Work-Life Integrity Across Cultures Scandinavia vs. Far East or Silicon Valley vs. Eastern Europe (Essay Sample)

Topic: Work-life integrity (balance) across cultures – Scandinavia vs. Far East OR Silicon Valley vs. Eastern Europe
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc450888550 \h 3The role of culture in work integrity (balance) PAGEREF _Toc450888551 \h 4Analysis PAGEREF _Toc450888552 \h 5Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc450888553 \h 7Education program: cultural awareness PAGEREF _Toc450888554 \h 7References PAGEREF _Toc450888555 \h 7
Introduction
Work-life balance is significant to having a peaceful life. Recently, most cultures, across the globe report a substantial increase of households where both parents (mother and father) work. In spite of enjoying the advantages that comes with role mixture, the family lifestyle is affected by tremendous pressures caused by ignoring the traditional division of labor as well as developing new commitments. A major pressure is the conflict between work life and social/normal life outside work that can lead to undesirable impacts on mental and social health as well as the normal functioning of family (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003).
Family, as a historical phenomenon, was formed at a particular period in social transformation, which has undergone tremendous changes today. The division of labour based on age and gender characterized the emergence of family. Aristotle theory noted that human being is a social and political creature who is forced to work today to embrace the changes in economic status, social framework, and technological advancement. In other words, work has become a common interest and precondition in human life. In short, the life of humans in their various cultures is limited to working. Therefore, people have no option but to play their respective roles in both family and at the work place. This leaves most unsatisfied in either both roles or one that is entrusted to them. Some feel as if one role compromised the progress of the other, which leads to a role conflict that can put the mental wellbeing of an individual at hazards and undermine his or her relationship with other people both in the family and at the work place (Korabik, Lero, and Ayman, 2003). It is vitally important to strike a balance between work and life for the sake of peace of mind; however, most cultures find it difficult to strike this balance.
Work-family conflict, which is brought about by poor work-life balance is a common phenomenon in many cultural contexts and countries. For instance, an Australian woman once quoted that ‘work and family life-almost conflict in terms, while a Taiwanese woman stated that work and family is salt and pepper of life. On the other hand, a typical American woman would quote that "I work hard for my personal well-being and I cannot waste my education life”. The above quotes show the perception of work-life conflict and how the impacts varys across cultures and countries. As stated by Gelfand, and Knight (2005) the global organizations have seen the need to understand variations in work/life issues from one culture/country to another. Understanding cultural variations in work/life conflict is crucial not only for the global firms, but also for the domestic workplaces with a multicultural workforce.
Therefore, work life integrity (balance) is relevant in cross-culture management because managers must understand the cultural/country variations of work-life conflict to develop effective policies that help to balance work and life. Understanding the influence of culture on work-life conflict will also enable managers in emerging economies in non-Western contexts. They will also efficiently develop policy by introducing cultural contingencies and other boundary conditions to arrive at a universal knowledge.
The role of culture in work integrity (balance)
A frequent definition of culture is patterned attitudes, behaviors, feeling, and reacting that is acquired and transmitted by symbols and passed on from one generation to the next. Culture includes ideas and values that are common among a group of people from a particular geographical region. The concepts of culture have strong emphasis on people’s values (like what is more important in life? Work or family; prosperity or harmony, beliefs (such as what is work/family conflict-issue or an inventible life encounter?), and norms (for example, how should I as a man/ a woman behave in my family?) that differentiates one cultural group from another. In most research papers, cross-cultural differences in assumptions, values, norms, and beliefs are mainly examined using cultural dimensions that include individualism and collectivism (Kagitcibasi, 1994).
That said, culture influences work-family conflict in two ways. The first hypothesis is that culture is the main cause that makes the observed differences in work-life conflict among different countries. In the second hypothesis, is culture seen as a moderator of work-family conflict. For instance, a society that requires parents to co-parent in raising their kids ensures that the workplace respects their cultural values and balances their employee’s work and family life (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). Research suggests that work integrity (balance) and conflict is constructed differently across cultures. For instance, the work and family concepts are segmented in the United States, but integrated (one and same) in China (Yang, 2015). Due to the segmentation perception in the U.S, work and family roles are considered incompatible, which leads to conflict experiences in the United States. On the other hand, the role of work and family integration leads to work balance experiences in China (Joplin, Shaffer, Francesco, & Lau, .2003). When conflict is perceived as a threat in the US whereas it is seen as an opportunity for change and development China.
Analysis
This paper will focus on Scandinavia vs. Far East. The section below will provide a comparative analysis of these two regions in relation to work integrity (balance). Most people perceive Scandinavia as a region with high cost of living and high taxes. Scandinavia cities of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are ranked as having the highest quality of life in the world. Due to this factor, most people living in this cities work 40 hours a week and 2 weeks’ vacation to Nirvana. For instance, in Denmark, employees are scheduled for 37 flexible hours (Busker, 2015). The law states that workers are entitled to at least 5-week’s vacation; this is inclusive of three weeks off during summer (Busker, 2015). This time is used to spend time with family members, relax, and reenergize away from the routine work. It is also a time where workers can catch up with their social lives and engage in things they love such as traveling, hiking, and sports among other recreational activities.
Even though, there is a high cost of living in Scandinavia, workers seem to be extremely flexible in relation to working hours and there is a strong emphasis placed on social and family life. It is routine that employees leave work at 4:00 to attend to their family (Busker, 2015). More so, the Sweden government, which is part of the Scandinavia region, has implemented an initiative that will help to reduce the work-life conflict that is experienced mostly by the female gender. This initiative will see the promotion of men’s participation in parenting and housework. Parental leave is an incentive used in this initiative to encourage men to stay at home and help in raising their newborn babies. This encourages both parents (mother and father) to take care of their children. Despite these governmental initiatives, there are still problems. For instance, there is still gender segregation in the public service sector (education childcare, and health. The female gender, rather than the male is favored by a reduction in working hours after childbirth as well as long periods of leave that do not help women to progress in their career (Busker, 2015). Consequently pay difference between the two gender remains wide.
On the other hand, in the countries in the Far East region, such as Singapore has similar initiatives to those in Scandinavia countries. In Singapo...