THE COPING STRATEGIES OF GLOBAL CAREERISTS IN ACHIEVING WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Liisa Mäkelä, Department of Management, University of Vaasa, Finland
Vesa Suutari, Professor, Department of Management, University of Vaasa, Finland

Abstract
Global careers involving frequent international relocations have been stated to be challenging experiences both for managers and their families. However, no earlier studies which have focused on work-life balance of global careerists or the coping strategies these managers use to cope with these challenges were found. In order to increase our understanding of these issues, 20 semi-structured interviews were carried out among global careerists. The results  indicate that global careers include in particular, time-based, strain-based and mobility-based work-life conflicts. In order to succeed, the managers used mainly problem solving and emotional coping strategies beside family level coping strategies.
Keywords: global careerist, work-life balance, coping strategy