Connie Zheng, John Molineux, Soheila Mirshekary and Simona Scarparo
Work-life balance (WLB) is an issue of focus for organisations and individuals because individuals benefit from having better health and wellbeing when they have WLB and this, in…
Abstract
Purpose
Work-life balance (WLB) is an issue of focus for organisations and individuals because individuals benefit from having better health and wellbeing when they have WLB and this, in turn, impacts on organisational productivity and performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore relevant WLB factors contributing to employee health and wellbeing, and to understand the interactive effects of individual WLB strategies and organisational WLB policies/programmes on improving employee health and wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the data collected from 700 employees located in Queensland, Australia, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the variables related to individual WLB strategies and organisational WLB programmes. Several multiple regression models were used to evaluate interrelated relationships among these variables and their combined effects on employee health and wellbeing.
Findings
The authors found that employees exercising their own WLB strategies showed better health conditions and wellbeing that those who do not; they were also more capable of achieving WLB. Both availability and usage of organisational WLB programmes were found to help employees reduce their stress levels, but interestingly to have no direct association with WLB and employee health. Several control variables such as age, working hours, education level and household incomes were found to have moderate effects on employee health and wellbeing.
Originality/value
Employee health and wellbeing are determined by multiple factors. In distinguishing from prior research in this field, this study discovers an important interface between individual WLB strategies and organisational provision of WLB policies/programmes supplemented by several exogenous factors in addressing overall employee health and wellbeing. The results have implications for organisational delivery of WLB policies and other human resource management practices to support employees.
Details
Keywords
William J. Jackson, Audrey S. Paterson, Christopher K.M. Pong and Simona Scarparo
This paper seeks to extend the development of the historical accounting research agenda further into the area of popular culture. The work examines the discourses that surrounded…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to extend the development of the historical accounting research agenda further into the area of popular culture. The work examines the discourses that surrounded the drinking of alcohol in nineteenth century Britain and explores how an accounting failure disrupted the tension between the two established competing discourses, leading to a significant impact on UK drinking culture at the end of the nineteenth century.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs both primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources are used to develop the main themes of the discourses deployed by the temperance societies and the whisky companies. Primary sources derived from the contemporary press are employed, as necessary, in support.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that accounting, although it may not be central to a discourse or other social structure, can still have a profound impact upon cultural practices. The potential for research into culture and accounting should not therefore be dismissed if no immediate or concrete relationship between culture and accounting can be determined. Further support is provided for studies that seek to expand the accounting research agenda into new territories.
Originality/value
The study of popular culture is relatively novel in accounting research. This paper seeks to add to this research by exploring an area of cultural activity that has hitherto been neglected by researchers, i.e. by exploring how an accounting incident impacted upon the historical consumption of Scotch whisky in the UK.