The Effect of Work - Family Role Conflict on Business Startup Decision-Making Processes

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2009

Publication Title

Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business

ISSN

1941-5508

Abstract

Many important strategic decisions made by business owners in the early stages of operation are both commonly encountered and have important consequences. These decisions relate to the initial configuration of the business regarding the initial business scope and size and procurement of the resources necessary for that configuration. A logic-based decision-making process including information search and analysis can be very complex and time consuming. Small business owners frequently face conflicting demands for time and cognitive resources from their family and their developing business that adversely affect their ability to perform both roles effectively. One adverse effect is an impediment of their decision-making processes by both reducing the time and attention available to properly gather and analyze information for each major business or family decision and by increasing the number of major decisions to be made. This study assessed the effect of work family conflict on the information search behavior in a sample of female entrepreneurs that recently started childcare businesses and found evidence of a significant negative relationship between work-family conflict and the use of professional advisors as information sources when making important startup decisions.

Copyright

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