Organizational Change and Stress Management(1)

7/31/2019 Organizational Change and Stress Management(1)

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Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with anopportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he/she desires and for which theoutcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.

Stress is not necessarily bad in and of itself. Individuals often use stresspositively to rise to the occasion and perform at or near their maximum.

Typically, stress is associated with constraints and demands.

1. The former prevent you from doing what you desire.2. The latter refers to the loss of something desired.

Two conditions are necessary for potential stress to become actual stress.1. There must be uncertainty over the outcome, and the outcome must beimportant.2. Only when there is doubt or uncertainty regarding whether the opportunitywill be seized, the constraint removed, or the loss avoided that there is stress.3. Importance is also critical. If the outcomes are unimportant to theindividual there is no stress.

What Is Stress


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2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 18 1


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1. Environmental factors:

1. Environmental uncertainty influences stress levels among employees in anorganization.2. Changes in the business cycle create economic uncertainties.3. Political uncertainties can be stress inducing.4. Technological uncertainty can cause stress because new innovations canmake an employees skills and experience obsolete in a very short period of time.

2. Organizational factors :

1. Pressures to avoid errors or complete tasks in a limited time period, workoverload, a demanding and insensitive boss, and unpleasant coworkers are afew examples.

2. Task demands are factors related to a persons job. They include the designof the individuals job (autonomy, task variety, degree of automation), workingconditions, and the physical work layout.


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1. Role demands relate to pressures that are a function of the role an individualplays in an organization.

Role conflicts create expectations that may be hard to reconcile or satisfy.Role overload is experienced when the employee is expected to do more than

time permits.Role ambiguity is created when role expectations are not clearly understood.

2. Interpersonal demands are pressures created by other employees.3. Organizational structure defines the level of differentiation in the organization,the degree of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made. Excessive rulesand lack of participation in decisions might be potential sources of stress.4. Organizational leadership represents the managerial style of the organizationssenior executives.

3. Individual factors : 1. These are factors in the employees personal life. Primarily, these factors arefamily issues, personal economic problems, and inherent personalitycharacteristics.2. National surveys consistently show that people hold family and personalrelationships dear.3. Economic problems created by individuals overextending their financialresources.4. A significant individual factor influencing stress is a persons basic

dispositional nature.


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D. Individual Differences Five individual difference variables moderate the relationship between potential

stressors and experienced stress:perceptionjob experiencelocus of controlself-efficacyhostility.

Perception: Moderates the relationship between a potential stress condition andan employees reaction to it. Stress potential doesnt lie in objective conditions; it liesin an employees interpretation of those conditions.

Job experience: The evidence indicates that experience on the job tends to benegatively related to work stress.

Locus of control:1.Those with an internal locus of control believe they control their own destiny.

Internals perceive their jobs to be less stressful than do externals.Internals are likely to believe that they can have a significant effect on the

results.2.Those with an external locus believe their lives are controlled by outside forces.

Externals are more likely to be passive and feel helpless.


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Self-efficacy: The confidence in ones own abilities appears to decreasestress

Hostility: People who are quick to anger, maintain a persistently

hostile outlook, and project a cynical mistrust of others are more likely toexperience stress in situations

Consequences of Stress

Stress shows itself in a number of ways physiological, psychological, andbehavioral symptoms

1. Physiological symptoms : Most of the early concern with stress was directed atphysiological symptoms due to the fact that specialists in thehealth and medical sciences researched the topic.

1. Physiological symptoms have the least direct relevanceto students of OB.


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2. Psychological symptoms :1.Job-related stress can cause job-related dissatisfaction.

1. Job dissatisfaction is the simplest and most obvious psychological effectof stress.2. Multiple and conflicting demands lack of clarity as to the incumbentsduties, authority, and responsibilities increase stress and dissatisfaction.3. The less control people have over the pace of their work, the greater thestress and dissatisfaction.

3. Behavioral symptoms :

1. Behaviorally related stress symptoms include changes in productivity,absence, and turnover, as well as changes in eating habits, increased smokingor consumption of alcohol, rapid speech, fidgeting, and sleep disorders.2. The stress-performance relationship is shown in Exhibit 18-10

3. In spite of the popularity and intuitive appeal of the inverted-U model, itdoesnt get a lot of empirical support.


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Individual ApproachesImplementing time managementIncreasing physical exerciseRelaxation training

Expanding social support network


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Organizational ApproachesImproved personnel selection and job placementTrainingUse of realistic goal settingRedesigning of jobsIncreased employee involvementImproved organizational communicationOffering employee sabbaticalsEstablishment of corporate wellness programs

Organizational Change and Stress Management(1)

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