Effects of Management Style and Work-Life Balance of Employees in Mining Companies in the Katangese Copper Arc

This study aims to analyze the impact of management styles on the work-life balance (WLB) of employees in the mining companies of the Katanga Copperbelt. Given the specific challenges faced by these companies, where reconciling professional and family demands is particularly crucial, the research thoroughly examines the effects of authoritarian, participative, delegative, transformational, transactional, paternalistic, servant, and adaptive management styles on WLB. Through a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative analyses (using SPSS and AMOS), the goal is to validate or refute the hypotheses regarding the relationship between these management styles and WLB. Qualitative results from Iramuteq reveal nuanced employee perceptions of management styles. Certain styles, such as participative and delegative management, are perceived as conducive to balancing work and family life, while authoritarian management is largely viewed as detrimental. However, the quantitative findings indicate that the impact of these styles on WLB is not always statistically significant. For instance, while participative management shows a slight positive influence, the relationship remains non-significant. Similarly, transactional and paternalistic styles demonstrate a slightly negative relationship with WLB, but without statistical significance. This research highlights the need to adopt management styles that are more attuned to employees' socio-cultural realities, particularly in mining contexts where family plays a central role. However, the results also underscore the limitations of purely quantitative approaches in capturing the full complexity of managerial dynamics.