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Impact of Work-Life Initiatives on Employee Behavior in Supply Chain Management Organizations in Singapore.

Quazi, H.A, Koh, M.H, Huang, Q., and Khoo, J.W.Nanyang Business School, NTU, Singapore

ABSTRACT

To balance the work and non-work roles of employees, many organizations have

responded by implementing work-life programs (e.g., flexi-time, child care facilities,

parental leave, eldercare etc) in return for improved satisfaction and performance and lower

turnover. Literature reveals lack of such studies on Supply Chain Management (SCM)

organizations. Further, no such study has been reported in the context of South East Asian

region. We have therefore, decided to study the impact of work-life initiatives on employee

behaviour in Supply Chain Management (SCM) organizations operating in Singapore.

Singapore houses the world’s busiest port and largest shipment hub, with 21 of the 25

largest third-party logistics companies in the world. According to the 2007 World Bank

Report, Singapore was ranked as one of the leading logistics hubs in the world. Further, the

Singapore government has paid substantial attention on Work-Life harmony in the country.

In view of this, it makes good sense to examine the impact of Work-Life balance (WLB)

initiatives on various employee outcomes i.e., affective organisational commitment (AOC),

job satisfaction (JS) and employee turnover intentions (ETI) in the SCM organizations

operating in Singapore. In addition to this, the possible moderating effect of perceived

supervisory support (PSS) on the usage of Work-Life programmes and turnover intentions

of employees are also examined. Three categories of Work-Life initiatives namely, flexible

work arrangements (FWAs), leave benefits (LB) and employee support schemes (ESS) are

also analysed to examine the possible impact of these specific W-L initiatives on the

employee outcomes.

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A questionnaire based survey was conducted to collect necessary data from a number

of participating SCM organizations. Two hundred seventy one (271) completed

questionnaires were received from employees of different job positions.

Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out for the various

constructs. Results of hierarchical regression showed that both perceived availability and

utilisation of Work-Life initiatives were positively related to job satisfaction (B=.12; p=.04

and B=.21; p=.01 respectively) and negatively related to turnover intentions (B=-.15;

p=.01 and B=-.21; p=.01 respectively). In contrast, AOC was found to be significantly

related to only the usage of Work-Life programme (B=.21; p=.00). Significant

relationships were also found between the usage of FWAs and AOC (B=.41; p=.02), job

satisfaction (B=.56; p=.00) as well as turnover intentions (B=-.52; p=.02). Usage of leave

benefits (LBs) demonstrated significant relationship with AOC (B=.25; p=.02) but not with

job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Although some of the findings of this study on SCM organizations in Singapore are in

line with those of Casper & Buffardi, 2004; Perry-Smith & Blum, 2000 and others ( i.e.,

the impact of work-life initiatives is positively associated with employee outcomes) but

some are not.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s global competitive environment organization’s performance becomes

increasingly intertwined with the well-being of its employees. Employees with less worry

in their personal lives are more likely to be committed and engaged at the workplace, which

in turn enhances the company’s performance, resulting in a win-win situation by aligning



both corporate and employee objectives (MOM, 2007). Since 2000 Singapore has taken

various initiatives to motivate organizations to be aware of the potential benefits of

adopting work-life (W-L) initiatives. For example, in 2000 a Tripartite Committee

(comprising of government, unions, employer, employee and business association

representatives) was formed. In 2004 the Work-Life Works! (WoW!) Fund was created to

encourage employers to introduce Work-Life measures at the workplace by defraying costs

incurred. MOM works in close collaboration with the Employer Alliance, a network of

corporations committed to enabling Work-Life integration in organisations, to generate

buy-in amongst CEOs and business leaders. MOM also initiated a series of promotional

activities, including the Work-Life Conference, which brought together the government, HR

practitioners and union representatives to discuss current Work-Life trends and promote the

adoption of these practices.

The significance of the present study on the nature and extent of W-L practices is

reflected in the fact that Singapore houses the world’s busiest port and largest shipment

hub, with 21 of the 25 largest third-party logistics companies in the world. It was ranked as

the leading logistics hub above major players such as Netherlands, Germany, China and

Japan (World Bank report, 2007). For this, much can be accredited to Singapore’s

impressive capabilities, particularly its excellent connectivity and world-class

infrastructure.

The logistics and supply chain sector itself employs about 200,000 people, and

contributes approximately 9% to the nation’s GDP, forming an integral part of Singapore’s

economy (Cited from Biederman, D., 20091).

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Work in the SCM industry is fast-paced, dynamic and global where “products must

move… and most jobs need the physical support of employees as goods are stored in the

warehouse”. Services are often offered 7 days a week, if not 24 hours a day, thus the Work-

Life balance (WLB) proposition has to be modified to fit the employees’ nature of work. A

survey has shown that almost half of logistics and supply chain professionals worldwide are

not satisfied with their current employer, among which nearly 10% are not satisfied in

terms of WLB. Interestingly, the proportion of employees who are dissatisfied with their

employer is significantly higher in Asia (55%) than in Europe (31%) and the Americas

(37%) (Europhia Consulting, 2007). The same research also reported that WLB is one of

the top three (i.e., ‘inspiring leadership’, ‘training/coaching’ W-L balance) important

organizational attributes in attracting and retaining logistics professionals. Further, it has

also been reported that globally, two-thirds of SCM professionals find their average

workload higher than that of their colleagues in other industries and as such, WLB may

have an influence on employee satisfaction and should be carefully considered by SCM

organizations. Provision of WLB programmes can be a used as a competitive advantage

that would allow companies to become an ‘employer of choice’ in this industry. The present

study aims to shed some lights on the nature and extent of W-L benefit practices and their

impacts on employee outcomes in the SCM industry in Singapore (Anderson, Britt and

Favre, 1997).

Besides the abstract and the introductory section presented above, this paper is

organized in eight major sections- literature and hypotheses, methods, results, discussions,

practical implications, limitations, suggestions for future research and conclusions.



LITERATURE AND HYPOTHESES

Competition for talent and shortage of skilled workers has prompted employers to

implement Work-Life initiatives as a means to attract, retain and engage workers (Russell,

2002). WLB is associated with equilibrium and an overall sense of harmony in life (Clarke

et al., 2004 and Frone, 2003). On the other hand, The Work Foundation (2005) view

balance as having control over when, where and how one does his work, leading to the

enjoyment of an optimal quality of life. The central focus of this research will be on three

most commonly adopted Work-Life initiatives by organisations in Singapore i.e., flexible

work arrangements (FWAs), leave benefits, and employee support schemes (ESS).

Role theory illustrates the effects of perceived Supervisory support (PSS) on employee

outcomes by emphasising interactions between leaders (i.e. supervisors) and subordinates

in a work unit [Yeh, 2005]. The author argues that to increase employee commitment,

organisations should focus on the ‘affective’ component by improving the quality of leader-

member exchange (LMX) relationships. The emotional attachment associated with

affective commitment characterises the employer-employee relationship such that

employees remain with the organisation because they want to. When their needs and

expectations are met, employees tend to develop stronger affective attachment to the

organisation than those whose wants were not met [Meyer, Allen and Smith, 1993]. It is

argued that the use of Work-Life initiatives satisfy certain needs of employees, thereby

enhancing their well-being, which ultimately contributes to the positive evaluation of one’s

commitment and attachment to his or her organisation.

Social Exchange Theory, on the other hand, explains how successful relationships can

be modelled using attraction, communication, expectation formation and norm Code # 020-0009, Contact e-mail: [email protected]; 22nd Annual POMS Conference, April 29-May 02, 2011 Reno, Nevada, USA. Page 5


development, to induce and maintain commitment [Gundlach, Achrol and Mentzer, 1995].

Specifically, the influence of Work-Life benefits on the organisation-employee social

exchange is most likely to be evidenced in their aggregate use, perceived availability and

value. On the whole, positive relationships with the organization can help generate

favourable outcomes such as organisational commitment, faster career progression, job

satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviours.

Work-Life Initiatives

Recent studies conducted in Singapore have examined the impacts of WLB-related

benefits on employee outcomes such as turnover and organisational commitment. Ang et

al.’s [2005] study of an F&B firm established that employees who find Work-Life benefits

useful and valuable, and who receive support from their supervisors and top management,

are more engaged and fulfilled in their work. In turn, they are less likely to quit or be absent

from the job. Other studies have also shown the association of Work-Life benefits with

employee outcomes such as job satisfaction and turnover intentions (Grover and Crooker,

1995; Gonyea, 1993; Greenberger et al., 1989 and Asadullah and Fernandez, 2008).

Research also reveals that WLB practices contribute to increased affective commitment and

decreased turnover intentions among all employees (Grover and Crooker, 1995). In fact, the

mere availability of Work-Life programmes appears to produce similar work-related

attitudes, regardless of whether benefits are utilised at work (Nelson et al., 1990; Scandura

and Lankau, 1997).

H1 (a): Employees’ perceived availability of Work-Life programmes will have a

significant positive relationship with (a) Affective Organisational Commitment and (b)

Job Satisfaction, and negative relationship with (c) Turnover Intentions.



H1(b): Employee utilisation of Work-Life Programmes will have a significant

positive relationship with (a) Affective Organisational Commitment and (b) Job

Satisfaction, and negative relationship with (c) Turnover Intentions.

Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs)

Common FWAs include flexible working hours (flex-time), telecommuting permanent

part-time work, job-sharing, compressed workweek, and annualised hours. In the past,

FWAs have primarily been offered as exceptions to the ‘‘ideal workers’’ [Meiksins and

Whalley, 2002]. However, such arrangements are now viewed as a business imperative to

achieve strategic priorities such as higher employee productivity, job satisfaction, and lower

absenteeism [Baltes et al., 1999].

The European Foundation [2007] reported a positive relationship between work time

flexibility and job satisfaction. Specifically, Spanish and Finnish employees who had more

flexibility in adapting their working hours to match their personal needs are more satisfied

than those without such options.

Work-schedule flexibility has also been associated with organisational attachment, in

terms of increased organisational commitment and reduced turnover intentions [Aryee, Luk

and Stone, 1998]. Casper and Harris [2008] also reported positive relationship between

usage of schedule flexibility and AOC.

H2: Employee utilisation of Flexible Work Arrangements will have a significant

positive relationship with (a) Affective Organisational Commitment and (b) Job

Satisfaction, and negative relationship with (c) Turnover Intentions.

Leave Benefits

Leave benefits such as Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Maternity Leave, Childcare Leave



and Unpaid Infant Care Leave are covered under the There is no statutory requirement for

Marriage, Paternity or Compassionate Leave, Employment Act (Singapore Statutes,

2010).Eldercare, Emergency, Study/Exam Leave or Sabbatical Leave. Such leaves are

granted depending on the employment contract or mutual agreement between employer and

employee.

Results from a study of firms in Singapore confirmed that employers generally

experienced lower voluntary turnover when employees received more generous annual

leave entitlement [Ang et al, 2005]. A recent study reported that child rearing, paternity, and

parental leaves also contributed to AOC and reduced turnover intentions [Casper and

Harris, 2008].

H3: Employee utilisation of Leave Benefits will have a significant positive

relationship with (a) Affective Organisational Commitment and (b) Job Satisfaction,

and a negative relationship with (c) Turnover Intentions.

Utilization of Employee Support Schemes

Literature suggests that employees who benefited from childcare, referral services and

other family-friendly practices, reported higher levels of AOC [Grover and Crooker, 1995,

Grant, Dutton and Rosso, 2008; Mohamed, Taylor and Ahmad, 2006]. A study by the

Federal Occupational Health on the benefits of employee Assistance programs (EAPs)

found that such programs help organisations achieve business goals by reducing turnover,

increased productivity and lowered absenteeism (Stieber,1999). Further, research suggests

that access to services such as information and referrals, and financing of child/elder-care,

have an effect on employees’ intentions to leave (Batt and Valcour, 2003).

H4: Utilisation of Employee Support Schemes will have a significant positive



relationship with (a) Affective Organisational Commitment and (b) Job Satisfaction,

and negative relationship with (c) Turnover Intentions.

Perceived Importance of Work-Life Programmes

Individuals react differently on the usage of Work-Life initiatives according to their

value systems. For instance, single employees would not reciprocate the availability of any

childcare benefit as it has no use to them. Employees are likely to vary their perception of

benefit plan usefulness according to which benefits can best help them personally and

professionally, as well as in dealing with their family obligations. Researchers have

reported mixed findings on the relationship between Perceived Importance of Work-Life

Programmes and employee outcomes. For example, Lambert (2000) found perceived

benefit usefulness to be positively correlated with organisational behaviours. Weathington

and Tetrick (2000) reported that benefit importance has an indirect relationship with

employee affective commitment. Williams et al. (2006) and Lee, Singhapakdi and Too

(2008) reported a negative relationship between perceived importance of Work-Life

benefits and turnover intentions. However, Haar and Spell (2004) failed to find any positive

relationships between the perceived value of six specific work-family practices and either

normative, affective, or continuance commitment. Similarly Blau et al. (2001) found no

significant relationships between the variables.

H5: The relationship between employee utilisation of Work-Life programmes with (a)

Affective Organisational Commitment, (b) Job Satisfaction and (c) Turnover

Intentions will be moderated by their perceived importance of the programmes.

Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS)



PSS is defined as “employees’ self-developed views concerning the degree to which

supervisors value their contributions and care about their well-being” (Eisenberger et al.,

2002). Some authors have reported positive association between the relationship between

PSS and AOC and negative association with turnover intentions. For example, Dawley,

Andrews and Bucklew (2008) have reported positive relationship between PSS and AOC

and Thompson, Beauvias and Lyness (1999) reported work-family benefit availability and

supportive work - family culture positively related to AOC, and negatively related to

intensions to leave the organization. There is also evidence that the impact of WLB

practices is moderated by managerial support (Beauregard and Henry, 2009). It is important

to note that the degree to which Work-Life programmes are actually available to the

individual employees depends on the immediate manager/supervisor. For example,

alternative work arrangements will not yield benefits unless the lower-level

manager/supervisor is willing to support them (Powell and Mainiero, 1999). In addition,

implementation of such arrangements may cause employee resentment if individual

managers/supervisors are inconsistent in their decision rules when approving requests

[Raabe and Beehr, 2003]. This suggests that managers/supervisors can influence employee

outcomes, such that the perceived support from managers appears to strengthen

organisational commitment and lower turnover intentions (O’Neill et al., 2009). Therefore,

we postulate that-

H6: The relationship between employee ‘usage of Work-Life programmes’ and (a)

Affective Organisational Commitment, (b) Job Satisfaction and (c) Turnover

Intentions will be moderated by ‘perceived supervisor support’.

METHODS



Sample and Procedures

Based on the literature a questionnaire was designed to collect necessary data to test

the hypotheses. Item statements for the constructs were selected from the relevant scales

developed by other researchers (refer to Table 1 below). Items were also carefully amended

to ensure appropriateness in the context of SCM environments.

The questionnaire was then pilot testes for content validity and clarity of the items by

20 subject experts working in the SCM industry and the questionnaire was amended based

on the feedback received.

Considering the large percentage of Mandarin speaking employees working in the local

industries, a dual-language (i.e. English and Mandarin) questionnaire was designed.

Organisations were approached to participate in the study through e-mail invites, cold calls,

company visits and personal contacts. The study sample included employees from various

levels of the participating organizations both in the office and/or operational departments.

Respondents’ confidentiality was emphasised to encourage their honest response to the

survey. In total, 384 questionnaires were distributed (in the form of softcopy, hardcopy, or

an online survey) to all the participating organisations and 271 usable ones were returned

for a response rate of 71%.



Figure 1: Proposed Model

Impact of Work-Life Programs on Employee Outcomes in Supply Chain Management Organizations

Independent Variables (IVs) DVs

Legends:

AOC: Affective Organizational Commitment JS: Job Satisfaction TOI: Turnover Intensions DVs: Dependent Variables

Moderator variable


AOC

JS

TOI

1. Perceived availabilityof W-L Initiatives

2. Usage of W-L Initiativesa. Flexible Work

Arrangements (FWAs)b. Leave Benefitsc. Employee Support Scheme

(ESS)3. Perceived Importance of W-L

Initiatives (PIWLI)4. Perceived Supervisory support

(PSS)

PSS

PIWLI


Measures:

Dependent Variables:

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction was assessed using the Michigan Organisational Assessment Questionnaire,

job-satisfaction subscale (MOAQ-JSS) (Bowling and Hammond, 2008; α = .84).

Respondents rated on a five-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree to 5= strongly agree.

The following two items were taken from this scale: (1) “In general, I am satisfied with my

job.”, and (2) “In general, I like working here”. Three other items were extracted from

Bacharach, Bamberger and Conley (1999; α = .88), and Brayfield and Rothe [1951; α

= .87]. Table 1 below shows the sources of the measurement items of various constructs.

Affective Organisational Commitment

We used a five-item scale selected from the “Affective Commitment” subscale

developed by Allen and Meyer (1990; α = .87)2. Some of the selected items are: “I would

be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this company.” and “I really feel as if my

company’s problems are my own.” Respondents used a five-point Likert scale (1= strongly

disagree, and 5= strongly agree)3.

Employee Turnover Intentions

Three items from the Michigan Organisational Assessment Questionnaire (MOAQ)

were used to measure employees’ turnover intentions, reliability of the scale was 0.81

[Cammann et al., 1979]. This scale has been used by other researchers with various

occupational samples and was reported to have high internal consistency. The item “Given

2 Selected only five items from the eight item scale. 3

Instead of the original seven-point scale 5-point scale was used to fit this study.



a choice, I will still want to work for this company4”. A higher score represents higher

intentions to leave the organisation.

Independent Variables

Work-life benefits

This study examined widely-use Work-Life benefits categorised under Flexible Work

Arrangements (FWAs), Leave Benefits and Employee Support Scheme (ESS) (Goodstein,

1994; Ingram and Simons, 1995; Osterman, 1995). When necessary, items were reworded

to make it appropriate for the local context. Respondents were asked to provide information

on the availability and usage of Work-Life benefits in their respective companies. PSS is

also included in the list of independent variables as moderator variables always function as

independent variables (Barron and Kenny, 1986)

Moderator Variable

Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS)

A six-item scale was put together from Anderson, Coffey and Byerly [2002] to measure

PSS. Respondents reported on a five-point Likert scale5. One of the items used is: “My

supervisor really cares about the effects that work demands have on my personal and

family life.”

Control Variables

Employee demographics were controlled i.e., gender (male= 1, female=0), age, marital

status (1=single and married=2, divorced=3), salary, and number of dependants.

Information on salary range and level of education were also gathered. Age, salary range

4 This item was slightly rephrased

5 Although the authors used a four-point scale, we decided to use five-point scale for standardisation purpose.



and level of education were measured by five point interval scale.

Table 1: Sources of the Measurement Items

Constructs Sources of measurement items Cronbach’s Alpha

Range of W-L Programs Ingram & Simons, 1995; Osterman 1995;

Goodstein, 1994

N/A

Job Satisfaction (JS) MOAQ-JSS; Bowling and Hammond, 2008 0.84

Bacharach, Bamberger and Conley 1991 0.88-0.91

Brayfield and Rother, 1951 0.87

Affective Organizational

Commitment (AOC)

Allen & Meyer, 1990

Buchanan, 1974

0.87

0.86

Employee Turnover

Intentions (ETI)

MOAQ (Cammann et. al., 1979 0.81

Perceived Supervisor

Support (PSS)

Anderson, Coffey and Byerly, 2002 0.89

Validity Assessment

Given that the measures used were pre-validated, assessment of their psychometric

property was possible via confirmatory factor analysis6 using Lisrel 8.80 [Jöreskog &

Sörbom, 1993]. The initial measurement model was created by loading each manifest

variable with its theoretical latent variable.

The initial model fitted the data poorly (RMSEA: 0.141) with one Heywood case. This

problem was rectified after dropping items 1 and 3 for Affective Organisational

6 In order to mitigate potential for misspecification, exploratory factor analysis was subsequently conducted via Principal Axis Factoring with Promax rotation for each scale separately (a non full-information model). Extraction of factors via Kaiser criterion, scree plot, and interpretability of pattern structure corroborates the factor structure obtained in CFA for each latent variable.



Commitment and items 1 and 2 of Job Satisfaction, yielding the final measurement model.

Despite a significant chi-square of 266.18 (df=84), the corresponding fit statistics

(RMSEA= .086 [.074 - .098], CFI= .97, SRMR= .052, and NNFI= .96) suggests a moderate

to good fit [Hu and Bentler, 1999] of the model to the data with a power of .998

[MacCallum, Browne, et al. 1996, Preacher & Coffman, 2006], thereby supporting the use

of this data for subsequent analysis.

Reliability Analysis

Reliability analysis determines the extent to which each test procedure yields the same

results on repeated trials [Carmines and Zeller, 1979]. Cronbach’s alpha of the four scales,

after item deletion, ranges from .67 to .87, which meets the .60 minimum proposed by

Nunnally and Berstein [1994]. These scales are thus suitable for hypothesis testing as

illustrated in Table 2 below:

Table 2: Internal Consistency of the Various ConstructsVariables Cronbach’s Alpha (after deletion of items)

Job satisfaction 0.848

Affective Organization Commitment 0.703

Turnover Intentions 0.665

Perceived Supervisory support 0.869

RESULTS

Table 3 presents the means, standard deviations and correlation matrix for the key

variables, together with the control variables. It is observed that 19 out of 22 of the Code # 020-0009, Contact e-mail: [email protected]; 22nd Annual POMS Conference, April 29-May 02, 2011 Reno, Nevada, USA. Page 16


correlations for the study variables are significant at the .01 or .05 levels in the expected

direction. Usage of Work-Life programmes is significantly correlated to job satisfaction

(r=.23), AOC (r=.26) and turnover intentions (r=-.22). Similarly, availability of Work-Life

programmes is significantly correlated with AOC (r=.201), job satisfaction, (r=.195) and

turnover intentions (r= -.204). In addition, correlations of PSS with usage of Work-Life

programmes (r=.184), AOC (r=.606), job satisfaction (r=.727) and turnover intentions

(r=-.512) were also significantly correlated at p<.01 level. However, perceived importance

of Work-Life programmes is not significantly correlated with both availability and usage of

Work-Life programmes and is therefore, excluded from further analysis.

Usage of FWAs is significantly correlated with AOC (r=.22), job satisfaction (r=.24)

and turnover intentions (r=-.22) at p< .01. Likewise, ESS utilisation showed significant

correlations with AOC (r=.14), job satisfaction (r=.14) and turnover intentions (r=-.13) at

p< .05. Leave benefits utilisation, is correlated with AOC (r=.17; p< .01) and turnover

intentions (r=-.13; p< .05).



Table 3: Zero-order correlations with mean and standard deviations of the variables

Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1. Usage of W-L program. 1.70 1.79

2.Availability of W-L program 3.95 2.33 .574**

3.Importance of W-L program 42.76 10.82 .046 .084

4.FWA utilization .45 .70 .464** .396 .048

5.Leave benefits Utilization .87 1.18 .831** .333** .024 .094

6.ESS Utilization .37 .75 .645** .473** .024 .025 .330**

7.AOC 10.94 2.02 2.60** .201** .074 .219** .174** .139*

8.Turnover Intention 7.94 2.16 -.223** -.204** .12 -.215** -.127* -.129* -.586** -

9.Job satisfaction 10.93 2.16 .228** .195** .014 .236** .114 .142 .744** .691**

10.PSS 20.88 4.19 .184** .195** .07 .230** .067 .115 .606** .512** .727**

11.Gender .54 .5 -024 -.075 -124* -.207** .102 -.023 -.11 .073 -129* .163**

12.Age 2.61 .96 .236** .065 -135* .167** .158** .166** .220** -187** .213** .117 -.198**

13.Marital Status 1.65 .58 .243** .178** -.001 .222** .195** .072 .224** -.229** .215** .153* -.209** .461**

14.Education 2.19 1.02 -.064 .111 .142* .085 -140* -.021 .045 .03 .036 .046 -.159** -.063 -.101

15.Salary 1.99 1.04 .180** .296** .105 .345** -.013 .135* .270** -.118 .178** .154* -.249** .368** .282** .362**

16.No. of dependants 2.03 .81 .196** .077 .038 .069 .195** .10 .190** -.088 .116 .015 .162** .286** .426** -.071 .159**

** Correlation is significant at .01 level 9two tailed test)* Correlation is significant at .05 level (two tail test)

Tests of Hypothesis:

We used hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis (Aiken & West, 1991) to

test our hypotheses and examined the interactive effects of supervisory support with the

dependent variables. In step 1, we entered the control variables (i.e., gender, marital status,

number of dependent children and salary). In Step 2, the independent variables were

entered. Finally, in step 3 we entered the two way interactions between each of the

independent variables. All predictors were centred, i.e., subtracted from the mean as

recommended by Akin and West (1991). These steps were examined for each of the three



employee outcomes. To facilitate interpretation of significant interactions, we plotted the

sample slopes from the respective regression models, when applicable.

We examined and reported the change in R2 to examine whether the predictor variables

contributed to the prediction of each of the outcome variables over and above the previous

steps. Standardized beta weights for the final regression equation, which indicate the

relative importance of the predictor variables after accounting for the effects of controls and

other variables in the equation are also reported (Tay & Quazi, 2010).

We predicted in Hypotheses 1(a) that perceived availability of Work-Life programmes

would be positively related to AOC and job satisfaction, and negatively to employee

turnover intentions. From the regression analysis it is observed that the relationships of the

above variable with job satisfaction and turnover intentions were statistically significant in

the hypothesised direction (B=.12; p=.04 and B= -.15; p=.01 respectively). However, the

hypothesised relationship of availability of W-L programs with AOC was not significant

(B=.09; p=.08).

Hypothesis 1 (b) predicted that employee usage of Work-Life programmes would have

significant relationships with all the three outcome variables. As predicted, statistically

significant relationships were found, providing strong support for all the three outcome

variables (B=.21; p=.00, B=.21; p=.01 and B=-.21; p=.01 respectively).

In Hypotheses 2, we posited positive relationships between usage of FWAs with AOC

and job satisfaction, and a negative relationship with turnover intentions. As hypothesized,

strong support was found for all the three outcome variables (B=.41; p=.02, B=.56; p=.00

and B= -.52; p=.01 respectively).

Regarding Hypothesis 3, support was also found for the positive relationship between Code # 020-0009, Contact e-mail: [email protected]; 22nd Annual POMS Conference, April 29-May 02, 2011 Reno, Nevada, USA. Page 19


leave benefits usage and AOC (B=.25; p=.02), however, the predicted positive relationships

with job satisfaction and the negative relationship with turnover intentions were not

significant.

In hypothesis 4, the relationships between usage of ESS and the outcome variables

were not significant with any of the three outcome variables (i.e., with AOC; B=.16; p=.37:

with job satisfaction; B=.26; p=.16; and with turnover intentions; B=-.27; p=.15).

In hypothesis 5, we predicted that the relationship between the utilization of W-L

programs with the three outcome variables will be moderated by the perceived supervisor

support. Regression analysis indicates that PSS exerted significant moderating effects on

only employee turnover intentions (β=0.13 , p<.05 , ∆R2 = .012) and not on AOC or job

satisfaction.

Figure 2 shows the graphical representation of the sample slopes. It shows that the

association of usages of work-life program to turnover intensions was stronger when PSS

was high (steeper slope at -.211). However, when supervisor support is moderate (i.e.,

medium) turnover intensions was not as strong (slope: -.084) as in the case of high PSS.

Interestingly, a positive slope for turnover intentions was noticed when the supervisor

support was low.

Figure 2: Moderator Interaction Plot





DISCUSSIONS

This study explored to understand how availability and usage of WLB initiatives may

impact employee outcomes in the SCM organizations operating in Singapore. It also

examined the impact of interaction effect of supervisor support with the levels of usage of

work-life programs. This study builds on previous studies that found that the impact of the

availability and usage of work-life programs on the employee outcomes (i.e., AOC, Job

satisfaction and turnover intensions) are moderated by the level of perceived supervisor

support. Although hypotheses were developed based on the literature, some of the findings

of this study were not in agreement with it.

Key findings of this study showed that perceived availability and usage of Work-Life

programmes, along with supportive supervisors, generally led to employees with lower

turnover intentions. Hypotheses 1 (a) predicted significant positive relationships between

perceived availability of Work-Life programs with AOC and job satisfaction and negative

relationship with turnover intensions. While this predicted relationship was found to be true

with job satisfaction (in line with Thomas & Ganster, 1995; Grover and Crooker, 1995) and

turnover intensions (consistent with Allen, 2001) but not with AOC. This could be due to

the interplay of other possible antecedents of AOC such as relationships with co-workers,

organisational justice (Meyer and Allen, 1997) and leadership (Brown, 2003). This implies

that in the case of SCM industry mere availability of Work-Life programmes may not

sufficiently elicit feelings of affection towards the organisation (Allen, 2001).

In line with the prediction of hypothesis 1(b), significant relationships were found on

the utilisation of Work-Life programmes on all three study variables i.e. AOC, job



satisfaction and employee turnover intentions, which are in line with those of Greenberger

et al. (1989) and Beauregard and Henry (2009).

Similarly, usage of FWAs was found to be associated with higher AOC and job

satisfaction, as well as with lower turnover intentions (Hypothesis 2). These results are in

line with those of Allen (2001), who found that flexible benefits were positively related to

job satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intentions. Casper and Harris (2008) also

reported that employees who used more FWAs demonstrated higher affective commitment

to the organization.

According to hypothesis 3, utilization of leave benefits should be significantly

correlated with AOC, Job satisfaction and turnover intensions. However, results only

showed correlation with AOC but not with the other two predicted variables. Possible

Reason could be that in Singapore leave benefits are mostly covered under The

Employment Act (2010), and employees may treat these policies as an entitlement (Wellner,

2004) rather than for enabling WLB and as such may not necessarily act as a factor

affecting their level of job satisfaction and the decision to stay or leave the organisation.

Further, child/elder-care leaves appear less crucial as with Singaporeans’ growing

affluence, hiring of domestic helpers to care for dependants at home has become popular

and prevalent (Yeoh and Huang, 1995).

In hypothesis 4, non-significant relationship was found between utilisation of ESS with

all the three outcome variables. This probably can be explained by the fact that majority

(45%) of our respondents were relatively young (24-34 years old) and to them career

prospects and mobility may be more important than stability. Therefore, we suspect that

given the range of family oriented ESS used in this study, utilisation of such benefits may Code # 020-0009, Contact e-mail: [email protected]; 22nd Annual POMS Conference, April 29-May 02, 2011 Reno, Nevada, USA. Page 23


not necessarily influence their decision regarding AOC and turnover.

No support for the predicted moderating role of PSS was found on the relationship

between Work-Life programmes utilisation with AOC and job satisfaction (Hypothesis 6).

This contradicts prior research findings that employees who perceived support from their

supervisor generally felt more affectively committed (Norris-Watts and Levy, 2004;

Scandura and Lankau, 1997) and satisfied at work (Thomas and Ganster, 1995). A plausible

explanation could be that job satisfaction and AOC are general attitudes intrinsically

developed as a result of factors other than solely PSS provided to employees of the SCM

organizations in achieving WLB. Further, often time some employees of this industry may

feel that the level of PSS received is enough while others may not feel that way (Saari and

Judge, 2004). However, as predicted in the same hypothesis, usage of Work-Life

programmes on turnover intentions would be moderated by PSS, was supported. A tentative

explanation is that actual usage of formal family-friendly initiatives is determined on a

case-by-case basis, giving managers discretion in these matters (Friedman and Johnson,

1997; Powell and Mainiero, 1999). In fact, findings by Powell and Mainiero indicate that

the manager’s response to an employee request for alternative work arrangement may

depend on his or her personal beliefs or past experiences with balancing work and family.

Thus, amount of support from individual managers may vary even when Work-Life

initiatives are provided on a formal basis, thereby influencing both employee decisions to

utilize family-friendly benefits and to remain in the organization (Thompson et al., 1999).



PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Particularly for the SCM industry, attention had generally been given on the “hard”

aspects, i.e. financial and operational issues (Cullen, Johnson and Sakano, 2000). The

“soft” side, i.e. human aspects, of the business have received relatively less attention.

Hence, this study adds value in exploring the Work-Life scene in this industry in Singapore.

Since successful management ensures a balanced focus on both hard and soft aspects of

their organizations (Cullen, Johnson and Sakano, 2000), this exploratory study has

identified some areas where the management of SCM organizations may pay more

attention. .

Results from this study provide some specific points of consideration for managers in

this industry. Specifically, a crucial intermediate linkage such as the supportive behaviour

of supervisors towards the provision of Work-Life programmes and its effects on reduced

voluntary turnover has been highlighted. As previously mentioned, the organisation can

capitalise on the benefits of Work-Life programmes if supervisors are able to empathise

with employees’ usage of such programmes (Powell and Mainiero, 1999).

Managers could look into providing an innovative combination of ESS and leave

benefits beyond that of mandatory stipulations. Specifically, a large number of respondents

in this study have rated high (4-5) on the importance of staff wellness programmes,

study/examination, paid maternity and childcare leaves, a consistent trend across age

groups, marital status or number of dependants, suggesting the attractiveness of such

benefits to employees. For instance, as Singaporeans becoming more health-conscious7,

7 The Nielsen Company, (3 March 2009). Findings from a recent global online study on vitamins and dietary supplements consumption by The Nielsen Company, found that Singapore’s population are health-conscious or simply do not adhere to sensible eating habit. Retrieved from: http://www.acnielsen.com.sg/site/20090304.htm



companies may consider providing yoga classes or health-talks (e.g. food and nutrition,

stress management) as employees and employers alike can benefit from the adoption of a

healthy lifestyle e.g. lower absenteeism due to work-related stressors.

LIMITATIONS

Despite its practical contributions, our study was constrained by time and data

limitations. First, Work-Life programmes may have longer-term benefits which can only be

examined by longitudinal studies to determine the causal direction of relationships

involved.

Larger proportion of respondents (71%) holding deskbound jobs as compared to those

with less deskbound jobs may also limit the representativeness of the Work-Life profile

between these two groups of employees in this industry. Additionally, employees 45 years

old or above made up only 17% of the sample. This may undermine the importance of

certain Work-Life initiatives, suitable for this group of employees. Finally, a possible

concern lies with results being inflated by common method variance (Doty and Glick,

1998; Podsakoff et al., 2003), as data was solely collected from surveys. Thus, as the core

variables were self-reported, the relationships may have been inflated as respondents tend

to respond in socially-desirable ways (Donaldson and Grant-Vallone, 2002). This concern is

particularly acute in the case of turnover intentions because many of the items are sensitive

in nature. In view of the above mentioned limitations, the results of this study should be

used with caution.



SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

An agenda for future research could be to compare the SCM industry practices

regarding W-L balance initiatives against the other industries. Findings of such studies

might help the managers of SCM organizations better gauge the effectiveness of Work-Life

programmes in their industry.

Future research can also explore the financial impacts of Work-Life programmes on

SCM organisations. A large-scale empirical study conducted by Ang et al. [2005] on the

relationships between Work-Life practices and firm performance in Singapore showed that

employee turnover is costly and implementing Work-Life initiatives is an effective business

strategy that Singapore firms can use to reduce voluntary employee turnover. Incorporating

such analytical data into the business case would facilitate higher organisational buy-in.

Other moderating and mediating variables such as gender differences and perceived

organisational support may also be explored. The former is highlighted by Rothbard (2001)

who indicates that strong differences exist in the way males and females experience Work-

Life interface and multiple role engagement.

Lastly, given that PSS is an important factor that needs to be present for effective usage

of Work-Life benefits and the reciprocal employee outcomes, it would be worthwhile to

explore what organisational-level variables (e.g. policies regarding selection and training of

supervisors) might filter down to the individual level and result in greater perceived support

by employees. For example, supervisory development programmes that train supervisors to

recognise and appreciate Work-Life harmony may be one such effective strategy.



CONCLUSIONS

Despite its limitations, this study has made several tentative contributions to the

literature in WLB issues. Firstly, it extends the findings of the previous studies which have

generally not focused on a particular industry. This study has thus initiated a new direction

for Work-Life research by specifically examining the Work-Life practices in the SCM

industry.

Findings of this study have also highlighted implications of implementing Work-Life

programmes for SCM managers in the local context. The study also underscores the impact

of PSS on the effective implementation of these programmes. Specifically, supportive

supervisors play an important role in influencing turnover intentions among users of Work-

Life programmes. Some of the W-L initiatives appeared more impactful than others, For

instance, it is found that employees in the SCM industry value leave benefits, and would

feel more affectively committed as a result from its utilisation.

This study is a first step in putting the spotlight on a specific industry. It is possibly one

of the first in initiating a focus on the SCM industry that plays an integral part of almost

every business but has received less attention regarding work-life balance.



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