How do work-family practices influence employee work-family conflict? Moderations of commitment-based HRM and human capital

Purpose The paper aims to clarify the relationship between organizational work-family practices and employee work-family conflict in light of the boundary conditions of commitment-based human resource management (HRM) and employee human capital. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for a multi-source, multi-level design and surveyed 1,717 individuals (including CEOs, HR managers and employees) from 159 firms in China. The model was tested using hierarchical linear modeling. Findings The paper provides empirical insights that the effect of work-family practices on work-family conflict is indispensably dependent on the adoption of commitment-based HRM. In addition, employee human capital further moderated this interaction in that the effect of work-family practices on reducing work-family conflict was most salient with high-education employees who were embedded in a high-commitment HRM system. Research limitations/implications Testing the hypotheses in the Chinese context has both its merits and drawbacks. Specific results are pursuant to the Chinese context. Therefore, a cross-cultural comparative study is called upon. Practical implications The paper includes implications for organizations striving to minimize employee work-family conflict. Originality/value This paper primarily applies the resource-building perspective to examine the synergistic effects of organizational resources (targeting work-family practices together with general commitment-based HRM) and individual intellectual resources (human capital) on employee work family conflict.