Organisational attractiveness of family businesses and start-ups and the role of flexible working hours

Abstract

As the competition for young talent intensifies in the labour market, companies must adapt to meet the expectations of prospective employees. This master thesis examines university students’ organisational attractiveness, job pursuit intention, and person-organisation fit with family businesses and start-ups, and the role of flexible working hours. An experimental study was conducted with 163 university students. The objectives of this study were to determine if university students prefer to work for companies offering flexible working hours over those with fixed working schedules, if they prefer start-ups over family businesses and if they prefer family businesses with flexible working hours over start-ups with fixed working schedules. The findings indicate that university students are significantly more attracted to organisations offering flexible working hours and have higher job pursuit intentions for such organisations. Students also perceive a greater person-organisation fit with organisations providing flexible working hours. However, no significant preferences were found between start-ups and family businesses. In conclusion, flexible working hours are crucial in attracting young talent, with students expressing a preference for companies offering such arrangements. While no significant difference was found between the attractiveness of family businesses and start-ups, the results highlight the importance of incorporating flexible working hours as a strategy for enhancing organisational attractiveness and competitiveness in the labour market.

Date of Award	3 May 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Tatiana Marques (Supervisor)