Managing Workplace Flexibility in the Australian Public Sector: Two Local Government Case Studies

Submission note: A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Management, La Trobe Business School, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.

Work-life research has exploded over the past five decades due to shifts in social, economic, technological and political contexts. This dynamic environment has forged new, normative landscapes in which we live, transforming the fabric of our society and spawning serious problems, characterised as work-life ‘conflict’ or ‘interference’. This has been linked with stress, psychological and physiological illnesses, as well as a disengaged workforce. Consequently, workplace flexibility has become an intrinsic imperative for the modern organisation and its employees as a mechanism for preventing or assuaging these issues. However, signs indicate that organisations are experiencing problems in operationalising workplace flexibility, with scant research explaining what factors support or impede its implementation and use. This highlights a gap in extant literature, particularly within the Australian context. Occupying an array of scholarly disciplines, workplace flexibility has disproportionally centered upon its antecedents and consequences, focusing upon the employee perspective, or the organisational perspective. This divisive lens does not reflect the complexity of the issue, which is influenced by a broader spectrum of elements, including the institutional environment, organisational environment, management practice and employee factors. Moreover, there is a paucity of theoretical frameworks that suitably ground this domain. This dissertation addresses this gap by conflating two existent theoretical frames, Institutional Theory and Ecological Systems Theory, to provide a multi-level, integrated examination to elucidate how these various constituents interconnect and influence each other. Developed as a process model, the Eco Institutional model highlights the interrelationships between each level. Adopting a case study approach, applying mixed methods, the thesis examines workplace flexibility within two Victorian Local Government Councils in Australia. Seeking to understand how workplace flexibility is successfully operationalised by these councils, it focuses on identifying the factors that support and impede implementation and utilisation. The findings suggest that while structural support is provided by the organisation through policies and employee agreements, greater facilitation or training is needed to ensure consistency in implementation by managers and equity of access and utilisation by employees.