ABSTRACT
The studies mentioned in Part 1, which reviewed the major findings of the consequences
of work-family conflict at the individual level of analysis, have made clear that there is a
strong argument for preventing work-family conflict in the workplace, irrespective of the
country or culture in which the company is situated. There is a great deal of anecdotal
evidence-mostly in the American business press-of companies that have successfully
developed and implemented family-friendly policies or practices and that have reported
some beneficial effects in terms of employee well-being or productivity. Surprisingly,
there is very limited scientific research on the topic. Few scholars have reported rigorous
studies in a peer-reviewed journal testing the effectiveness of family-friendly policies and
practices in reducing work-family conflict. The focus of research concerning
organizational initiatives has been on the adoption of work-family policies, mostly from a
(neo)-institutional theoretical perspective (e.g., Goodstein, 1994; Ingram & Simons,
1995; Osterman, 1995; Poelmans, Cardona, & Chinchilla, 2003), the organizational
effectiveness of these policies (e.g. Arthur, 2004; Konrad & Mangel, 2000; Lambert,
2000; Meyer, Mukerjee, and Sestero, 2001; Perry-Smith & Blum, 2000), and the impact
of a (perceived) supportive organizational culture on employee benefit utilization and
well-being (for an overview see Kinnunen et al., 2005, Chapter 4 in this volume).
