Journal of Management Research

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Occupational Stress in Organizations and its Effects on Organizational Performance


Affiliations
1 Department of Management Faculty of Business University of Botswana Gaborone, Botswana
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Human resource practitioners, counsellors, professionals and managers in various organizations are concerned about the impact of occupational stress in organizations. Occupational stress affects employee turnover, productivity and firm performance. Managers in various organizations are in dilemma over what interventions need to be employed to minimize the costs associated with occupational stress. It is therefore, essential to understand the causes, symptoms and effects of occupational stress on organizational performance. The data used for this study was generated by convenience random sampling of employees working in public sector organizations in Botswana. The findings from this study show that occupational stress affects employees in several ways and is a major source of employees turnover in many organizations. Suggestions have been made to inspire managers to understand and develop appropriate interventions to manage and minimize stress in their organizations.

Keywords

Occupational Stress, Organizational Stress, Managing Occupational Stress
User
Notifications

  • Arthur, A. P. (2000), Employee Assistance Programmes: The Emperors New Clothes or Stress Management, Journal of British Guidance and Counselling, 28(1): 549-59.

  • Beehr, T. A. (1998), Research on Occupational Stress: An Unfinished Enterprise, Journal of Personnel Psychology, 51(5): 835-844.

  • Bland, J. M. (1999), A New Approach to Management of Stress, Journal of Industrial and Commercial Training, 31(2): 44-48.

  • Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A. (2004), Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (5th ed.), Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow.

  • Chang, K. and Lu, L. (2007), Characteristics of Organisational Culture Stressors and Wellbeing, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(6): 549-568.

  • Christo, B. and Pienaar, J. (2006), South Africa Correctional Official Occupational Stress: The Role of Psychological Strengths, Journal of Criminal Justice, 34(1): 73-84.

  • Carlson, C. R. and Hoyle, R. H. (1993), Efficacy of Abbreviated Progressive Muscle Relaxation Training: A Quantitative Review of Behavioural Medicine Research, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61(6): 1059-1067.

  • Cohen, J. and Single, L. E. (2001), An Examination of the Perceived Impact of Flexible Work Arrangement on Professional Opportunities in Public Accounting, Journal of Business Ethics, 32(4): 317-9.

  • Cooper, C. L. and Cartwright, S. (1994), Healthy Mind; Healthy Organisation A Proactive Approach to Occupational Stress, Journal of Human Relations, 47(1): 455-71.

  • Defrank, R. S. and Cooper C. L. (1987), Worksite Stresses Management Interventions: Their Effectiveness and Conceptualization, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2(1): 4-9.

  • Fairbrother, K. and Warn, J. (2003), Workplace Dimensions, Stress and Job Satisfaction, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(1):8-21.

  • GAO (2001), Human Capital Practices that Empowered and Involved Employee (September 2001).

  • Greenberg, J. and Baron, R.A. (2000), Behaviour in Organisations (7th ed.), Prentice-Hall Inc., NJ.

  • Harvey, D. and Brown, D. R. (2006), An Experimental Approach to Organisation Development (7th Ed.), pp. 254-257, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

  • Hausman, A. (2001), Variation in Relationship Strengths and its Impact on Performance and Satisfaction Business Relationship, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 16(7): 660-16.

  • Higgins, N. C. (1986), Occupational Stress and Working Women: The Effectiveness of Two Stress Reduction Programs, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 29(2): 66-78.

  • Ivancevich, J. M., Matterson, M. T., Freedman, S. M. and Philips, J. S. (1990), Worksite Stress Management Interventions, Journal of American Psychologists, 45(1): 252-261.

  • Jackson, S. and Schuler, R. (1983), Preventing Employee Burnout, Journal of Personnel, 60(2): 58-68.

  • Johnson, S. J. (2001), Occupational Stress Among Social Workers and Administration Workers within a Social Services Department, unpublished MSc. dissertation, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester.

  • Katherine, P. E., George, J. A., Mary, B. and Linda, S. P. (2008), Stress Management in the Work Place, Journal of Computers in Human Behaviour, 24(2): 486-496.

  • Kathryn S. W. (1996), Exploring the Causes of Principal Burnout, Journal of Educational Administration, 34(1): 60-71.

  • Kirkcaldy B. D., Trimpoo R. M. and Williams S. (2002), Occupational Stress and Healthy Outcomes Among British and German Managers, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(6): 491-505

  • Kolbell, R. M. (1995), When Relaxation is not Enough, in Murphy, L. R., Hurrel, J. J., Sauter, S. L. and Keita, G. P. (Eds.), Job stress intervention, pp.31-43, America Psychological Associations, Washington DC.

  • Mark, L. F., Jonathan and Gregory, S. K. (2003), Eustress, Distress and Interpretation in Occupational Stress, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(7): 726-744.

  • Manshor, A. T., Rodrigue, F. and Chong, S. C. (2003), Occupational Stress Among Managers: Malaysian Survey, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(6): 622-628.

  • Manning, M. R. and Jackson, C. N. (1996), Occupational Stress, Social Support and the Costs of Health Care. Journal of Academy Management, 39(3): 138-150.

  • Midgley, S. (1996). Pressure Points (managing job stress), Journal of People Management, 3(14): 36.

  • McCarty, W. P., Zhao, J. S. and Garland, B. E. (2007), Occupational Stress and Burnout Between Male and Female Police Officers: Are There Any Gender Differences, International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 30(4): 672-691.

  • McHugh, M. (1993), Stress at Work: Do Managers Really Count the Costs, Journal of Employee Relations, 15(1): 182-32.

  • Murphy, L. R. and Sauter, S. L. (2003), The USA Perspectives: Current Issues and Trends in the Management of Work Stress, Journal of Australian Psychologist, 38(1): 151-157.

  • Murphy, L. R. (1995), Occupational Stress Management: Current Status and Future Directions, in Cooper, C. L., Rousseau, D. M. (Eds.), Trends in Organisational Behaviour, pp. 1-14, John Wiley, Chichester.

  • Nelson and Quick (1994), Organisational Behaviour Foundations: Realities and Challenges, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN.

  • Ongori, H. (2007), A Review of the Literature on Employee Turnover, Africa Journal of Business Management, 1(3): 49-54.

  • Otto, K. and Schmidt, S. (2007), Dealing with Stress in the Work Place, Journal of European Psychologists, 12(4): 272-282.

  • Ornelas, S. and Kleiner, B. H. (2003), New Development in Managing Job Related Stress, Journal of Equal Opportunities International, 2(5): 64-70.

  • Pattie, M. (2006), Making Difference in the Work Place, Journal of Equal Opportunities International, 25(3): 219-223.

  • Pawlow, L. A. and Jones, G. E. (2002), The Impact of Abbreviated Muscle Relaxation on Salivary Control, Journal of Biological Psychology, 60(1): 1-16.

  • Randolfi, E. A. (1997), Developing a Stress Management and Relaxation Centre for the Worksite, Journal of Worksite Health, 4(3): 40-44.

  • Raitano, R. E. and Kleiner, B. H. (2004), Stress Management Stressors and Prevention Measures, Journal of Management News, 27(4/5): 32-38.

  • Rees, C. J. and Redfern, D. (2000), Recognizing the Perceived Causes of Stress A Training and Development Perspective, Journal of Industrial and Commercial Training, 32(4): 120-127.

  • Selye, H. (1987), Stress Without Distress, Transworld, London.

  • Schabracq, M. J. and Cooper, C. L. (2000), The Changing Nature of Work and Stress, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15(3): 227-42.

  • Stevenson, A. and Harper, S. (2006), Work Stress and Student Learning Experience, Journal of Quality Assurance in Education, 14(2): 167-178.

  • Sapountzi-Krepia (2003), Seeking the Attitudes and Perceptions of the Greek Care Professionals on Voluntary Work Caring People with HIV/AIDS, Journal of Nursing Management, 11(4): 285-65.

  • Tehrani, N. (2002), Managing Organisational Stress, CIPD. Retreived on February 14, 2008, from www.cipd.co.uk

  • Topper, E. F. (2007), Stress in the Library, Journal of New Library, 108(11/12): 561-564.

  • Varca, P. E. (1999), Work Stress and Customer Service Delievery, Jouranl of Services Marketing, 13(3): 229-241.

  • Vermunt, R. and Steensma, H. (2005), How can Justice be Used to Manage Stress in Organizations, in Greenberg, J. and Colquitt,

  • J. A. (Eds.), Handbook of Organizational Justice, pp. 383-410, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ


Abstract Views: 1406

PDF Views: 3




  • Occupational Stress in Organizations and its Effects on Organizational Performance

Abstract Views: 1406  |  PDF Views: 3

Authors

Henry Ongori
Department of Management Faculty of Business University of Botswana Gaborone, Botswana
Joseph Evans Agolla
Department of Management Faculty of Business University of Botswana Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract


Human resource practitioners, counsellors, professionals and managers in various organizations are concerned about the impact of occupational stress in organizations. Occupational stress affects employee turnover, productivity and firm performance. Managers in various organizations are in dilemma over what interventions need to be employed to minimize the costs associated with occupational stress. It is therefore, essential to understand the causes, symptoms and effects of occupational stress on organizational performance. The data used for this study was generated by convenience random sampling of employees working in public sector organizations in Botswana. The findings from this study show that occupational stress affects employees in several ways and is a major source of employees turnover in many organizations. Suggestions have been made to inspire managers to understand and develop appropriate interventions to manage and minimize stress in their organizations.

Keywords


Occupational Stress, Organizational Stress, Managing Occupational Stress

References