The DOI matches its Crossref record; 128 of the 128 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility and exploring options for new directions.
Abstract
Workplace flexibility initiatives as a potential remedy for work–life conflicts are the focus of a considerable number of investigations. Despite their contributions, research findings reveal tensions and contradictions in the ways that employees, managers and organizations develop, enact and respond to these flexibility initiatives. This critical review identifies three primary tensions (variable vs fixed arrangements, supportive vs unsupportive work climates and equitable vs inequitable implementation of policies) that reveal inconsistent and sometimes contradictory findings. We tie these tensions, and the management of them, to an overarching dilemma in implementing workplace flexibility, the autonomy–control paradox. To develop alternatives for handling these tensions, we recommend reframing them through changing organizational cultures, adopting a philosophy of adaptability, customizing work and making workplace flexibility an employee right. We conclude by urging organizations and society to reframe the tensions between work and life, to treat them as enriching rather than competing with each other and to transcend these opposite poles through exploring third spaces.
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“Moreover, individuals who are grateful for the flexibility provided by teleworking make greater effort and achieve higher performance, ending up with a higher sacrifice than with traditional working methods (Putnam et al., 2014).”
From E-Leadership and Teleworking in Times of COVID-19 and Beyond: What We Know and Where Do We Go (2020) · cites this paper as Putnam et al., 2014
In the citing paper
“exposure to algorithmic control and incentivisation may cause tensions for content creators because they feel limited in their autonomy”
From Content Creators Between Platform Control and User Autonomy: The Role of Algorithms and Revenue Sharing (2023) · cites this paper as Putnam et al. 2014
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Metadata
- Authors
- Putnam, L. L., Myers, K. K., & Gailliard, B. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Corresponding author
- Putnam, Linda L
- Myers, Karen K
- Gailliard, Bernadette M
- Venue
- Human Relations
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-10-08
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 413-440
- ISSN
- 0018-7267 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-282X
- OpenAlex
- W2131299909
- Cited by
- 341
- References
- 128
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 42.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Human Relations (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Employee Performance and Management
- Keywords
- work flexibility, work-life balance, work-life conflict, organizational culture, adaptability, workers' rights, third space, work-life tensions
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