational commitment: A multidimensional cross-national study

Abstract

Purpose To understand whether the three dimensions of work–family culture, namely managerial support, negative consequences and organizational time demands relate in different ways with different types of commitment; affective, continuance and normative. The relationships were examined in a three-country cross-national context.

Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire survey was conducted in India, Peru and Spain among executives and managers drawn from both the manufacturing and the services sectors.

Findings The three countries were both similar and different with Peru and Spain more similar to each other than with India. Managerial support dimension of work–family culture predicted affective commitment across all the three countries. Differences were found with respect to predictors of normative commitment. Managerial support predicted normative commitment for Spain. Lower negative career consequences resulted in decreased normative commitment among the managers in Peru and Spain.

Research limitations/implications The study has limitations of generalizability and common method variance.

Practical implications Human resource managers will find the study useful to determine which dimensions of work–family culture would predict the outcomes desired. The study has implications for the design of human resource practices in the industry.

Originality/value The study is the first that addresses the three dimensions of work–family culture and organizational commitment in a cross-national context. The study suggests that the way in which work–family culture is conceptualized and experienced by employees may vary even among countries classified as “collectivist.”