Retaining talent in the maritime sector by creating a work-family balance logic: implications from women managers navigating work and family

PurposeThis paper contributes to the social pillar of sustainable supply chain management. It does so by investigating how women managers in the maritime sector handle work-family conflict, thereby acting as institutional entrepreneurs to create a work-family balance logic. The maritime sector is a male-dominated supply chain management environment, which suffers from a talent gap of a lack of women executives. One reason for this problem is work-family balance issues that deter women from staying in the workforce.Design/methodology/approachThe authors interviewed 35 women working as port managers in different developing countries. The authors analyzed their strategies in coping with the conflict between family and work to create a work-family balance logic.FindingsThe authors found four different types of strategies to handle work-family conflicts. Responses showed that women executives in this sector can be institutional entrepreneurs. Based on the findings, the authors were able to confirm and contribute to the existing model proposed by Silva and Nunes (2021) on sustainable supply chain logic. The authors also provided recommendations for these women as institutional entrepreneurs and for policymakers to retain women talent in the supply chain management.Research limitations/implicationsThe research focuses on a specific supply chain management sector, which is the maritime sector. It also relies exclusively on interview data.Practical implicationsThe authors propose recommendations to develop a work-family balance logic and retain talented women in the supply chain industry based on monitoring equality and supporting their need for a work-family balance, both in the short and long terms.Originality/valueThe authors interviewed women executives in one of the most male dominated sectors. The authors studied their ability to cope with work-family conflicts and identified four ways to create a work-family balance logic. These findings enabled us to show the contribution and limits of women executives as institutional entrepreneurs for work family balance logics in male dominated sectors.

Automated summary

This study investigates how women managers in the maritime sector handle work-family conflict and act as institutional entrepreneurs to create a work-family balance logic. The findings identify four different strategies used by women executives to manage work-family conflicts. This research is valuable for understanding sustainable supply chain management and retaining women talent in male-dominated sectors.