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ABSTRACT
Purpose
Advent of mobile technology has changed the mode of communication. The boundary between work life and personal life is more permeable now. There is concern about blurred boundary between work life and family life. This study reviews available discourses to understand how the advent of mobile technology may have affected the work life balance of working women in general and particularly in the Information Technology sector in India.
Design/Methodology/Approach
This is a review of literature on the topic of blurred boundary between work life and family life with the mobile technology and its impact on work life balance with special emphasis on the Indian society.
Findings
The definitive way of mobile phone affecting work life balance remained controversial. While some studies have suggested that perpetual contact may lead work problems to invade the social spaces and times once reserved for family life, others have not been to identify similar effect. It appears from the review of the discourses that blurred boundary may not be necessarily always harmful. It is possible to maintain family life and work life at a different level with mobile communication technology.
Research Limitations/Implications
Being a literature review the conclusions are based on discourse analysis. Original research based data is needed to identify the exact situation in the Indian context.
Practical/Social Implications
This study identified the importance of understanding the dynamics of work life balance in the life of working woman due to mobile communication technology, which reflects on the areas of future research.
Originality/Value
This review paper sees from and connects three discrete viewpoints of work life balance, impact of mobile technology on work-life balance and work-life balance of working women.
Keywords: Work life balance, mobile technology, blurred boundary, work life conflict, software professionals.
1. INTRODUCTION
Work life balance was defined by Clark (2000) as "satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home, with minimum role conflict". It is a perception of enriching integrity in personal time, family care, and work domain with minimum role conflict. It is a key factor for an individual's psychological and social well-being. It is necessary to avoid significant role conflict to maintain self-esteem, and overall sense of harmony in life. (Clark, 2000; Ungerson and Yeandle, 2005; Clarke, 2004; Marks and...