Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how experienced copreneurs of small family business (SFB), as the smallest unit and heart of their family business (FB), may create work-life balance (WLB). Copreneurs evince highly intertwined life-domains and often struggle to respite while managing their high business demands.

Design/methodology/approach

In this couple interview study with 18 experienced copreneurial couples of SFBs (N = 36), we investigated strategies copreneurs use to create their WLB by merging a resource perspective (Hobfoll, 1989) with the concept of WLB crafting (Sturges, 2012).

Findings

A key strategy in copreneurial couples was the structural establishment of microdomains, such as periods of personal resource recreation within a macrodomain (e.g. work) via individual physical and cognitive WLB crafting. Copreneurs used relational WLB crafting with a strong emphasis on seeking support and mainly to protect their microdomains by relying on their spouses as boundary keepers. Women more often expressed the importance of health and time for respite, as cognitive WLB crafting, and they were more active in creating (joint) recovery opportunities. Dyadic WLB crafting strategies were used when goal congruency for work or private activities was high.

Originality/value

This research applies WLB crafting research to the smallest unit of SFBs, namely copreneurs. The study provides in-depth insights into the strategies copreneurs of SFB use to create a satisfying WLB.

中文翻译：

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家族企业的核心：共同创业者如何平衡工作与生活

目的

本文的目的是了解小型家族企业 (SFB) 作为其家族企业 (FB) 的最小单位和核心，经验丰富的共同企业家如何创造工作与生活的平衡 (WLB)。共同创业者表现出高度交织的生活领域，并且在管理他们的高业务需求时经常难以喘息。

设计/方法/途径

在对 18 对经验丰富的 SFB 共同创业夫妇（N  = 36）的夫妻访谈研究中，我们调查了共同创业者通过将资源视角（Hobfoll，1989）与 WLB 制作概念（Sturges，2012）相结合来创建他们的 WLB 的策略。

发现

共同创业夫妇的一个关键策略是建立微域的结构，例如通过个人身体和认知 WLB 工艺在宏观域（例如工作）内进行个人资源娱乐的时期。Copreneurs 使用关系 WLB 工艺，强调寻求支持，主要是通过依靠他们的配偶作为边界守护者来保护他们的微域。作为认知 WLB 工艺，女性更经常表达健康和休息时间的重要性，并且她们更积极地创造（联合）恢复机会。当工作或私人活动的目标一致性很高时，使用二元 WLB 制作策略。

原创性/价值

本研究将 WLB 工艺研究应用于 SFB 的最小单位，即共同创业者。该研究提供了对 SFB 的共同企业家用来创建令人满意的 WLB 的策略的深入见解。