Navigating Work and Life Boundaries

Introduction

As organizations continue to adapt and evolve to meet the challenges related to globalization and working with new collaboration technologies to bridge time and space, demands on employees’ time and attention continue to increase. Recognizing this problem and its implications, such as increased employee turnover, many companies are seeking ways to help their employees maintain a healthy balance between work and life. This book examines work-life conflict, i.e., the increasing lack of employees’ work-life balance, in the context of virtual teams and distributed work. It explores the negative impact on work-life conflict exacerbated by working across time zones, cultures, and geographical spaces. Further, it investigates specific causes of work-life conflict in distributed work environments. For researchers and practitioners in the HRM and OB domains, this book adds to the body of knowledge on work-life conflict, with a unique focus on the role of technology.