ABSTRACT
 
The purpose of this study is to explore the effect
of perceived coping ability (COP) on the
interrelationships among work-family conflict (WFC),
job satisfaction (JS) and job involvement (JI) as
experienced by the corporate managers in the Klang
Valley from dual earner families with at least one
child under the age of thirteen. This paper
highlights the vital roles of employers in providing
work-related coping resources for their managers.
The 58 managers who participated in the survey were
later classified into 40 (69%) family-oriented (FO)
and 18 (31%) work-oriented (WO) managers.  Survey
data did not show significant differences in WFC, JS
and JI between the two groups, although FO managers
reported greater family involvement (FI). The
overall JS was found to correlate positively with
JI, which in turn was positively related to WFC. The
WFC-JS relationship was predicted to be negative but
the results, however, did not show any significant
relationship between WFC and JS. Hence, COP was
found to intervene as an intermediary factor that
moderated the negative WFC-JS relationship.
Therefore, the implementation of innovative
employer-based family support policies was proposed
to help increase the managers' COP so that JS and JI
can be enhanced without elevating the adverse impact
of WFC.
 
INTRODUCTION
 
Many scholars in the area of work and family have
studied the causal connections among work-family
conflict (WFC), job satisfaction (JS) and job
involvement (JI). However, no previous researches
have studied the interrelationships of these
variables simultaneously, but often between two of
these constructs at a time. Moreover, the
intermediary effect of the perceived coping ability
(COP) on these constructs has also been overlooked,
though many scholars have suggested the COP as a
confounding variable (Albrecht, 1979; Galinsky &
Stein, 1990; Judge & Watanabe, 1993; Lewis & Cooper,
1987). Hence, the objective of this study was to
explore the intermediary effect of COP on the
interrelationships among WFC, JS and JI among the
corporate managers. The study sought to propose that
the workplace can provide coping resources to assist
employees in balancing the employment and family
demands. Ultimately, it was intended to provide
input for the formulation of innovative
employer-based family support (EBFS) policies.
 
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES
 
Work-Family Orientation
 
The work-family orientation is conceptualized as a
personality trait of one's motivational disposition
in the work and family domains. However, the motives
in these domains may change as one progresses from
one life-stage to another. Work-oriented (WO)
managers are managers whose major concerns are
centralized in career ties, and are more committed
to occupational values and career goals (Ridley,
1973). Meanwhile, the family- oriented (FO) managers
are managers whose major concerns are centralized in
familial ties. Consequently, FO managers are more
committed to family relations and familial goals
(Mikitka & Koblinsky, 1985).
 
Job Satisfaction
 
In Gorn and Kanungo's (1980) research on the
relationship between motivation and job involvement
among managers, the intrinsically motivated managers
who had high expectation of job outcomes were found
to express lower overall JS than their extrinsically
motivated counterparts. As the WO managers were
presumed to have higher expectation on their jobs
than the FO managers, it was hypothesized that:
 
Hypothesis 1: WO managers attain significantly lower
scores on the JS scale and are therefore less
satisfied with their jobs when compared to the FO
managers.
 
Job Involvement and Family Involvement
 
Gould and Werbel (1983) found that married males
with employed wives reported lower JI than married
males whose wives were not employed. This phenomenon
is termed as "accommodation", that is, a person's
conscious decision to subordinate work demands to
family demands (Schein, 1978).  Accommodation and JI
are diametrical so that a highly family involved
individual would be high in accommodation and report
less JI, and vice versa. Consequently, dual earner
employees who share family responsibilities are
likely to exert greater accommodation than the
single earner couples where family responsibilities
can be vested in the non- working spouse. Hence, the
following hypotheses were posited in the present
study:
 
Hypothesis 2: FO managers attain significantly
higher scores on the FI scale and are therefore more
family involved when compared to the WO managers.
 
Hypothesis 3: WO managers attain significantly
greater scores on the JI scale and are therefore
more job involved when compared to the FO managers.
 
The Job Satisfaction - Job Involvement Relationship
 
The levels of JS have been highly and positively
correlated with the degree of JI (Gorn & Kanungo,
1980; Robinowitz & Hall, 1977). In reference to
Herzberg two-factor theory (Gordon, 1991),
sufficiently satisfied workers are equally likely to
create high JI . Indeed, JI is "a cognitive state of
psychological identification with the job and
depends on the degree to which the job is perceived
to meet one's salient needs" (Gorn & Kanungo, 1980,
p.265). As JI is posited as a direct function of JS,
it was hypothesized that:
 
Hypothesis 4: There is a positive and significant
correlation between the JS and JI scores attained by
the managers.
 
The Job Involvement - Work-Family Conflict
Relationship
 
Higgins, et al. (1992), evidenced a positive JI-WFC
relationship. They posited, based on Pleck's (1985)
sensitization theory, that individuals who are more
involved in the job would experience greater job
overload, greater awareness of the problems within
the job, and greater perceived work-role conflict
that are likely to spill over into the family due to
the more permeable family boundaries. So greater WFC
is experienced as a result of JI. Based on these
contentions, it was hypothesized that: Hypothesis 5:
As the JI scores attained by the managers increase,
more WFC is experienced, and the WFC scores will be
significantly increased.
 
The Work-Family Conflict - Job Satisfaction
Relationship WFC signifies a poor fit between the
demands of work and family that ultimately disrupts
JS. Several studies have found WFC to have an
impairing effect on JS (Duxbury & Higgins, 1991;
Judge, et al., 1994; Mohamed Hashim, 1993). Hughes,
et al. (1992), on the other hand, suggested that WFC
and JS have reciprocal effects, whereby, job
dissatisfaction may increase WFC.  Despite the
possible mutual influences between WFC and JS, the
negative correlation between the two variables were
consistent in all the past researches. On the basis
of these empirical data, it was hypothesized that:
 
Hypothesis 6: As the WFC scores attained by the
managers increase, more WFC is experienced, and the
JS scores will be significantly decreased.
 
The Interrelationships Among Work-Family Conflict,
Job satisfaction and Job Involvement The compilation
of findings from previous studies on the WFC-JS-JI
interrelationships were somehow contradictory. Gorn
and Kanungo (1980), for instance, found JS to be
positively correlated to JI. Meanwhile, JI was
evidenced as a predictor for WFC in Higgins, et
al.'s (1992) researches.  WFC, on the other hand,
has been negatively related to JS (Mohamed Hashim,
1993). Borrowing the concept from Heider's balance
theory (Mowen, 1993), such WFC-JS-JI triangle
derived from past studies depicted an imbalance
WFC-JS-JI connections (Figure 1). A balance triangle
occurred only if the multiplication of the signs of
the connections between the variables resulted in a
positive value.  One possible reason was that,
either the JS-JI, JI-WFC or the WFC-JS relationship
in those studies, if taken into measure
simultaneously, might have been altered. Another
stronger possibility is that some exogenous factors
not included in these studies have emerged as
confounding factors which can be responsible for the
spurious WFC-JS-JI intercorrelations, and Albrecht
(1979) suggested that the perceived coping ability
(COP) to counteract WFC can be one such factor.
Hence, the following hypotheses were posited:
 
Hypothesis 7: As the COP scores attained by the
managers increase, the WFC scores will be
significantly decreased.
 
Hypothesis 8: As the COP scores attained by the
managers increase, the JS scores will be
significantly increased.
 
METHODOLOGY
 
Samples and Procedures
 
The sample size of 58 managerial employees was
conveniently selected from some 20 purposively
listed large-scale organizations which represented a
wide range of industries throughout the Klang Valley
in Malaysia. These managerial employees which
included all levels of managers, executives and
supervisors, were married with spouses in full-time
employment and have at least one child under the age
of thirteen. To obtain this sample, various head
offices were contacted to provide a list of willing
managerial personnel according to the selection
criteria. Next, questionnaires were mailed according
to the respondent lists. Seventy-eight anonymous
questionnaires (52%) were returned on time to the
researcher, of which 58 had complete data.
 
Measures
 
A five-page questionnaire consisting of 61 items was
developed for data collection. Virtually all the
constructs, except the work-family orientation, were
operationalized with the standard six-point
Likert-type scales.
 
In the first part, respondents were required to
arrange ten factors according to their perceived
importance in life, beginning with the most
important aspect (1) to the least important one
(10). The ten factors represented four work-related
aspects (i.e., promotion opportunities, job
autonomy, work achievement, and work recognition),
four family-related aspects (i.e., children's needs,
spouse's well-being, time spent with family, and
having proper meals with family), and two
non-work-family items (i.e., regular medical
check-up, and attractive physical look) that served
as checks.  The scores ranked were then recorded
reversibly so that greater scores for each item
would indicate greater perceived importance in life.
Ranks for the two check items were ignored.
Respondents who attained greater total scores for
the work-related items (GW) were classified as WO
managers.  Conversely, respondents who attained
higher total scores for the family- related items
(GF) were classified as FO managers. It must be
noted that the WO managers were not solely
work-oriented but relatively experiencing dominance
of the work orientation over the family orientation,
and vice versa. Hence, although the respondents
could be classified into two discrete groups (i.e.,
the WO and FO managers), the relative degree of
their work orientation and family orientation was
indicated by the respective GW and GF scores.
 
The JS scale consisted of 20 items, of which nine
were developed by Gorn and Kanungo (1980), nine
adapted from the Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire, and two modelled after Farrel and
Rusbult (1981). The JS scale developed in this study
encompassed all the five aspects of the typical Job
Description Index, i.e., the work itself, pay,
promotion, supervision, and co-workers. One
additional aspect, i.e., the organization policies,
was also included. Some example items were, "The
kind of company policies and practices that govern
my job"; "The chance for advancement on this job,"
and "Opportunity I have in my job to work with
people I like." Respondents expressed their overall
JS on a six-point scale ranging from "extremely
dissatisfied" (1) to "extremely satisfied" (6).
 
To measure JI, six items were selected from the
scale developed by Lodahl and Kejner (1965) and
Kanungo (1982). One typical item was, "I show up for
work a little early to get things ready." The rating
was on a six- point scale ranging from "Never" (1)
to "Always" (6). Meanwhile, FI was measured with
four items, of which two were used by Yogev and
Brett (1985), and two were modelled after Lodahl and
Kejner s (1965) JI instrument. One sample item was,
"To me, family is only a small part of who I am."
Scores for FI were endorsed on a six-point scale
ranging from "extremely disagree" (1) to "extremely
agree" (6).
 
On the other hand, WFC was assessed as a result of
six potential sources, i.e., child care, work
overload, inflexible work schedule, family
expectations, slowed career advancement, and
inconvenient work location. Twelve items were
utilized to measure WFC, of which four were based on
the format used by Lewis and Cooper (1987), three
were adapted from the measurements developed by
Kopelman, et al. (1983), two modelled from Conone,
et al.  (1993), one selected from Gutek, et al.
(1991), and two were self-developed.  On the basis
of literature review, child care, family
expectations and slowed career advancement were
posited as the spillover from family to work (FW)
factors while inconvenient work schedule and work
overload as the spillover from work to family (WF)
factors. As the time spent on travelling to and from
work is often inseparable from the actual work
schedule, especially in a highly traffic congested
city like Kuala Lumpur, inconvenient work location
was included as the third factor that affects both
the work and family. Two typical items were,
"Demands of my children interfere with my work," and
"There is a shortage of time to arrive at work on
time." Respondents indicated their experience on a
six-point scale ranging from "Never" (1) to "Always"
(6). In addition, two items developed by Conone, et
al. (1993) were included to assess the general
perceived coping ability (COP) in balancing the work
and family, on the same scale. One sample item was,
"I feel successful in balancing my work and my
family roles."
 
Data Analysis
 
The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS/PC+) was utilized to analyse the data. It must
be noted that the mean scores for all the scales
were computed as per item. And because all the
constructs were operationalized with the standard
six-point Likert-type scale, the possible means
attained would consistently range from 1 to 6,
except for the means for GW and GF that ranged from
2.5 to 8.5. This manner of computation fostered easy
mean scores interpretation. The t-test was employed
to test hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 while hypotheses 4 to
9 were tested with the Pearson correlation
coefficient (r). The reliability procedure was run
to estimate the internal consistency (Cronbach's a)
for the endogenous constructs.
 
TABLE 1 Descriptive Statistics, Reliability and
Pearson Correlations
 
 
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, RELIABILITY PEARSON
CORRELATIONS
 
Desriptive       Reliability      Pearson
Statistics                        Correlation
 
Scale  No.  n   m   sd   Range  Cron  WFC  JS  JI  FI
Item                      bach's
 
WFC  12    56  2.35 0.76  1-6   .90  -
JS   20    51  4.27 0.58  1-6   .93  -.17
JI    6    56  3.84 0.69  1-6   .56  +.37** +.32*
FI    4    54  4.21 0.56  1-6   .45  -.24*  +.15  -.09
COP   2    58  4.43 0.58  1-6   .71  -.49*** +.51**
 
 
Note: WFC=Work-Family Conflict; JS=Job Satisfaction,
JI=Job Involvement; FI=Family Involvement;
COP=Perceived Coping Ability.  All mean scores (M)
are computed as per item.  Total sample (N) = 58.
1-tailed significance: *p 3 .05; **p 3 .01; ***p 3
.001
 
RESULTS
 
Demographic Data Fifty-eight corporate managers from
dual earner families participated in this study, of
which 36 (62.1%) were men and 22 (37.9%) were women.
Most of them (40 or 69%) were FO managers while only
18 (31%) were WO managers.  All participants worked
full-time, with a mean job tenure of 4.2 years (SD =
3.5), and earning a mean gross monthly income of
RM5,333 (SD = 6,146, range = 1,170-45,000). The
respondents were typically middle-age parents (M =
36.2 years, SD = 5.2), with a mean number of
children of 2.4 (SD = 1.2). The mean age of their
youngest child was 3.8 years (SD = 2.8), and 53.4%
of them had a domestic helper. Most of them were
well-educated, with 69% having at least a bachelor's
degree.
 
TABLE 2: t-TEST
 
 
Gender Work                  Family Orientation
 
Mean scores                Mean scores
Male       Female        FO        WO
 
Variables n = 36 n = 22   t   n= 40    n = 18   t
 
WFC        2.39   2.29   0.50   2.35   2.36   0.04
 
JS         4.32   4.18   0.80   4.27   4.26   0.05
 
JI         3.95   3.64   1.64   3.75   4.05   1.54
 
FI         4.21   4.21   0.01   4.36   3.90  3.68***
 
COP        4.53   4.27   1.03   4.39   4.53   0.54
 
Note: WFC=Work-Family Conflict; JS=Job Satisfaction;
JI=Job Involvement; FI=Family Involvement;
COP=Perceived Coping Ability.  All mean scores (M)
are computed as per item. Total sample (N) = 58.
2-tail probability: ***p 3 .001.
 
Descriptive Statistics and Internal Consistency
 
Table 1 provides descriptive statistics, estimates
of internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's a)
and correlations among the endogenous variables in
this study. As Table 1 illustrates, both the JS and
WFC scales had demonstrated very high internal
consistency (Cronbach's a = .93 and .90
respectively). The COP scale also evidenced
acceptable internal consistency in the sample
(Cronbach's a = .71). The JI and FI scales, however,
yielded a relatively low internal consistency
(Cronbach's a = .56 and .45 respectively).  Thus,
caution should be exercised in the interpretation of
the results involving the JI and FI variables. On
average, the managers tended to experience
relatively high JS (M = 4.27, SD = 0.58), FI (M =
4.21, SD = 0.56) and COP (M = 4.23, SD = 0.58), but
moderate JI (M = 3.84, SD = 0.69), and relatively
low WFC (M = 2.35, SD = 0.76).
 
Tests of Hypotheses
 
The results of t-test as displayed in Table 2 did
not show significant gender differences in the
levels of JS (t = 0.80, p > .05), FI (t = 0.01, p >
.05), JI (t = 1.64, p > .05), WFC (t = 0.50, p > .05),
and COP (t = 1.03, p > .05), although the male
managers were likely to be more work-oriented (t =
2.52, p < .05) while the female managers more
family-oriented (t = 2.08, p <.05). Hence, the data
did not show JS, FI, JI, WFC and COP to be a gender
issue.  Hypothesis 1 predicted that WO managers were
likely to report less JS when compared to the FO
managers. Contrary to the prediction, the t-test
yielded a low t value of 0.05 (p > .05), indicating
no significant difference in the mean scores for JS
between the WO (M = 4.26) and FO (M = 4.27)
managers. Empirical support was, however, indicated
for Hypothesis 2, whereby, the FO managers attained
higher mean scores for FI (M = 4.36) than the WO
managers (M = 3.90), yielding a t value of 3.68 (p
3.001). In Hypothesis 3, the WO managers were
expected to attain significantly greater JI scores
when compared to their FO counterparts. Contrary to
this expectation, the t-test results did not
indicate significant difference (t = 1.54, p > .05)
in the mean scores for JI between the WO (M = 4.05)
and the FO (M = 3.75) managers.
 
Consistent with the prediction in Hypothesis 4, the
Pearson correlation coefficient (r) indicated a
positive and significant relationship between JS and
JI (r = +.32, p 3 .05). Accordingly, in support of
Hypothesis 5, there was a positive and significant
correlation between JI and WFC (r = +.37, p 3 .01).
On the basis of a literature review, Hypothesis 6
postulated a negative and significant relationship
between WFC and JS. Nevertheless, the Pearson r did
not render significant statistical support for the
prediction (r = -.17, p > .05).  Finally, congruent
with the predictions in Hypotheses 7 and 8, the
Pearson r evidenced COP to be negatively and
significantly correlated with the overall WFC (r =
-.49, p 3 .001), but was positively and
significantly correlated with the overall JS (r =
+.51, p ¢ .001).
 
Explorative Results
 
As suggested by Judge, et al. (1994), paired t-test
was run to compare the mean scores between the two
notably distinctive components of WFC, i.e., the
spillover from work to family (WF) and the spillover
from the family to the work (FW). Consistent with
the results of previous studies (Judge, et al.,
1994; Williams & Alliger, 1994), the paired t-test
found that the mean scores for WF was significantly
greater than the mean scores for FW (t = 6.28, p 3
.001). In order to better explain the relationship
between FI and WFC, and between JI and WFC, FI and
JI were intercorrelated with, WF and FW.  Results
found FI to be related negatively and significantly
to WF (r = -.31, p 3.05) but no significant
correlation was indicated between FI and FW (r =
-.17, p > .05). This contributed to the overall
negative correlation between FI and WFC (r = -.24, p
3 .05). JI, however, was positively and
significantly related to both WF (r = +.38, p 3 .01)
and FW (r = +.32, p 3 .05). This accounted for the
overall positive JI-WFC relationship (r = +.37, p 3
.01).
 
DISCUSSION
 
In spite of the non-probability sampling in this
study, the heterogeneous sample that covered a wide
range of industries has lent generalizability, to
some extent, to the findings.
 
Job Satisfaction, Family Involvement, Job
Involvement and Work- Family Conflict
 
The managers in this study experienced a relatively
high level of JS and the data showed that both the
WO and FO managers were equally job satisfied. This
implies that JS is not a personality phenomenon,
rather it depends on the discrepancy between the
individual's needs and the inducement provided by
the job and organization, with more important needs
(at the respective levels of Maslow`s hierarchy of
needs) affecting JS more strongly (Gordon, 1991).
 
The tests of Hypotheses 2 and 3 showed that although
the FO managers were more family involved than the
WO managers, they were not likely to exhibit lower
JI. Instead, the FO managers were as involved in the
job as were the WO managers. This means, any
satisfied managers are equally likely to be job
involved, whether they are WO or FO (Gordon, 1991).
More specifically, the spillover from family to work
(FW) was not evidenced as a result of FI, that is,
involvement in the family itself did not necessarily
interfere with the work. Rather, involvement in the
family was capable of reducing the spillover from
work to family (WF) as indicated by the negative
FI-WF relationship (r = -.31, p 3 .05). As greater
WF than FW was also indicated in this study, it lent
credence to Pleck's (1977) contention that the
managers encountered less permeable work boundaries,
and could better manage their family from
intervening with their work. The FW aroused by
family demands might also be alleviated by the
assistance of domestic helpers (53.4% of the
subjects indicated the presence of a domestic
helper).  According to the compensation model
(Staines, 1980), the subdued involvement in the job
could be compensated with the psychic satisfactions
obtained from FI, by which WF could be moderated. As
greater WF was evidenced, moderating such spillover
through FI would lead to the negative FI-WFC
correlation (r = -.24, p 3 .05). Consequently,
employers need to deliberately assist their managers
to be job involved without sacrificing their family.
 
 
The Intercorrelation Among Work-Family Conflict, Job
Satisfaction and Job Involvement
 
The positive JS-JI relationship was consistent with
findings from a large body of literature (Farrell &
Rusbult, 1981; Gorn & Kanungo, 1980; Robinowitz &
Hall, 1977). Indeed, JI is a "cognitive state of
psychological identification with the job and
depends on the degree to which the job is perceived
to meet one`s salient needs" (Gorn & Kanungo, 1980,
p.265).  Hence, JI can be improved with enhanced JS.
Empirically, the positive JI- WFC correlation in the
present study concurred with the findings of
Higgins, et al. (1992), which reported JI as a
predictor for WFC. JI involves the actual cognitive
preoccupation, behavioural engagement, and affective
concern with one`s job in an immediate
organizational setting (Paullay, et al., 1994).
Hence, the associated long working hours intensify
the awareness of work- role conflict that is likely
to spill over into the family, and consequently
elevate WFC. In the long run, the neglected family
responsibilities (e.g., tenant-landlord conflicts,
child`s education, marital discord, etc.), would
also in turn interfere, at least in some respects,
with the work (Williams & Alliger, 1994). Thus,
these had accounted for the overall positive JI-WFC
correlation (r = +.37, p 3 .01).
 
Although past researches have shown an inverse
WFC-JS correlation, data in the present study, as
illustrated in Figure 2, delineate COP as an
intermediary variable that moderated the negative
effect WFC has on JS.  Consistent with predictions
of Hypotheses 7 and 8, COP was positively related to
JS but was negatively correlated with WFC. This
formed a COP- WFC-JS triangle that counteracted the
WFC-JS-JI triangle. Borrowing the concept of
Heider`s balance theory (Mowen, 1993), a balanced
triangle occurs only when the multiplication of the
signs of the connections in the triangle results in
a positive value. Given that the insignificant
WFC-JS relationship can be denoted as neutral, the
results of the present study did not depict an
imbalanced WFC-JS-JI triangle. Hence, when COP was
considered an intervening moderator, the COP-WFC-JS
triangle posited a possible negative WFC-JS
relationship that neutralized the possible positive
WFC-JS relationship indicated in the former
triangle, so that an insignificant (or neutral)
WFC-JS connection resulted.
 
IMPLICATIONS
 
The family is vulnerable to the tension carried over
from the work, and being involved in the job at the
expense of the family will eventually provoke WFC.
Researches evidenced WFC to have adverse impact on
marital satisfaction, employee`s morale,
organizational commitment and consequently
productivity (Crouter, 1984; Duxbury & Higgins,
1991; Higgins, et al., 1991; Sekaran, 1986). WFC can
become stressors that pile up, thereby creating
anxiety that carries over from work to the family
and affecting one's ability to cope (Doby & Caplan,
1995; Weigel, et al., 1995).  In due course, this
will paralyse organizational efforts to enhance JS
and JI as they ultimately generate WFC.
 
Because the spillover from the family to work and
reduced JI were not evidenced as a result of FI in
this study, employers may unhesitatingly facilitate
their managers to be more family involved, without
the risk of disrupting their involvement in the job.
Hence, innovative employer-based family support
(EBFS) policies can therefore be developed for this
purpose.  Lau`s (1995) findings indicated family
life education, workplace child care and personal
days as the three most desirable EBFS programmes
among corporate managers in comparison to compressed
work week, flexitime and home-working. The managers
believed to have more control over the family, and
therefore, chose to improve personal skills to
balance the work and family through family life
education, workplace child care and personal days,
rather than to adjust their work to the family
through compressed work week, flexitime or
home-working. Conducting educational programmes on
aspects like managing stress, balancing multiple
roles, and family communication skills can improve
the managers' ability to balance the expectations of
themselves, their employers and their families.
Employers can also be educated on work and family
issues and how they may have an effect on their
managers. This also fosters management flexibility
in exercising formal and informal work-family
policies which have been empirically associated with
lower levels of WFC (Ray & Miller, 1991; Warren &
Johnson, 1995). A workplace child care and personal
days will further provide managers with greater
control over their work and non-work schedules,
which itself serves as a useful source of
flexibility without the necessity to alter the
normal daily work schedule. To resolve the conflicts
between the work and family demands, dual earner
couples are turning to organizations that provide
substantial family-oriented benefits (Bretz, et al.,
1994). When the workplace is supportive to managers'
work-family difficulties, it facilitates as a source
of coping resources rather than simply a source of
work-related demands (Warren & Johnson, 1995).
Hence, EBFS policies are essential tools for
developing a "family-friendly" corporate culture
that reduces turnover intention, retains loyal and
qualified employees, and ultimately enhances the
workforce`s productivity.
 
In conclusion, findings from this study indicated
that JS increases JI, which, in turn, results in
WFC. Since coping skills are essential in buffering
the rebounding impact of WFC on JS among the
managers, these EBFS policies function as means to
foster COP so that JS and JI can be enhanced without
elevating WFC. Thus, the workplace can play a vital
role in facilitating the integration of work and
family roles for the corporate managers. p
 
 
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