Self-Employment and Quality of Work and Nonwork Life: A Study in Cross-Cultural Management‪.‬

Introduction This study examined the differences between self-employed and organizationally employed individuals in Canada (N=248) and Pakistan (N=306) with regard to quality of work and nonwork life (QWNWL). Quality of work and nonwork life was operationalized in terms of job stress, burnout, job satisfaction, health problems, time spent with family and social participation. In the current industrial society, one may conceive broadly two types of jobs. The dominant type of jobs in industrialized societies consists of jobs whose identities are independent of job holders. Most of these jobs are embedded in hierarchies and are usually salaried jobs (Eden, 1975). These jobs are characterized by a high degree of formalization and the duties and rewards are generally predetermined. In terms of work role definition, individuals' personalities, skills and devotion can make only a modest difference (Lewin-Epstein and Yuchtman-Yaar, 1991). On the other hand, the second category of jobs differs from the first one in that the scope of the job and the pay-offs are determined, to a large extent, by the efforts and the skill of the job incumbent. These are typically the self-employed jobs which generally exist outside corporate and bureaucratic structures (Jamal, 1997).