Applying Argyris and Schon's 'Theory of action perspective' to Family Friendly Organisations (FFOs)

This paper proposes the use of Argyris and Schon's (1974) 'Theory of Action Perspective' and its two fundamental concepts 'espoused theory' and 'theory-in-use' to help FFOs in their quest and attempts to retain their family-friendliness. An FFO is identified as one that has sought to implement the family-friendly workplace but one that has also sought for and been granted formal recognition as a family-friendly workplace. Such an organisation's aims and objectives with regard to its commitment to helping employees balance their work/family spheres are reflected in its policies and these are further translated into workplace provisions made available to employees. The sum total of the range of provisions may be regarded as constituting the 'espoused theory' component of the theory of action. Simarly the sum of the range of family-friendly practices actually being utilised by the employees can be regarded as the 'theory-in-use' component. Hence an analysis of the 'espoused theory' versus the 'theory-in-use' components can be used to indicate discrepancies between what is formulated and what is actually put into practice by the organisation. The level of discrepancy may vary from low acceptable levels to higher unacceptable levels that effectively limit employees from a balanced work and family relationship. Based on literature reviews the level of discrpancy may be linked to a number of limiting factors.