Work-Family Tensions

Another type of conflict often magnified in the global team context is work-family conflict. Work-family conflicts arise when the expectations for doing one’s job well clash with expectations of one’s family (Bellavia & Frone, 2005). National differences in legislation (e.g., the length of the work week, child labor laws, holidays, and overtime) often reflect society’s values and set up different expectations for what is reasonable to expect of a team mem­ber. In the Corning Vitro merger, for example, differential expectations regarding attendance at evening meetings and taking family days after holidays caused several conflicts between American and Mexican team mmbers.