THE INCIDENCE OF FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS - DOES CONTEXT MATTER?

Flexible work arrangements are used and promoted as primary attraction and retention tools more than ever. Although the work-life balance movement can explain their increasing incidence in organizations, previous research did not sufficiently explore the role of contextual factors. The main goal of this study is to examine the effect of different contextual variables i.e. firm size, firm age, industry, sector and ownership type on prevalence of flexible work arrangements. Time-lag data on FWA practices in large-sized Croatian organizations was collected in 2014 by a questionnaire survey using CRANET methodology on a sample of 171 large-sized organizations in Croatia. Results confirm the importance of the context. More specifically, ownership type was proven as the most important contextual factor since foreign-owned companies seem to provide more flexible or alternative work arrangements; especially those related to work-life balance. Other than ownership, sector and industry were confirmed as important determinants of several types of FWAs presence as well. Foundation year, on the other hand, was not confirmed to be important contextual variable in applying flexible working arrangements.