In Search of Perfect Boundaries? Entrepreneurs’ Work-Life Balance
2019
Purpose – Does the self-employed nature of entrepreneurs’ business ventures mean
that they have perfect boundaries between their work and nonwork lives? Drawing
on border theory, this study examines entrepreneurs’ work-life balance (WLB) in
terms of how they construct and manage the borders between their work and
nonwork lives.
Design/Methodology/Approach – A qualitative research approach is adopted to
enhance understanding of entrepreneurs’ WLB using border theory. The study
benefits from its empirical focus on Nigerian migrants in London who represent a
distinct minority group living in urban areas in the developed world. Data for the
study was collected over a three-month period, utilising semi-structured interviews
as the primary method of data collection.
Findings – Our findings indicate that entrepreneurs prioritise ‘work’ over ‘life’ and
reveal that entrepreneurs have little desire for boundaries as they work everywhere,
which makes long working hours prevalent among them. Furthermore, the findings
bring to the fore a prevalent social variance of these entrepreneurs preferring to be
unmarried, single, and even divorced as a result of or associated with the
entrepreneurs’ boundaries creation and management.
Research Limitations/Implications – The extent to which the findings of this research
can be generalised is constrained by the limited and selected sample of the research.
Theoretical Implications – The article highlights the fluidity and permeability of the
boundaries between entrepreneurs’ work/nonwork domains and the frequency of
border crossing, which is almost uncontrollable, especially from the work domain to
the nonwork domain. We describe this as work/nonwork border blurring.
Practical Implications – Research on human resource management (HRM) in small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or businesses in which entrepreneurs operate
is evolving. The issue of the size and the nature of an organisation (i.e. labour or
product market influences, ownership structures, etc.) have profound implications for
human resources (HR) structures, policies, and practices and the quality of the WLB
of entrepreneurs. As research on HRM and entrepreneurship is still developing, HRM
practice in entrepreneurial business ventures is often organisationally fluid and adhoc.
The main implication is that there may be little structure in HRM policies and
processes in place to support self-employed entrepreneurs in comprehensively
managing border crossing and achieving WLB.
Originality/Value – This article provides valuable insights into entrepreneurs’
work/nonwork boundaries, which are hugely influenced by the commodification of
time and money. It also enriches work-life border theory and its social constructionist
perspective.
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