Many Faces of Flexibility: Managers’ Discourses of Flexibility in a Changing Work Environment

• In Event: 413 - Section on Organizations, Occupations and Work Refereed Roundtable Session. Table 01. Culture and Organizations
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 01. Culture and Organizations

Abstract

This article examines the discourses surrounding the practice of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) among managers in the technology division of a Fortune 500 company. Much of the existing literature on the use of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) examines employees’ access to flexible arrangements and their role in the increased intensity of work (MacEachon et al 2008; See also Blair-Loy 2009, and Kelliher and Anderson 2010). Research contends that FWAs tend to prioritize workplace productivity rather than employee well-being (Cornfield et al. 2001). However, few studies consider how FWAs are understood and enacted within the workplace. Unlike other studies that have examined the discourses regarding flexibility, health and well-being by interviewing a variety of managers from different companies (MacEachon et. al.), we looked at managers within a single company and explore their practices within the same workplace as part of the larger, longitudinal Work, Family, and Health Study (WFHS). Based on discursive analysis of 103 baseline interviews, we find that managers employ a fair amount of agency in their implementation of FWAs. Unlike studies suggesting that managers use FWAs to emphasize workplace productivity above other considerations, we find that managers’ motivations are mixed, demonstrating concern for employee well-being as well as workplace productivity. What’s more, differences in the practices of, and motivations for, FWAs among managers seems tied to their proximity to upper-administration in terms of either geographic or hierarchical location.

Authors

• Kimberly Fox, Bridgewater State University

• Julia Miller Cantzler, University of San Diego