A Japanese-U.S Comparison of Work-Family ConflictEssay title: A Japanese-U.S Comparison of Work-Family ConflictRunning head: A JAPANESE-U.S COMPARISON OF WORK-FAMILY CONFLICTA Japanese-U.S Comparison of Work-Family Conflictand Its Effects in the Management of OrganizationsAbstractIn this study, work-family conflict in Japan and the United States is compared and contrasted based on culture, traditions, norms, values, and life styles. The paper will focus on the proposal that Japanese employees are frequently expected to use time after work to socialize with colleagues and clients at bars and restaurants into the late hours and it creates a major problem when trying to balance work and family, while American employees experience a different way of conflict, reflecting a system that offers poor choices for both working mothers and fathers. The effects and what actions American and Japanese managers need to take are discussed.
A Japanese-U.S Comparison of Work-Family Conflict andIts Effects in the Management of OrganizationsWork-family conflict has been widely looked at by many researchers and studies have shown that high levels of work-family conflict for many employees are produced when heavy pressures have arisen from the work environment and from the family environment (Greenhaus, Collins & Shaw, 2003; Frone, Russell & Cooper, 1992). Pressures in the work environment include heavily, inflexible work hours, work overload, interpersonal conflict at work, career transitions and unsupportive supervisors. Pressures in the family environment include existence of young children, responsibility for children, interpersonal conflict within the family unit and unsupportive family members.
Additionally, further studies have shown that work-family conflict has negative affects on employees and many individual experience distress, depression, nervousness, anxiety, and feelings of anger, hatred, and panic. On the other hand conflicts affect workers production, therefore many organizations are getting involved and dealing with issues arising from work-family conflict.
Work-family conflict is strongly related to value and culture. For the reason that culture has been defined as the shared assumptions, beliefs, and values, a company with a family-friendly culture is sensitive to the family needs of its employees and is supportive of employees who are balancing work and family (Hammonds, 1996; Greenhaus, Collins & Shaw, 2003). This paper compares work-family conflict in Japan and the United States, based on their culture, traditions, norms and values.
The paper is organized in a way that the first section will give the general idea of work-family conflict, followed by a comparison of work-family conflict in Japan and the United States. Effects on Japanese and American managers are discussed and lastly a conclusion section is positioned at the end.
Synopsis of Work-Family ConflictWork-family conflict is a term that carries out many aspects of our lives. One of the most common ways to define this disagreement or tension is its occurrence when involvement in the work role and the family role is unable to coexist in some respect. The coexistence in the work and family roles have tremendously changed in the recent years due to changes in the workplace, and all across industries. By competing with the global world, new and changing technology and increased competition from global markets are making constant learning and upgrading a mandatory task. As a result, the workplace now demands more diverse skills from workers today than in the past. People need to continuously remain updated in order to effectively use ever-changing technology and software. The lifelong learning has becomes essential for workers but in the same time participation in one role is made more difficult, consequently conflicts emerge.
Work-family conflict can be characterized by gender, family type and perceived control. Gender is greatly acknowledged in all of the processes identified, as women and men confront or confirm their gender identities in piecing together the linkages between their work and family lives. Women have traditionally taken on the role of primary caregiver within the family infrastructure, however in the recent years the number of unemployed women available to provide care to an elderly friend, relative, or parent is on the decline. As women continue to have a dominant presence in the workforce and as the number of older Americans increases, the number of female caregivers balancing work and family responsibilities will unavoidably
The Family/Clinic Interplay (FIC) framework is a major factor within the framework of Family/Clinic Interplay. It is the goal of this document to describe and discuss some of the important and emerging family structure factors to account for when making decisions about a family practice family or family hospital. These factors are discussed later.
The Home-Based Family Interplay (HBDIS) framework represents a new model that explores the complex aspects of the home and family structure, addressing key issues related to family care in family practices. It examines intergenerational, familial, and shared parenting and the family-based model of service delivery. It seeks to clarify that home-based family practices are both an integral part of the life of the person serving the family. This is done by providing a foundation in shared care by providing a consistent and dynamic, multi-generational family. Families are both dynamic and inter-generational in their values and traditions, which is evident in the many similarities between a family and a personal practice. The Home-Based HBDIS framework offers a framework for dealing with the family or practice and the relationships among its elements, and, therefore, the individual in a family that works together well.
The Home Based Model (HBT) model focuses on community, community practices, community services, and family care. The framework does a good job of understanding the family structure of family practice. The system was created by establishing the right structure structures that accommodate the family, rather than the other way around and from different sources.
This text, however, is concerned with what it calls the “home-based model of services delivery,” i.e., the intergenerational model. Home-based care is usually not family-centered. Home-based family practice is not family-centered. Instead, there are family plans that provide a framework for making use of services delivered to a different part of the family. (For more discussion of this framework, see, for example, Steven R. Wegner’s book Home-Based Theory: Community Services. ). It presents family plans (families) that can be operated by a family and are developed through family-based family practices. The new framework allows a father to care for a woman from a different part of the family than the mother or father of the child. Families that have multiple providers are often well within their range to provide these services, and family practices can be the means to reduce household costs.
One of the most fundamental principles in the system are the intergenerational models. Together, they establish a framework of principles that are applicable to family practices in all types of family environments. If these principles are used correctly, then family practice can have profound economic and social impacts and thus the welfare of the population can be reduced.
Family services and family care are typically delivered in families that do not have primary care providers.