Imran Research

8/14/2019 Imran Research

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RESEARCH REPORT

INTERPERSONAL CONFILCT BETWEEN SUPERVISIOR AND EMPLOYEE

CREATES A JOB STRESS

(2009)

Master of Business Administration Program

Sadia Fatima (03-Arid-459)Muhammad Rashad Nawaz (07 arid 525)Ghulam Shabbir (07-Arid-547)Imran Ullah (07-Arid-514)

Specialization: Human Resource Management

University Institute of Management Sciences

University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi

Company Name: PTCL OCC

Main Telephone No : 051-4846250

Fax No: 051-4846254

Postal Address: PTCL OCC Satellite town Exchange Rawalpindi

Evaluation


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Sadia Fatima

Muhammad Rashad Nawaz

Ghulam Shabbir

Imran Ullah

Research Report Submitted for the Final Evaluation in Partial Fulfillment of theRequirements for the Degree of

Mas ter s in B us ine ss A dmi ni str ation

It is certified that, the Research Report and the work contained in it conforms toall the standards set by the Institute for the evaluation of any such work.

1. Mr. Shuja Ilyas

University Institute of ManagementSciences

University of Arid Agriculture,Rawalpindi

(2009)


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DEDICATION

ToOur parents and friends

In recognition of their worthAn apology

A feeling bears on itself the scars of its birth; it recollects as a

Subjective

Emotion its struggle for existence;

it retains the impress of what might have been, but is not.

To

Our Teachers, all colleagues and manger OCC Mr.Ahmer Khan whosecoordination and support always pave the way to success for us.

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and believe in

yourself, vision, hardwork, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible

for those who believe.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All the praise for Allah, the most merciful and beneficial, who blessed us with the knowledge,

gave us the courage and allowed us to accomplish this task. We are especially indebted to all

teachers, for instilling in us enough knowledge to be able to carrying ourselves efficiently for

doing this job. We learned a lot while doing this research and this will certainly help us in our

forth coming life. It was a very first step in our life which provided us much knowledge and

relevant experience in the field of HR and it is very helpful step in our forth coming lives.

Secondly we are bound to thank to all staff at PTCL. In particular we great full to Mr.Ahmer

Sajjad Khan, his inspiring guidance, remarkable suggestions, constant encouragement, keen

interest, constructive criticism and friendly discussion, helped us to learn and enabled us to

complete this report efficiently.


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INTRODUCTION

Title/Topic:

Interpersonal conflict between supervisor and employee creates a job stress.

Problem statement:

Does interpersonal conflict create stress among supervisor and employees?

Hypothesis:

There is a positive relationship between interpersonal conflict among supervisor/leader

and employee and job stress.

Interpersonal conflict among supervisor and employ causes stress.

Operational definition of the variables:

Interpersonal conflict: By defining interpersonal conflictwe have explain itis an expressed

struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce

resources, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals.

Job stress: By defining job stress, in general I mean the stressors involved are work-related

which comes through interpersonal conflict among 2 parties, the supervisor and the

employees.

Dependent and independent variables:

In our study we define interpersonal conflict as independent variable, because it is the factor

which is causing stress. On the other hand stress is due to interpersonal conflict, it depends on


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conflict if there is conflict then there is stress. That if the level of conflict is increases then the

level of the stress also increases.

Study type:

It is quantitative study in order to take larger picture of the situation, to generalize the results

and take true statistics whether the hypothesis is true or not.

Locale and Sample:

For the locale we have chosen an organization PTCL (Pakistan telecommunication limited).

The sample of the present study is Outbound Contact center, the department of PTCL. For this

purpose supervisor of the department and 75 employees are selected as a sample

Data collection method:

For this purpose we will use:

1. Job Stress Questionnaire

Procedures:

The present study is concerned with interpersonal conflict between employ and supervisor and

job stress as a result of that conflict. The procedure would carry out as follow: the locale of

the research has been chosen for the study which is Pakistan telecommunication limited. The

purpose of the study would be told to the supervisor, for this reference letter would be use in

order to get permission to conduct research. After getting permission we visited and timings

were decided. The outbound call center has been chosen as a sample of the study. 50

employees will be chosen to conduct the survey. For this purpose Job Stress Questionnaire,

shorter version of job stress scale, Minnesota satisfaction questionnaire (short form) was used.

After getting essential and complete information the results are deduced, which leads to

conclusion of the study and which further told if the study is accepting the hypothesis or not.


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1. Organization

1.1 What is Organization

When two or more people get together and agree to coordinate their activities in order to

achieve their common goals, an organization has been born. There is really no doubt about the

present meaning of organization. Its purpose is to create an arrangement of positions and

responsibilities through and by means of which an enterprise can carry out its work. An

academic textbook definition of organization can be formulated as follows:

A. The responsibilities by means of which the activities of the enterprise are dispersed

among the (managerial, supervisory, and specialist) personnel employed in its service;

B. The formal interrelations established among the personnel by virtue of such

responsibilities.

Stinchcombe says in his book Handbook of Organizations, organization is defined as "A set of

social relations deliberately created, with the explicit intention of continuously accomplishing

some specific goals or purposes.

A system of structural interpersonal relations. Individuals are differentiated in terms of

authority, status, and role with the result that personal interaction is prescribed... Anticipated

reactions tend to occur, while ambiguity and spontaneity are decreased (R.V. Presthus)

1.2 Organization in sociology


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In sociology "organization" is understood as planned, coordinated and purposeful action of

human beings to construct or compile a common tangible or intangible product. This action is

usually framed by formal membership and form (institutional rules). Sociology distinguishes

the term organization into planned formal and unplanned informal (i.e. spontaneously formed)

organizations. Sociology analyzes organizations in the first line from an institutional

perspective. In this sense, organization is a permanent arrangement of elements. These

elements and their actions are determined by rules so that a certain task can be fulfilled

through a system of coordinated division of labor.

Basically an organization is an entity or a social arrangement which is aimed to achieve some

goals and objectives. The existence of an organization totally depends on the goals and the

objectives on the basis of which, it came in to being. Organizations can be for-profit or non-

profit organizations and they have their own environments where people are responsible to

achieve the mission of the organization. Someone has greatly said about it, that an

organization makes the ordinary people to do some extraordinary things, that is why it exists.

Most of the organizations tend to change over the period of time because those which do not

change cannot survive in the demanding world of globalization. It is the rule for the going-

concern of organizations to keep bringing some change and innovations for the customers.

There are various ways through which they can change over time like through expansion,

diversification, and product or brand extension etc. For example, United Nation Organization

started to bring social reforms in the world and today it is the most diversified organization in

the world.

2. Organizational structure

Organizational Structure OS is the framework that defines reporting relationships between

different positions within the organization. Organizational structure determines the manner

and extent to which roles, power, and responsibilities are passing on, controlled, and

coordinated, and how information flows between levels of management. This structure

depends entirely on the organization's objectives and the strategy chosen to achieve them.


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2.1 Structural dimensions of an organization

2.1.1 Centralization

It is a structure in which functions are separated in the organization, either in terms of

integration with other functions or geographically. In this structure, the decision making

power is concentrated in the top layer of the management and strong control is exercised over

departments and divisions.

2.1.2 Decentralization

In decentralized structure, the decision making power is distributed and the departments and

divisions have varying degrees of autonomy. An organization chart illustrates the

organizational structure;


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3. Contextual Dimensions of an organization

3.1 Culture

The values and beliefs shared by all (note that culture is often discerned by examining norms

or observable behaviors in the workplace)

3.2 Environment

The nature of external influences and activities in the political, technical, social and economic

arenas

3.3 Goals

Unique overall priorities and desired end-states of the organization

3.4 Size

Number of people and resources and their span in the organization

3.5Technology

The often unique activities needed to reach organizational goals, including nature of activities,

specialization, type of equipment/facilities needed, etc.

4. Types of Organization Structure

Organizational structure formally determines the hierarchy within an organization. In other

words, who reports to whom? Types of organizational structure include: Functional

structure, Divisional structure. Divisional structure is further broken down into three sub-

types: product structure, market structure, and geographic structure, Matrix structure.

4.1 Functional Structure

The functional structure group employees together based upon the functions of specific jobs

within that organization. Functional structure is also called Traditional organization structure,

based on the sub-division of disciplines into separate departments together with vertical


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hierarchy. For e.g. a person who used to work for a division of an internet service provider

(ISP). The organizational structure at that division was functional. The organizational chart

was as follows:

Vice president

Sales Department (sales function)

Customer Service Department (customer service function)

Engineering Department (engineering function)

Accounting Department (accounting function)

Administration Department (administration function)

4.2DivisionalStructure

Split into self-contained units, able to react to environmental changes as quickly as small

companies, they are also described as multidivisional or 'M-form' organizations.

The divisional structure is broken down into three areas: product, market, and geographic.

4.2.1 Product Structure

Product structure groups employees together based upon specific products produced by the

company. An example of this would be a company that produces three distinct products,

"product a", "product b", and "product c". This company would have a separate division for

each product.

4.2.2 Market Structure

Market structure groups employees together based upon specific markets in which the

company sells. When I worked at the ISP, we also used a form of market structure. We sold

internet access to individual consumers and business customers. So the sales and customer


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service departments were organized using market structure. Consumer sales and consumer

customer service worked together, and corporate sales and corporate customer service worked

together. Geographic structure groups employees together based upon specific geographic

location. This is often used by large companies that operate in many areas throughout the

United States or in both the U.S. and overseas.

4.3 Matrix Structure

Matrix structure groups employees by both function and product. This structure can combine

the best of both separate structures. An example would be a company that produces two

products, "product a" and "product b". Using the matrix structure, this company would

organize functions within the company as follows: "product a" sales department, "product a"

customer service department, "product a" accounting, "product b" sales department, "product

b" customer service department, "product b" accounting department. Matrix structure is the

most complex of the different organizational structures.

ORGANIZATION UNDER STUDY

4. COMPANY BACKGROUND

From the humble beginnings of Posts & Telegraph Department in 1947 and establishment of

Pakistan Telephone & Telegraph Department in 1982, PTCL has been a major player in

telecommunication in Pakistan. Despite having established a network of enormous size, PTCL

workings and policies have attracted regular criticism from other smaller operators and the

civil society of Pakistan.

Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) took over operations and functions from

Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph Department under Pakistan Telecommunication

Corporation Act 1991. This coincided with the Government's competitive policy, encouraging


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private sector participation and resulting in award of licenses for cellular, card-operated pay-

phones, paging and, lately, data communication services.

Pursuing a progressive policy, the Government in 1991, announced its plans to privatize PTC,

and in 1994 issued six million vouchers exchangeable into 800 million shares of the would-be

PTCL in two separate placements. Each had a par value of Rs.10 per share. These vouchers

were converted into PTCL shares in mid-1998.In the middle of 2005 Government of Pakistan

had decided to sell at least 28 percent of this company to some private agency. There were

three participants in the bet for privatization of PTCL. Etisalat, a Dubai based company was

able to get the shares with a large margin in the bet.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is proud to be Pakistans most

reliable and largest converged services carrier providing all telecommunications services from

basic voice telephony to data, internet, video-conferencing and carrier services to consumers

and businesses all over the country.

Whether it is an office in the largest city of Pakistan or a home in a small village, we are

present in every corner of Pakistan to serve our customers.

4.1 Company Profile

PTCL operates in one of the most dynamic, deregulated and competitive markets in the world;

Pakistan with a population of 185 million people is a fast growing economy with relatively

low penetration of Information Communication Technology (ICT) services.

PTCL intends to be the leading ICT provider in the region by achieving customers'

satisfaction and maximizing shareholders' value and as such PTCL perceives its future as a

customer centric organization enhancing its infrastructure and investing in people.

4.2 History

Having its origin in the Post & Telegraph Department established in 1947, the Pakistan

Telecommunication Corporation (PTC) was established in December 1990, taking over


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operations and functions from the Pakistan Telephone and Telegraph Department under the

Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Act 1991.

The Pakistan Government's policy to promote competition encouraged private sector

participation and resulted in the award of licenses to cellular companies, card-operated

payphones, paging and, lately, data communication services. Pursuing a progressive policy,

the Government in 1991, announced its plans to privatize PTC, and in 1994 issued six million

vouchers exchangeable into 800 million shares of the would-be PTCL in two separate

placements. Each had a par value of Rs.10/- per share.

In 1995, the Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Ordinance paved the way for the

establishment of an independent regulatory regime. A milestone was crossed in 1998 as the

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) was formed and formally listed on all

Stock Exchanges of Pakistan.

Since then, PTCL has been working vigorously to meet the dual challenge of telecom

development and socio-economic uplift of the country. In keeping with the convergence of

technologies in the telecom sector PTCLs mobile and internet subsidiaries were created in

1998.

Ufone, the countrys second largest mobile service provider, boosted its operations by rolling

out the countrys largest ever expansion of its network, worth US$ 525 million. The new

investment aims to expand capacity and coverage in existing and new cities, as well as

providing high speed cellular mobile and wireless data services. By mid-2008 the two major

expansions will give Ufone coverage in over 4,500 cities, towns and villages, and all major

highways in the country.

Etisalat and PTCL

In 2008, Pakistan's Privatization Commission held open bidding to sell 1.328 billion shares,

along with management control of PTCL. The Etisalat International Pakistan, a 100 % owned


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subsidiary of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation - Etisalat was the highest bidder for a

28 per cent stake in PTCL with a $1.98 (118 rupees) per share offer.

Etisalat takes pride in being a partner in progress wherever it goes. To realize the dream of

human progress, Etisalat is ever ready to harness new technologies, build new partnerships

and embrace the future as it comes. This is the vision that drives Etisalat and directs the

Etisalat-PTCL interaction.

Subsequent to the takeover of management control by Etisalat International Pakistan, PTCL

continues its drive to transform into a modern, customer-focused communication and

information provider with a new vigour and commitment. By focusing on customer

satisfaction, partnering with innovation, investing in training and human resources and

enhancing its infrastructure, PTCL is evolving continuously.

PTCL is one of the largest employers in the country with its work force spread all over the

country to provide an essential service to the people of Pakistan. The changed telecom

environment requires PTCL to bring about changes in its corporate culture to thrive more in

the new environment.

Corporate and Commercial Initiatives

As part of the transformation of PTCL, the management initiated work on the re-branding of

the Company as a modern and customer-centric national carrier. Externally changing the logo

was carried out to reflect the commitment to the customers and the modernizing of the

infrastructure. Internally it gave employees a new zeal to stimulate the mindset change from a

technology and operations focused company to a competitive carrier that has customer

services as its hallmark.

PTCL made several investments in infrastructure development and added network capacity to

enhance services and expand its reach across the country. The market in Pakistan is extremely

competitive and PTCL has the largest nationwide installed network infrastructure capability


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including switching, transmission, fibre optic backbone, co-location and international

capacity. This gives PTCL a unique position in terms of providing to carriers and individual

consumers alike.

With the introduction of Vfone, the new CDMA-based WLL platform of PTCL, is poised to

become the largest fixed wireless telephony network in Pakistan. On the wireless broadband

front, a major upgrade of the WLL CDMA network was rolled out in order to provide wireless

broadband services in 17 major cities.

Broadband Pakistan offers DSL services with unmatched reliability, affordability and

connectivity. Customers have the option to packages with varying speeds from 512Kb to 2Mb

with unlimited downloads. Broadband customer service is available twenty-four hours a day,

seven days a week at 1238 with highly trained and professional representatives.

As part of offering converged services, expanding its service portfolio and improving

customer retention and acquisition, PTCL initiated the multi-channel Inter Protocol Television

(IPTV) project during 2008-07. This will be a landmark addition to the PTCL service portfolio

and will enable the company to provide Triple Play (voice, video and data) services over a

single fixed line connection. With IPTV the customer will be provided with a single interface

to satisfy his communication and entertainment needs along with single billing.

Keeping in mind customer convenience, PTCL is actively engaged in bringing an array of bill

payment options to its customers PTCL customers now have the flexibility to choose between

dropping a cheque in a drop box at a location near them to sending their payments through

mail at a nearby post office.

PTCL has also offered a dedicated service to provide billing information to its valued

subscribers who can simply dial '1200' to access instant billing information of the required

PTCL service. With the introduction of this service, customers no longer need to personally

visit customer service centers to find out what their bill amounts are and the automated service

is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to further facilitate customers.


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Moreover, PTCL has introduced a variety of valued added services for its customers while a

number of others are in the pipeline. Alongside the many packages and services PTCL is

continually seeking ways to facilitate its customers of which payment cards and electronic

modes of payments are just a part.

On the technical front, PTCL has laid an Optical Fiber Access Network in the major

metropolitan centers of Pakistan and local loop services have started to be modernized and

upgraded from copper to an optical network.

PTCL has invested in the capacity of two SEA-ME-WE submarine cables to meet the

increasing demand of international traffic. Additionally, PTCL is also part of a consortium that

will put in place a high-capacity fiber-optic submarine cable that stretches from India to Italy

and France via the Middle East, named I-ME-WE, to provide effective resilience to the

existing cable systems (SMW3 & SMW4).

PTCL has also signed an agreement with Huawei Technologies Pakistan and Hewlett Packard

(HP) to jointly launch the Network Operation Center project which has state-of-the-art fault

detection and resolution technology. This project would establish one main network operation

center and three regional ones with the implementation of an alarm management system

across the entire PTCL network in an integrated manner.

Beyond improved packages and new products, PTCL, as a socially responsible corporate

entity, has been pursuing different social causes touching on areas of culture, sports, music,

environment and general welfare by supporting different initiatives.

5. PTCL Outbound

In today's ever-changing world, PTCL has established an Outbound Contact Center which is

equipped and committed to provide PTCL with the expertise, the personnel and the facilities


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from Lead Generation and Product Sales to Database Enhancement and Management

to handle all of PTCLs telemarketing needs.

PTCL Vision Statement

To be the leading Information and Communication Technology Service Provider in the

region by achieving customer satisfaction and maximizing shareholders' value'.

The future is unfolding around us. In times to come, we will be the link that allows globalcommunication. We are striving towards mobilizing the world for the future. By becoming

partners in innovation, we are ready to shape a future that offers telecom services that bring us

closer

Contact Center Mission Statement

The mission of the PTCL Outbound Contact Center is to support the corporate goals of100%

customer satisfaction on every transaction by providing services that emphasizes:

Customer loyalty and keeping customers for life

Value of every customer

Professionalism via phone and multimedia channels


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6. Conflict

Conflict has been defined as "an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent

parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from the other

party in achieving their goals". Important concepts in this definition include "expressed

struggle," which means the two sides must communicate about the problem for there to be

conflict. Another important idea is that conflict often involves perceptions. The two sides may

only perceive that their goals, resources, and interference is incompatible with each other's.

We define conflict as a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to

their needs, interests or concerns. A conflict can be internal (within oneself) or external

(between two or more individuals). Conflicts occur when people (or other parties) perceive

that, as a consequence of a disagreement, there is a threat to their needs, interests or

concerns.

It is important to remember that conflict can be creative. Conflict is sometimes necessary to

bring justice where injustice exists. It can provide an opportunity for new social and political

systems to be established and can help to shape the future. However, when conflict becomes

violent it will usually do more harm than good.

After violent conflict, it is often difficult to see the opportunities for a better future due to the

widespread destruction of infrastructure and livelihoods, the breakdown of trust and the


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suffering caused through bereavement, trauma, grief and anger. It is also likely that such

social change could have occurred before the conflict became violent.

6.1 Types of conflict

There are many different types of conflict experienced by communities all

around the world. We suggest four categories into which most conflicts will

fall:

1. No conflict

Any peaceful community is likely to face conflict sometimes, although communities in this

category are good at resolving conflict before it develops.

2. Surface conflict

This has shallow or no roots. It may be due to misunderstanding of goals, which can be

addressed by improved communication and the conscious effort of opposing groups to

understand each others needs and opinions.

3. Latent conflict

This is conflict below the surface. It might need to be brought out into the open before it can

be effectively addressed.

4. Open conflict

This conflict is very visible and has deep roots, sometimes over several generations. Both the

causes and the effects need to be addressed.

Chart showing different dimensions of conflict

No conflict surface conflict

Latent conflict open conflict


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Communities experiencing surface or latent conflict are those where the disagreement can

quickly turn into open conflict. Open conflict can cause more physical, social, psychological

and environmental damage than the other types. It affects people who are not involved in the

conflict as well as those who are.

6.3 Organizational conflict

Organizational conflict is a state of dispute caused by the actual or perceived opposition of

needs, values and interests between people working together. Conflict takes many forms in

organizations. There is the inevitable clash between formal authority and power and those

individuals and groups affected. There are disputes over how revenues should be divided, how

the work should be done and how long and hard people should work. There is also conflict

within individuals between competing needs and demands to which individuals respond in

different ways.

The conflict can also be raised at jurisdictional disagreements among individuals,

departments, and between unions and management. In an organization the conflict can take

many forms.

6.3.1 Types of organizational conflict

As it is discussed above that there are many forms of conflict on personal level, group level,

management level, etc, as these types directly influence effectiveness of an organization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needs


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threat of being dismissed if you fail to report against a friendly colleague who is guilty of

breaking the organizations rules-an avoidance-avoidance conflict.

Conflict between groups

It is also called intergroup conflict. Conflict between groups is a sometimes necessary,

sometimes destructive, event that occurs at all levels and across all functions in organizations.

Intergroup conflict may help generate creative tensions leading to more effective contributions

to the organization's goals, such as competition between sales districts for the highest sales.

Intergroup conflict occurs in two general forms. Horizontal strain involves competition

between functions: for example, sales versus production, research and development versus

engineering, purchasing versus legal, line versus staff, and so on. Vertical strain involves

competition between hierarchical levels: for example, union versus management, foremen

versus middle management, shop workers versus foremen. A struggle between a group of

employees and management is an example of vertical strain or conflict. A clash between a

sales department and production over inventory policy would be an example of horizontal

strain.

7. Organizational conflict theories

7.1 Maturity-immaturity theory

According to Maslow, Argyris, McGregor, Rogers, and other writers of the so-called growth

schools, there is a basic tendency in the development of the human personality toward self-

fulfillment, or self-actualization. This implies that as an individual matures, he wants to be

given more responsibility, broader horizons, and the opportunity to develop his personal

potential. This process is interrupted whenever a person's environment fails to encourage and

nurture these desires.

Formal organizations are rational structures that, based on their assumption of emotions,

feelings, and irrationality as human weaknesses, try to replace individual control with

institutional control. Thus the principle of task specialization is seen as a device that simplifies


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tasks for the sake of efficiency. As a consequence, however, it uses only a fraction of a

person's capacity and ability. The principle of chain of command centralizes authority but

makes the individual more dependent on his superiors. The principle of normal span of

control, which assigns a maximum of six or seven subordinates to report to the chief

executive, reduces the number of individuals reporting to the head of the organization or to the

manager of any subunit. Although this simplifies the job of control for the manager, it also

creates more intensive supervision of the subordinate, and therefore permits him less freedom

to control himself.

Under such conditions, subordinates are bound to find themselves in conflict with the formal

organization, and sometimes with each other. They advance up the narrowing hierarchy where

jobs get fewer, and "fewer" implies competing with others for the decreasing number ofopenings. Task specialization tends to focus the subordinate's attention on his own narrow

function and divert him from thinking about the organization as a whole. This effect increases

the need for coordination and leads to a circular process of increasing the dependence on the

leader.

They may respond to organizational pressures and threats by defensive reactions such as

aggression against their supervisors and co-workers, fixated behavior or apathy, compromise

and gamesmanship, or psychological withdrawal and daydreaming. All of these defense

mechanisms reduce a person's potential for creative, constructive activity on the job. Finally,

employees may organize unions or unsanctioned informal groups whose norms of behavior

are opposed to many of the organization's goals. As a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, all of

these reactions to the constraints of the formal organization merely serve to reinforce and

strengthen them.

The conflict between the formal organization and the individual will continue to exist

wherever managers remain ignorant of its causes or wherever the organizational structure and

the leadership style are allowed to become inconsistent with the legitimate needs of the

psychologically healthy individual. Everyone recognizes the necessity for order and control in


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organizations. Those of us who enter management, however, must learn to recognize in

addition that order and control can be achieved only at the expense of individual freedom.

Subordinates adapt to these conditions in the organization in several ways. In the extreme,

they may find the situation intolerable and leave the organization. Or they may strive to

advance to positions of higher authority, there to adopt the controlling style they are trying to

escape.

8. Stress

What is stress?

Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good

and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on around them, their

bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. These chemicals give people more energy

and strength, which can be a good thing if their stress is caused by physical danger. But this

can also be a bad thing, if their stress is in response to something emotional and there is no

outlet for this extra energy and strength. This class will discuss different causes of stress, how

stress affects you, the difference between 'good' or 'positive' stress and 'bad' or 'negative'

stress, and some common facts about how stress affects people today.

What Causes Stress?

Many different things can cause stress such as physical (fear of something dangerous) to

emotional (such as worry over your family or job.) Identifying what may be causing you

stress is often the first step in learning how to better deal with your stress. Some of the most

common sources of stress are:


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Survival Stress - You may have heard the phrase "fight or flight" before. This is a common

response to danger in all people and animals. When you are afraid that someone or something

may physically hurt you, your body naturally responds with a burst of energy so that you will

be better able to survive the dangerous situation (fight) or escape it all together (flight). This is

survival stress.

Internal Stress - Have you ever caught yourself worrying about things you can do nothing

about or worrying for no reason at all? This is internal stress and it is one of the most

important kinds of stress to understand and manage. Internal stress is when people make

themselves stressed. This often happens when we worry about things we can't control or put

ourselves in situations we know will cause us stress. Some people become addicted to the

kind of hurried, tense, lifestyle that results from being under stress. They even look forstressful situations and feel stress about things that aren't stressful.

Environmental Stress - This is a response to things around you that cause stress, such as

noise, crowding, and pressure from work or family. Identifying these environmental stresses

and learning to avoid them or deal with them will help lower your stress level.

Fatigue and Overwork- This kind of stress builds up over a long time and can take a hard toll

on your body. It can be caused by working too much or too hard at your job(s), school, orhome. It can also be caused by not knowing how to manage your time well or how to take

time out for rest and relaxation. This can be one of the hardest kinds of stress to avoid because

many people feel this is out of their control. Later in this course we will show you that you

DO have options and offer some useful tips for dealing with fatigue.

8.1 Types of stress

The major types of stress can be broken down into four different categories: Eustress, Hyper

stress, Hypo stress, and Distress.

8.1.1 Eustress: Eustress is one of the helpful types of stress. It is the type of stress a person

experience right before he or she have the need to exert physical force. Eustress prepares the

muscles, heart, and mind for the strength needed for whatever is about to occur.


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When the body enters the fight or flight response, it will experience eustress. The eustress

prepares the body to fight with or flee from an imposing danger. This type of stress will cause

the blood to pump to the major muscle groups, and will increase the heart rate and blood

pressure to increase. If the event or danger passes, the body will eventually return to its

normal state.

8.1.2 Distress:

Distress is one of the negative types of stress. This is one of the types of stress that the mind

and body undergoes when the normal routine is constantly adjusted and altered. The mind is

not comfortable with this routine, and craves the familiarity of a common routine. There are

actually two types of distress: acute stress and chronic stress.

8.1.3Acute Stress

Acute stress is the type of stress that comes immediately with a change of routine. It is an

intense type of stress, but it passes quickly. Acute stress is the body's way of getting a person

to stand up and take inventory of what is going on, to make sure that everything is ok.

8.1.4 Chronic Stress

Chronic stress will occur if there is a constant change of routine for week after week. Chronic

stress affects the body for a long period of time. This is the type of stress experienced by

someone who constantly faces moves or job changes.

8.1.5 Hyper stress

Hyper stress is the type of negative stress that comes when a person is forced to undertake or

undergo more than he or she can take. A stressful job that overworks an individual will cause

that individual to face hyper stress. A person who is experiencing hyper stress will often

respond to even little stressors with huge emotional outbreaks. It is important for a person

who thinks they might be experiencing hyper stress to take measures to reduce the stress in

their lives, because hyper stress can lead to serious emotional and physical repercussions.


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8.1.6 Hypo stress

The final of the four types of stress is hypo stress. Hypo stress stands in direct opposite to

hyper stress. Hypo stress is basically insufficient amount of stress. That is because hypo stress

is the type of stress experienced by a person who is constantly bored. Someone in an

unchallenging job, such as a factory worker performing the same task over and over, will

often experience hypo stress. The effect of hypo stress is feelings of restlessness and a lack of

inspiration.

8.2 Job stress

What is job stress?

Job stress is also called work place stress. Professional stress or job stress poses a threat to

physical health. Work related stress in the life of organized workers, consequently, affects the

health of organizations.

Job stress is a chronic disease caused by conditions in the workplace that negatively affect an

individual's performance and/or overall well-being of his body and mind. One or more of a

host of physical and mental illnesses manifests job stress. In some cases, job stress can be

disabling. In chronic cases a psychiatric consultation is usually required to validate the reason

and degree of work related stress.

Symptoms of job stress

The signs of job stress vary from person to person, depending on the particular situation, how

long the individual has been subjected to the stressors, and the intensity of the stress itself.

Typical symptoms of job stress can be:


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Insomnia. (Sleep disorder).

Loss of mental concentration.

Anxiety, stress

Absenteeism

Depression.

Fatigue and stress

Substance abuse.

Extreme anger and frustration,

Family conflict

Physical illnesses such as heart disease, migraine, headaches, stomach

problems, and back problems.

8.2.1What causes job stress?

Job stress results from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of work. Views differ

on the importance of worker characteristics versus working conditions as the primary cause of

job stress. The differing viewpoints suggest different ways to prevent stress at work.

According to one school of thought, differences in individual characteristics such as

personality and coping skills are very important in predicting whether certain job conditions

will result in stress.

A person's status in the workplace can also affect levels of stress. While workplace stress has

the potential to affect employees of all categories; those who have very little influence to

those who make major decisions for the company. However, less powerful employees (that is,

those who have less control over their jobs) are more likely to suffer stress than powerful

workers. Managers as well as other kinds of workers are vulnerable to work overload (Primm,

2005).

Other factor leads to job stress

Job Insecurity


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Organized workplaces are going through metamorphic changes under intense economic

transformations and consequent pressures. Reorganizations, takeovers, mergers, downsizing

and other changes have become major stressors for employees, as companies try to live up to

the competition to survive. These reformations have put demand on everyone, from a CEO to

a mere executive.

High Demand for Performance

Unrealistic expectations, especially in the time of corporate reorganizations, which,

sometimes, puts unhealthy and unreasonable pressures on the employee, can be a tremendous

source of stress and suffering. Increased workload, extremely long work hours and intense

pressure to perform at peak levels all the time for the same pay, can actually leave employees

physically and emotionally drained. Excessive travel and too much time away from family

also contribute to an employee's stressors.

Technology

The expansion of technologycomputers, pagers, cell phones, fax machines and the Internet

has resulted in heightened expectations for productivity, speed and efficiency, increasing

pressure on the individual worker to constantly operate at peak performance levels. Workers

working with heavy machinery are under constant stress to remain alert. In this case both the

worker and their family members live under constant mental stress. There is also the constant

pressure to keep up with technological breakthroughs and improvisations, forcing employees

to learn new software all the times.

Workplace Culture

Adjusting to the workplace culture, whether in a new company or not, can be intensely

stressful. Making one adapt to the various aspects of workplace culture such as

communication patterns, hierarchy, dress code if any, workspace and most importantly

working and behavioral patterns of the boss as well as the co-workers, can be a lesson of life.


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Maladjustment to workplace cultures may lead to subtle conflicts with colleagues or even with

superiors. In many cases office politics or gossips can be major stress inducers.

Personal or Family Problems

Employees going through personal or family problems tend to carry their worries and

anxieties to the workplace. When one is in a depressed mood, his unfocused attention or lack

of motivation affects his ability to carry out job responsibilities.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Studies shows that Job stress results when there is a poor match between job demands and the

capabilities, resources, or needs of workers. Stress-related disorders encompass a broad array

of conditions, including psychological disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic

stress disorder) and other types of emotional strain (e.g., dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension),

maladaptive behaviors (e.g., aggression, substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (e.g.,

concentration and memory problems). In turn, these conditions may lead to poor work

performance or even injury.

A study which is conducted by Scott Schieman and Sarah Reid, University of Toronto. Using

data from a 2005 sample of 1,785 working adults in the United States, the authors examine the

association between jobauthority and the exposure to interpersonal conflict in theworkplace

and potential gender and age contingencies in that association. A positive association was

observed between authorityand conflict, but that association was more positive among men

and younger workers. Moreover, the authors rule out occupation, job sector, role-set

multiplicity, and work conditions as alternative explanations for these associations. These

observations have implications for theoretical views about social status variations in job

authority and its link to interpersonal stress in the

workplace.

In an other study L De Raeve et.al, Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University,

Maastricht, the Netherlands. The aim of this study was to examine the relationshipbetween

interpersonal conflicts at work and subsequent self-reported health outcomes (self-reported

general health, need for recovery,and prolonged fatigue and stress). Data from the Maastricht


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Cohort Study on fatigue at work (n = 5582 for co-worker conflict; n = 5530 for supervisor

conflict)were used. Interpersonal conflict with either co-workers orsupervisors was assessed

between baseline and 1-year follow-up. Outcomes were studied every 4 months between 1-

year and 2-yearfollow-up. Logistic regression analyses using generalized estimatingequations

were conducted for each of the dichotomous outcomes, while controlling for demographic

factors, the presence of along-term illness, other workplace stressors, coping, and outcome at

baseline. Analyses were conducted for men only. At baseline, conflicts with co-workers

occurred in 7.2% of thestudy population, while conflicts with supervisors occurred in 9.5% of

the study population. Supervisor conflict was a significant risk factor for the onset of an

elevated need for recovery, prolonged fatigue, external occupational mobility, and internal

occupational mobility.

Anotherstudy was to identify work-related risk factors for the onset of interpersonal

conflicts at work. Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on "fatigue at work"

(N=9241) were used. After the respondents who reported an interpersonal conflict at baseline

were excluded, logistic regression analyses were used to determine the role of several work-

related risk factors at baseline in the onset of a conflict with coworkers or supervisors after 1

year of follow-up. Higher psychological job demands, authority demands, supervisory

demands, higher levels of role ambiguity, the presence of physical demands, higher

musculoskeletal demands, a poorer physical work environment, shift work, overtime, and

higher levels of job insecurity significantly predicted the onset of both a coworker conflict and

a supervisor conflict. This study shows that there are many risk factors of generating conflict

at work place and supervisory demands is one of them.

Maria T. M. Dijkstra, 2006 conduct a dissertation in Amsterdam . It addresses the relationship

between workplace conflict and individual well-being. The six studies that were reported

advance our knowledge about the influence that is exerted on this relationship by personality

characteristics, conflict management strategies and organizational stress.

A study shows that, which was reported in Chapter 2, set out to examine the mediating

influence of conflict responses on the relationship between workplace conflict and employee


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well-being. Based on the existing conflict and stress literature the hypothesis was formulated

that conflict at work and its responses would result in the experience of more organizational

stress and therefore in reduced well-being. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of nurses

and members of the ancillary staff of a healthcare institution (Study 1, N =191). Using

structural equation modeling it was found that conflict was negatively related to perceived

control, and that these responses mediated the relationship between conflict and organizational

stress. Results of this study confirmed the important role of conflict as a stressor at work.

Moreover these findings suggest that conflict shrinks the amount of control an employee

perceives, resulting in a preference for passive ways of responding to conflict, thereby

bringing on the negative consequences.

To gain further insight into the relationships that have been found between conflict andindividual well-being, the moderating influence of the Big Five factors of agreeableness,

extraversion, and emotional stability was examined in Chapter 3. Two field studies, one

involving a healthcare organization (Study 2.1, N= 173) and one involving a manufacturing

organization (Study 2.2,N= 308) were conducted. On the basis of the literature it was argued

that agreeableness most likely buffers people from conflict experiences and it was thus

predicted that the negative relationship between conflict at work and individual well-being

would be stronger for individuals low rather than high in agreeableness. Results revealed that,

as predicted, conflict was negatively related to well-being, but only when individuals are low

and not high in agreeableness.

ANXIETY STRESS QUESTIONAIRE

An initial set of 26 items, including some form of (Tylor, 1953) were administered to 200

managerial, professional and technical employees in a single organization, factor analysis

and item analysis were employed to reduce these 17 statements falling in to 3 sub scales.

Job induction (7 items), somatic tension (5 items), and general fatigue and uneasiness (5

items). Responses are true and false, scored 2 or 1 respectively and averaged. Less than half

items refer directly to work.


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1. I would consider my self in a good or excellent health.

2. I would ease my self in frustration.

3. I dont have very good health.

4. I am often bothered by acid indigestion or heart burn.

5. I sometimes feel weak all over.

6. I wake up with stiffness and aching in joints or muscles.

7. I have had trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep.

8. My job tends to directly affect my health.

9. I work under great of tension.

10. I have felt fidgety or nervous as a result of my job.

11. I get irritated or annoyed over the way things are going.

12. If I had a different job, my health would be probably

improved.

13. I seem to tire quickly.

14. Problems associated with my job have kept me awake at

night.

15. I may now have an ulcer but I am not sure of it.

16. I have felt nervous before attending meeting in the

company.

17. I often take my job have with me in the sense that I think

about it when doing other things.


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CONCLUSION


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Table 1

Reliability analysis of Anxiety Stress Questionnaire (N=75)

The above reliability analysis shows that the scale is highly reliable and is applicable in the research.

Table 2

Demographic characteristics of sample (N=75)

Gender

Characteristics Frequency Percent

MALE 35 46.7FEMALE 40 53.3

Total 75 100.0

Education


B.A/BSC 41 54.7

M.A/MSC 34 45.3Total 75 100.0

Marital status

Scale N of items Alpha reliability

Anxiety Stress

Questionnaire

17 .084


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Single 61 81.3Married 14 18.7Total 75 100.0

Table 3

Correlation of gender with Anxiety Stress Questionnaire (N=75)

Scale Gender

Anxiety stress

Questionnaire

.437**

p**< 0.01

The above table represents the correlation between gender and anxiety stress. The results

show that anxiety stress is positively correlated with gender. The above table demonstrate that

correlation is .437**, which shows that the correlation is significant at the level of 0.01. It

means that the results are highly significant.

Table 4

Comparison of males and females in having Anxiety Stress (N=75)

Gender N Mean Std. Deviation t p

Anxiety Stress Male 35 24.08 2.26 -4.151 .012

Female 40 25.92 1.54 -4.049 .012


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The above table shows the comparison of two group males and females in having Anxiety

stress. The results shows that males are 35 in number and females are 40. The mean of males

is 24.08 and females are 25.92. Thus result shows that there is no significant difference in

males and females in having anxiety stress due to supervisory conflict.

Table 5

Comparison of education level with Anxiety stress Questionnaire having Anxiety Stress (N=75)

Scale Education N Mean Std. Deviation t p

Anxiety stress B.A/BSC 41 24.9756 2.39257 -.407 .685M.A/MSC 34 25.1765 1.74895 .-419 .676

The above table shows the comparison of education level and anxiety stress. The number of

employees of having B.A/BSC education is 41 and M.A/MSC is 34. The mean of B.A/BSC is

24.97 and M.A/MSC is 25.17. This result representation shows that there is no significant

difference in having anxiety stress among several employees having different education

levels.

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