The impact of Foreign Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviour on work-life balance: Moderating role of cultural intelligence

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened global concerns about work-life balance among employees due to unprecedented challenges in managing personal and professional responsibilities. In the South Asian region, Sri Lankan employees reported the highest levels of work-related stress. Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviour (FSSB) is positively related to work-life balance, as supportive supervisors enable employees to better manage their work and family roles through understanding, flexibility, and emotional support. Although there are numerous studies on FSSB on work-life balance, there is a dearth of research among the employees working under foreign supervisors and specifically in the Sri Lankan context. Due to increased globalization, several multinational companies are established in the country, and Sri Lankan employees are bound to work under foreign supervisors. Therefore, this study seeks to fulfil the gap in the existing literature by examining the relationship of Family Supportive Foreign Supervisor Behaviour on work-life balance and the moderating role of cultural intelligence. A structured online questionnaire was sent to 104 Sri Lankan employees, working under foreign supervisors as an inclusion criterion. Correlation analysis, Regression analysis and Moderator analysis were performed in this study to test the hypothesis derived from the Conservation of Resources Theory. The findings of the study confirmed a positive and significant relationship of Family Supportive Foreign Supervisor Behaviour on work-life balance, which aligns with the first hypothesis. However, the finding for the second hypothesis on the moderating role of cultural intelligence does not support this study. It highlights that although cultural intelligence is an important factor in a multicultural setting, it is not influential in every domain, such as the Sri Lankan context, where the impact of collectivism and high-power distance plays a major role in the workplace environment. This study contributes theoretically by highlighting the positive impact of Family Supportive Foreign Supervisor Behaviour on work-life balance, while explaining the moderation role of cultural intelligence as insignificant. Also, this study contributes managerially by suggesting that organizations in the Sri Lankan context promote hiring and developing foreign supervisors, because it directly benefits employee work-life balance.