When a crisis context legitimizes managerial innovation: The case of family-work balance practices in the midst of a pandemic

In March 2020, the containment policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world of organizations to change their work practices. In particular, many employees in the western world found themselves practicing telework, while having at home their family, spouse and / or children. In this context, managers have been forced to adapt, make do, and generate managerial innovations, particularly in terms of family-work balance practices. Based on qualitative and quantitative data collected in a large Quebec energy company during the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, we propose in this article to look at how the legitimacy of managerial innovations is constructed in a crisis situation, in the specific case of work-family balance practices in the context of a pandemic. Our results make it possible to identify the conditions under which such managerial innovations can be introduced.
JEL Codes: H12, O39