Work-Life Conflict of Distributed Software Development Personnel : An Empirical Investigation Using Border Theory

While the motivation for globally distributed software development (GDSD) is to harness appropriate human capital, scant attention has been paid toward addressing the human resource issues faced by the IT professionals involved in this context. One particularly challenging human resource issue is that of Work-Life Balance (WLB) of the IT professionals involved in GDSD, who routinely experience overlaps and conflicts between their work and personal life domains. While WLB is an issue in the contemporary contexts on computer-mediated work in general, the GDSD context adds many layers of challenges arising from time differences, requirements instability, and diversity.Recent research argues that WLB is “no longer simply an individual concern,” but also “an organizational imperative” (Poelmans et al. 2009, p. 207). In order to develop a deeper understanding of these recognized challenges, we theoretically develop and empirically test a model of organization-related and distributed ISD-related antecedents of WLB as well as consequences of the lack of WLB. We utilize a sequential multi-stage, multi-method empirical approach, first involving an exploratory case study, followed by theory development based on the literature and the findings from the exploratory case study, then a full-scale professionally conducted survey of 1000 GDSD workers in three countries. The study provides a more complete, credible, and theoretically-informed understanding of the antecedents and consequences of WLB within distributed settings in general, and within GDSD settings, in particular, where the existing literature offers limited guidance. We further show a moderating effect of culture and gender on these linkages. We believe that our findings help assess and improve the “working conditions” of employees involved in offshoring, and provide insights on how organizations can structure GDSD arrangements that enable its stakeholders to be most productive and satisfied