This thesis examines the relationship between work/life balance and Smartphones (Blackberry, iPhone, Android etc.) Academic research has areas where not much research has been done previously including the qualitative research on work/life balance, positive crossover of work/life balance, newness of Smartphone technology, and consequences of constant connectivity. This study hopes to eliminate some of the gaps in these areas of research and proposes two research questions:  So what does owning a Smartphone mean for work life and home life?  Most importantly can this phone help people towards or assist with the balance they are so looking for or do the phones not impact this balance and just assist in the work life and home life realms separately? A qualitative approach using constructionist and interpretivist views were used to conduct the research. Empirical material was collected during phone interviews with participants in the USA, while supporting material was gathered from conference papers, academic articles, websites, and textbooks. There are two major themes within this paper, work/life balance and Smartphone technology. For work/life balance a common understanding was reached that work and personal life should be kept happy but that doesn’t mean equal.  Also discussed is research about people that put up boundaries in their lives to try and separate things, one group of people likes to have work and personal separate but one group likes them combined.  Research also presents that there are consequences for setting up boundaries but that having the ability to choose where these boundaries are makes for a much happier situation.  On the technology side of research there is support for these devices being used to manage people’s different selves through communication from being more connected to people to feeling left out when the technology is not there. Also mentioned is how people adapt the devices to fit new and unique situations that the devices may not have been intended to be used for.

Cette thèse a pour objet d’étudier les tensions que traversent les activités de services professionnels (audit, conseil...) depuis une trentaine d’années, à travers le prisme des enjeux d’équilibre de vie. Alors que ces entreprises sont mises en cause dans les medias pour leurs pratiques managériales encourageant leurs salariés à se dépasser sans cesse, elles n’ont jamais été aussi actives dans leur communication sur les enjeux de qualité de vie au travail. A travers l’analyse des travaux existants, nous montrons que le système incitatif en up- or-out des organisations professionnelles repose sur le présupposé que les professionnels aspirent principalement à être récompensés de leurs efforts par des bonus et des promotions. A travers l’analyse de 58 récits de carrière de consultants, nous identifions deux autres dimensions clés de leur expérience au travail : la nature des projets qui leurs sont assignés et l’équilibre de vie. Nous explicitons les techniques qu’ils mettent en œuvre pour tenter de répondre à ces aspirations. Dans un deuxième temps, après avoir analysé le discours managérial en vigueur dans 9 cabinets sur ces questions, nous décrivons - à travers l’étude comparative de deux cabinets de conseil – les ajustements qu’ils mettent en place pour mieux les soutenir. Nous discutons l’ampleur de la remise en cause du modèle d’organisation traditionnel de ces entreprises par ces évolutions, dans un contexte où elles sont de plus en plus menacées, que ce soit par une faible croissance de leurs activités, une pression sur les coûts, la sophistication de la demande des clients ou par un phénomène d’uberisation qui touche de façon croissante les services professionnels. / This thesis aims at studying the tensions that professional service firms (audit firms, consultancies...) have been facing for the past thirty years, through the lens of work-life balance. While these firms are increasingly questioned in the media for their managerial practices that encourage their salaries to excel themselves; they have never been so active in communicating on quality of work-life. Through a review of the literature, I show that the up- or-out incentive system of professional organisations lies on the assumption that professionals all mostly aspire to see their commitment rewarded by bonuses and promotions. Through the analysis of 58 consultants’ career stories, I identify two additional dimensions of their experience at work: the nature of the projects they are assigned and work-life balance. Then, the techniques they use to fulfil these aspirations are described. Second, after studying the managerial discourse on work-life balance in 9 consultancies, through the comparative case study of two firms I analyse the adjustments they have implemented to accommodate individual needs. I discuss the extent to which these evolutions challenge the traditional organisation of professional service firms, at a time when they are increasingly threatened by low levels of growth in the industry; pressure on cost; the sophistication of clients’ demands and the uberisation of the economy, which has also reached professional services.

Tidigare forskning visar på att en konflikt mellan arbete och familj är något som kan drabba alla, har olika bakomliggande faktorer och påverkar bland annat det subjektiva välbefinnandet. Det som har störst påverkan på konflikten är arbetsrelaterade faktorer. Syftet med studien var att undersöka kvinnliga chefers upplevelse av konflikten samt olika aspekter som de upplever kan påverka konflikten, både positivt och negativt. Deltagarna i den studien var 8 kvinnliga chefer som har eller har haft barn i åldern 2–10 år under perioden som chef. Resultatet visar på att konflikten varierar i grad utefter arbetsbelastning och kan påverkas med hjälp av en öppen och förstående arbetsplats som möjliggör planering och skapandet av sociala relationer. Förhoppningar finns om att studien ska bidra till att minska konflikten hos de individer som upplever den och öka det subjektiva välbefinnandet.

Work-life balance is very actual them not only of political debate due to the low fertility and more and more discussed gender equality. The aim of the thesis is a comparison of family policy in the Czech Republic, and family policy in Belgium and resulting evaluation of ability of policy to promote work-life balance environment. While Belgium belongs between countries with high fertility and high employment rate of mothers in the European Union, Czech Republic is an opposite case. Belgium creates a comprehensive system of childcare and flexible working possibilities for parents. Together it gives the opportunity for harmonization of carrier and care of family. Belgium could be an inspiration for the Czech Republic in area of family policy, where the Czech Republic still lags far behind.

This diploma thesis is focused on position of women on the labour market in the Czech Republic. By descriptive analysis of data relating to employment, unemployment, specific form of work and other indicators, character of Czech labour market is described. There is also a part devoted to State aid for parents with small children, facilities providing childcare and job opportunity for mothers on the labour market. The thesis also includes comparison of selected indicators, which describe situation on the labour market and family policy in chosen countries of western and northern Europe. Possibility to ensure work-life balance is considered to be the main aspect of this topic. The issue of women's position on the labour market is not examined only from gender point of view.

Family and reproductive behaviour shapes the outline of Czech Republic. Regime changes after 1989 certainly influenced the whole society. Critical changes in demographic behaviour need to be viewed in context of economic, social and cumtural changes in society. The purpose of this thesis is to explore perspectives of young adults, with an emphasis on exploring links between demographic behavious and on job market between 1989 and 2015. Thus this thesis should provide an answer to a question on how signifikance of influence of e.g. parenthood on career paths of youg people. To achieve this target, we used mainly publicly available data provided by Czech Statistical Bureau, interchangeably with data from Eurostat and basic statistical analysis.

The thesis is focused on work-life harmonisation in the view of state, employers and parents. It is divided from chronological and thematic aspect: past focused on analysis of historical needs for reconciliation of work and family life, present role of the state, employers and employees and future visions of today's university students, prospective parents. Three surveys were realized to support the theses. The first one applies to occupancy of kindergartens. The second one in form of interviews with representatives of prominent companies is aimed at flexible work and company kindergarten. The third research takes interest in university student's views of parental leave and role division inside the family. In the end of the thesis, improvement of conditions for work and family interplay are suggested.

The thesis is divided into theoretical, methodological and practical part. The theoretical part deals with the development of management considering HR aspects, the development of the concept of HR work with detail on the models of human resource management and the importance of human resources. In the methodological part, the methods of research are presented. The research itself, its results and subsequent recommendations for HR professionals are described in the practical part of the thesis. First, the key challenges in human resource management are identified and characterized. These challenges are subjected to qualitative and quantitative researches and then the results are compared to Europe-wide survey by The Boston Consulting Group. The final chapter gives practical recommendations to HR professionals and executive managers how to work with the most key HR challenges so that HR professionals are treated as the business partners and the future competitiveness of a company in the market is ensured.

The subject of this thesis is Work-Life Balance - the reconciliation of professional and personal lives. The primary objective of this work is to analyze employee satisfaction in achieving a balance between the professional and personal life and to develop recommendations for employer on that basis. The theoretical portion of this work defines the issues surrounding Work-Life Balance and tools that employees can use to harmonize the two with an analysis of applications in the Czech Republic and across the European Union. The practical portion of the study analyzes employee satisfaction in real-world cases. On the basis of both components, the study offers recommendations for policy improvements to foster better Work-Life Balance.

The thesis deals with ways to reconcile the personal and professional life from the perspective of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It describes the problems working parents must face when caring for a child, and confirms that the potential of CSR is not widely used in the Czech Republic. The main objective is the analysis of CSR tools, with which the employers may facilitate the harmonization of personal and work lives of their employees. The secondary objective is the cost-benefit analysis of the employer's introduction of some measures of CSR. It is shown why in the long run it is worth to be a socially responsible company. The international comparison in the field of reconciliation of family and working life is included. The thesis concludes with several recommendations for the state, which can improve options of balancing family and profession in the Czech Republic.