RESEARCH PROJECT ON

A Study in gender difference in HDFC BANKS with comparison of SBI

BANKS in terms of stress management

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of

Award of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

at

Vs.

UNDER THE GUIDENCE OF SUBMITTED BY:

Ms.VANDANA NIGAM Anupriya Singh

(Faculty) M.B.A. 4th SEM.

Roll No.1006170016

SUBMITTED TO

(GAUTAM BUDDHA TECHNICAL UNIVRESITY)

SHERWOOD COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

LUCKNOW

PREFACE

- 1 -

This report deals with the findings and recommendation regarding the gender

difference in terms of stress management. This report is beneficial for not only the

organization but also the searchers and business executive.

Keeping the point of view simplicity and the motive of the making this report

understandable to non-professional, data are taken by the employees. Hope the

readers of this report will find it useful to enhance their knowledge and this report

will be surely helping them in various ways.

Due to importance has been given at various level of writing this report so that

mistakes should be avoided, but even if some creeps in, that shall be regretted. All

the suggestion is welcome.

I believe that this report will be proving as a right weapon to destroy the

common myth about the private sector industries among the people.

- 2 -

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have taken efforts in this research project “A Study in gender difference in HDFC BANKS with comparison of SBI BANKS in terms of stress management”. However, it would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and organizations. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.

I want to give special thanks to our Director Dr. Gaurav Singh who has

contributed his precious time in completion of this project.

My sincere gratitude to Ms. Vandana Nigamis the faculty of Sherwood College of

Management & giving necessary direction on doing this project to the best of my

abilities.

SUBMITTED BY:

ANU PRIYA SINGH

MBA 4th SEM

Roll no.1006170016

- 3 -

Executive summary

This project gives us a detailed idea of what is stress and also the

definition of stress is been defined. For more detailed study the types of the

stress is also defined. By looking at the starting of the project you will find:

Introduction and Definition of stress

Stress in biological terms

What is stress?

Coping with stress at work place.

Stress management

Workplace stress

Gender difference and coping strategy

Reducing of stress.

After the theoretical part I have included the research part. My

research work includes two questionnaires.

Stress analysis Questionnaire

My research includes the research methodology which contains the

information as follows:

Research objectives

Sampling (types and methods of sampling)

Research instrument

Data analysis and interpretation

Finding

- 4 -

Table of Content

- 5 -

S.N Content Page no.

1. Executive summary

2. CHAPTER- 1

Introduction of topic& Company Profile

Comparative analysis

3. CHAPTER- 2

Literature Review

Scope of study and objective

4. CHAPTER -3

Research Methodology

Types of Research Methodology

Research designs

5. CHAPTER- 4

Data analysis and Findings

CHAPTER- 5

Recommendation & suggestion

6. CHAPTER- 6

Conclusion

Bibliography

Annexure and secondary data

- 6 -

INTRODUCTION

Today workplace stress is becoming a major issue and a matter of concern for the

employees and the organizations. It has become a part of life for the employees, as

life today has become so complex at home as well as outside that it is impossible to

avoid stress. Selye [1936] defines stress as “a dynamic activity wherein an

individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint or demand”.

Organizational stress arises due to lack of person- environment fit. When

organizational stress is mismanaged, it affects the human potential in the

organization. It further leads to reduced quality, productivity, health as well as

wellbeing and morale. Thus, Stress is inevitable in our society. Researchers on

stress make it clear that, to enter in to the complex area of stress, especially in to

the area of occupational stress, is very difficult. Stress is an unavoidable

consequence of modern living. With the growth of industries, pressure in the urban

areas, quantitative growth in population and various problems in day-to-day life

are some of the reasons for increase in stress. Stress is a condition of strain that has

a direct bearing on emotions, thought process and physical conditions of a person.

Steers [1981] indicate that, “Occupational stress has become an important topic for

study of organizational behavior for several reasons.” 1. Stress has harmful

psychological and physiological effects on employees, 2. Stress is a major cause of

employee turn over and absenteeism, 3. Stress experienced by one employee can

affect the safety of other employees, 4. By controlling dysfunctional stress,

individual and organization can be managed more effectively.

During the past decade, the banking sector had under gone rapid and striking

changes like policy changes due to globalization and liberalization, increased

competition due to the entrance of more private (corporate) sector banks,

downsizing, introduction of new technologies, etc. Due to these changes, the

employees in the banking sector are experiencing a high level of stress. The advent

of technological revolution in all walks of life coupled with globalization,

privatization policies has drastically changed conventional patterns in all sectors.

The banking sector is of no exemption.

- 7 -

The 1990s saw radical policy changes with regarding to fiscal deficit and structural

changes in India to prepare her to cope with the new economic world order.

Globalization and privatization led policies compelled the banking sector to reform

and adjust to have a competitive edge to cope with multinationals led environment.

The implications of the above said transformations have affected the social,

economical and psychological domains of the bank employees and their relations.

Evidence from existing literature states that more than 60% of the bank employees

have one or other problem directly or indirectly related to these drastic changes.

All the factors discussed above are prospective attributes to cause occupational

stress and related disorders among the employees. Although many studies have

been conducted on the psychosocial side of the new policy regime in many sectors,

there are only few studies, as far as the banking sector is concerned, while the same

sector has been drastically influenced by the new policies. In this juncture, the

present study is undertaken to address specific problems of bank employees related

to occupational stress. This throw light in to the pathogenesis of various problems

related to occupational stress among bank employees.

- 8 -

Gender and Work-Background

Women face different challenges and may require different skills to be successful in

the work place than their male counterparts. The causes and impact of these

- 9 -

differences vary depending upon the size of the organization, level of management,

and requisite job duties. The proportion of women in the work place has increased

5% since 1980 whereas the number of women in management positions has

increased 19% in the same period (Powell & Graves, 2003). Although these numbers

are encouraging, research indicates that there is still a gap between women and men

regarding compensation for producing similar work. Traditional gender roles,

where masculine men dominate their more subservient feminine women, are tied

back to early caveman days. Although we have moved beyond the hunter/gatherer

versus nurturer roles, very little changed in corporate America until the 1950’s.

Research indicates that only 19% of women were in the workforce in 1900

compared to 80% of men (Powell & Graves, 2003). These percentages remained

relatively unchanged until the 1950’s. The number of women earning bachelor’s

degrees doubled from 1950-2000. The postponement of marriage coupled with

increases in employment and educational opportunities for women, led to more

women taking on managerial roles in the workplace.

Perception of Gender Roles

The liberation movement of the 1960s-1970s helped change the public perception of

traditional gender roles. The introduction of the Equal Employment Organization,

Affirmative Action, and discrimination laws helped shape public awareness.

Although economic roles between men and women have become more similar over

time, sex differences are still prevalent and tensions still exist in the workplace. The

most significant difference between men and women in the workforce is between

Hispanic men and women. 76% of Hispanic men are in the workforce compared to

only 56% of Hispanic women. The lowest difference is between Black men and

women where there is only a 6% difference (Powell & Graves, 2003).

- 10 -

Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes have been consistent over time although the study of sex

differences is a modern discipline. Research has shown that while girls do have

advantages in verbal abilities (grammar, spelling and writing) and boys do appear

to be more advanced in their visual-spatial abilities than girls, no sex differences in

math concepts have been supported (Bannon, 2004). This appears to affect career

choices as there is a larger portion of men in jobs such as firefighters, doctors, and

police officers and more women in nurturing type careers such as nurses and

teachers. There are numerous theories on why sex differences exist but most can be

categorized in supporting either a nature or nurture theory. Those that support

biological factors argue that people behave as they do just because they are

biologically male or female. Those that support the nurture approach view social-

environmental factors as influencing behavior and believe that biological sex has

very little to do with how people behave.

Stress Management

Stress management is the need of the hour. However hard we try to go beyond a

stress situation, life seems to find new ways of stressing us out and plaguing us with

anxiety attacks. Moreover, be it our anxiety, mind-body exhaustion or our erring

attitudes, we tend to overlook causes of stress and the conditions triggered by those.

In such unsettling moments, we often forget that stressors, if not escapable, are

fairly manageable and treatable. Stress, either quick or constant, can induce risky

body-mind disorders.

Immediate disorders such as dizzy spells, anxiety attacks, tension, sleeplessness,

nervousness and muscle cramps can all result in chronic health problems. They may

also affect our immune, cardiovascular, nervous systems, and lead individuals to

habitual addictions, which are inter-linked with stress.

Like "stress reactions “,” relaxation responses and stress, management techniques

are some of the body's important built-in response systems. As relaxation response,

- 11 -

the body tries to get back balance in its homeostasis. Some hormones released

during the 'fight or flight' situation prompt the body to replace the lost

carbohydrates and fats, and restore the energy level. The knotted nerves, tightened

muscles and an exhausted mind crave for looseness. Unfortunately, today, we do not

get relaxing and soothing situations without asking. To be relaxed we have to strive

to create such situations

- 12 -

- 13 -

HDFC Bank Limited (BSE: 500180, NSE: HDFCBANK, NYSE: HDB) is an Indian

financial services company that was incorporated in August 1994. HDFC Bank is

the fourth largest bank in India by assets and the second largest bank by market

capitalization as of February 24, 2012. The bank was promoted by the Housing

Development Finance Corporation, a premier housing finance company (set up in

1977) of India. HDFC Bank has 1,986 branches and over 5,471 ATMs, in 996 cities

in India, and all branches of the bank are linked on an online real-time basis. As of

30 September 2008 the bank had total assets of Rs.1006.82 billion.[3] For the fiscal

year 2010-11, the bank has reported net profit of 3,926.30 crore (US$783.3

million), up 33.1% from the previous fiscal. Total annual earnings of the bank

increased by 20.37% reaching at 24,263.4 crore (US$4.84 billion) in 2010-11.[4]

HDFC Bank is one of the Big Four banks of India, along with: State Bank of India,

ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank.

History

Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), India’s largest

housing finance company, incorporated HDFC Bank in 1994. It was among the first

companies to receive an 'in principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector. The Bank started operations as a

scheduled commercial bank in January 1995 under the RBI's liberalization policies.

Times Bank Limited (owned by Bennett, Coleman & Co. / Times Group) was

merged with HDFC Bank Ltd., in 2000. This was the first merger of two private

banks in India. Shareholders of Times Bank received 1 share of HDFC Bank for

every 5.75 shares of Times Bank.

- 14 -

In 2008 HDFC Bank acquired Centurion Bank of Punjab taking its total branches

to more than 1,000. The amalgamated bank emerged with a base of about Rs.

1,22,000 crore and net advances of about Rs.89,000 crore. The balance sheet size of

the combined entity is more than Rs. 1,63,000 crore

Business focus

HDFC Bank deals with three key business segments. - Wholesale Banking Services,

Retail Banking Services, Treasury. It has entered the banking consortia of over 50

corporate for providing working capital finance, trade services, corporate finance,

and merchant banking. It is also providing sophisticated product structures in areas

of foreign exchange and derivatives, money markets and debt trading and equity

research.

Wholesale banking services

Blue-chip manufacturing companies in the Indian corp to small & mid-sized

corporate and agri-based businesses. For these customers, the Bank provides a wide

range of commercial and transactional banking services, including working capital

finance, trade services, transactional services, cash management, etc. The bank is

also a leading provider of for its corporate customers, mutual funds, stock exchange

members and banks.

Retail banking services

HDFC Bank was the first bank in India to launch an International Debit Card in

association with VISA (VISA Electron) and issues the MasterCard Maestro debit

card as well. The Bank launched its credit card business in late 2001. By March

2009, the bank had a total card base (debit and credit cards) of over 13 million. The

Bank is also one of the leading players in the “merchant acquiring” business with

over 70,000 Point-of-sale (POS) terminals for debit / credit cards acceptance at

merchant establishments. The Bank is positioned in various net based B2C

opportunities including a wide range of internet banking services for Fixed

- 15 -

Deposits, Loans, Bill Payments, etc.With Finest of Technology and Best of Man

power in Banking Industry HDFC BANK's retail services have become by and large

the best in India and since the contribution to CASAi, e total number of current and

savings account of more than 50% ,HDFC BANK has full potential to become

India’s No.1 Private Sector Bank. HDFC Bank website including hdfcbank.com and

hdfcsec.com are not available 24X7. This has become a habit of HDFCBank.

Customers of the HDFC Bank are requested to check the website availability 24 X 7

and if available can do the transaction. If the website is not available they are asked

to visit their home branch.

Treasury

Within this business, the bank has three main product areas - Foreign Exchange

and Derivatives, Local Currency Money Market & Debt Securities, and Equities.

These services are provided through the bank's Treasury team. To comply with

statutory reserve requirements, the bank is required to hold 25% of its deposits in

government securities. The Treasury business is responsible for managing the

returns and market risk on this investment portfolio.

Distribution network

An HDFC Bank Branch

- 16 -

HDFC Bank is headquartered in Mumbai and has a nationwide network of 2201

branches spread in 1174 towns and cities across India. The Bank also has 7,110

networked ATMs.

BUSINESS STRETEGY

HDFC BANK mission is to be "a World Class Indian Bank”, benchmarking

themselves against international standards and best practices in terms of product

offerings, technology, service levels, risk management and audit & compliance. The

objective is to build sound customer franchises across distinct businesses so as to be

a preferred provider of banking services for target retail and wholesale customer

segments, and to achieve a healthy growth in profitability, consistent with the

Bank's risk appetite. Bank is committed to do this while ensuring the highest levels

of ethical standards, professional integrity, corporate governance and regulatory

compliance. Continue

to develop new product and technology is the main business strategy of the bank.

Maintain good relation with the customers is the main and prime objective of the

bank.

HDFC BANK business strategy emphasizes the following :

Increase market share in India’s expanding banking and

financial services industry by following a disciplined growth

strategy focusing on quality and not on quantity and delivering

high quality customer service.

Leverage our technology platform and open scaleable systems

to deliver more products to more customers and to control

operating costs.

Maintain current high standards for asset quality through

disciplined credit risk management.

Develop innovative products and services that attract the

targeted customers and address inefficiencies in the Indian

- 17 -

financial sector.

Continue to develop products and services that reduce bank’s

cost of funds.

Focus on high earnings growth with low volatility.

HUMAN RESOURCES

The Bank’s staffing needs continued to increase during the year particularly in the

retail banking businesses in line with the business growth. Total number of

employees increased from 14878 as ofMarch31, 2006 to 21477 as of March 31, 2007.

The Bank continues to focus on training its employees on a continuing basis, both on

the job and through training programs conducted by internal and external faculty.

The Bank has consistently believed that broader employee ownership of its shares

has a positive impact on its performance and employee motivation. The Bank’s

employee stock option scheme so far covers around 9000 employees.

State Bank of India

State Bank of India (SBI) (NSE: SBIN, BSE: 500112, LSE: SBID) is the largest

banking and financial services company in India by revenue, assets and market

capitalization. Its a state-owned corporation with its headquarters in Mumbai,

Maharashtra. As of March 2011, it had assets of US$ 370 billion with over 13,000

outlets including 150 overseas branches and agents globally. The bank traces its

ancestry to British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in

1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest commercial bank in the Indian

Subcontinent. Bank of Madras merged into the other two presidency banks, Bank of

- 18 -

Calcutta and Bank of Bombay to form Imperial Bank of India, which in turn

became State Bank of India. The government of India nationalized the Imperial

Bank of India in 1955, with the Reserve Bank of India taking a 60% stake, and

renamed it the State Bank of India. In 2008, the government took over the stake

held by the Reserve Bank of India. SBI is ranked #292 globally in Fortune Global

500 list in 2011.[2]

SBI provides a range of banking products through its vast network of branches in

India and overseas, including products aimed at non-resident Indians (NRIs). The

State Bank Group, with over 16,000 branches, has the largest banking branch

network in India. SBI has 14 Local Head Offices situated at Chandigarh, Delhi,

Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati (North East Circle), Bhuwaneshwar,

Hyderabad, Chennai, Trivandram, Banglore, Mumbai, Bhopal & Ahmedabad and

57 Zonal Offices that are located at important cities throughout the country. It also

has around 130 branches overseas.

SBI is a regional banking behemoth and is one of the largest financial institutions in

the world. It has a market share among Indian commercial banks of about 20% in

deposits and loans.[3] The State Bank of India is the 29th most reputed company in

the world according to Forbes.[4] Also SBI is the only bank featured in the coveted

"top 10 brands of India" list in an annual survey conducted by Brand Finance and

The Economic Times in 2010.

The State Bank of India is the largest of the Big Four banks of India, along with

ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and HDFC Bank—its main competitors.[6]

- 19 -

History

seal of Imperial Bank of India.

The roots of the State Bank of India rest in the first decade of 19th century, when

the Bank of Calcutta, later renamed the Bank of Bengal, was established on 2 June

1806. The Bank of Bengal was one of three Presidency banks, the other two being

the Bank of Bombay (incorporated on 15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras

(incorporated on 1 July 1843). All three Presidency banks were incorporated as

joint stock companies and were the result of the royal charters. These three banks

received the exclusive right to issue paper currency in 1861 with the Paper

Currency Act, a right they retained until the formation of the Reserve Bank of

India. The Presidency banks amalgamated on 27 January 1921, and the reorganized

banking entity took as its name : Imperial Bank of India. The Imperial Bank of

India remained a joint stock company

Pursuant to the provisions of the State Bank of India Act (1955), the Reserve Bank

of India, which is India's central bank, acquired a controlling interest in the

Imperial Bank of India. On 30 April 1955, the Imperial Bank of India became the

State Bank of India. The government of India recently acquired the Reserve Bank

of India's stake in SBI so as to remove any conflict of interest because the RBI is the

country's banking regulatory authority.

- 20 -

In 1959, the government passed the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act,

enabling the State Bank of India to take over eight former state-associated banks as

its subsidiaries. On 13 September 2008, the State Bank of Saurashtra, one of its

associate banks, merged with the State Bank of India.

SBI has acquired local banks in rescues. For instance, in 1985, it acquired the Bank

of Cochin in Kerala, which had 120 branches. SBI was the acquirer as its affiliate,

the State Bank of Travancore, already had an extensive network in Kerala.

International presence

The Israeli branch of the State Bank of India located in Ramat Gan.

As of 31 December 2009, the bank had 157 overseas offices spread over 32 countries.

It has branches of the parent in Colombo, Dhaka, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tehran,

Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Male in the Maldives, Muscat, Dubai, New

York, Osaka, Sydney, and Tokyo. It has offshore banking units in the Bahamas,

Bahrain, and Singapore, and representative offices in Bhutan and Cape Town. It

also has an ADB in Boston, USA.

SBI operates several foreign subsidiaries or affiliates. In 1990, it established an

offshore bank: State Bank of India (Mauritius).

In 1982, the bank established a subsidiary, State Bank of India (California), which

now has ten branches – nine branches in the state of California and one in

Washington, D.C. The 10th branch was opened in Fremont, California on 28 March

- 21 -

2011. The other eight branches in California are located in Los Angeles, Artesia,

San Jose, Canoga Park, Fresno, San Diego, Tustin and Bakersfield.

The Canadian subsidiary, State Bank of India (Canada) also dates to 1982. It has

seven branches, four in the Toronto area and three in British Columbia.

In Nigeria, SBI operates as INMB Bank. This bank began in 1981 as the Indo-

Nigerian Merchant Bank and received permission in 2002 to commence retail

banking. It now has five branches in Nigeria.

In Nepal, SBI owns 55% of Nepal SBI Bank, which has branches throughout the

country. In Moscow, SBI owns 60% of Commercial Bank of India, with Canara

Bank owning the rest. In Indonesia, it owns 76% of PT Bank Indo Monex.

The State Bank of India already has a branch in Shanghai and plans to open one in

Tianjin.[7]

In Kenya, State Bank of India owns 76% of Giro Commercial Bank, which it

acquired for US$8 million in October 2005.[8]..

The State Bank of India (with 74% of the total capital) along with the largest global

Banking group-"BNP Paribas Cardiff",(with 26% of the remaining capital)

Headquatered in Paris formed a Joint venture which established, India’s One of the

most Reputed and trusted Life Insurance Company 's named "SBI Life Insurance

company Ltd."in March-2001.

- 22 -

Associate banks

Main Branch of SBI in Mumbai.

SBI has five associate banks; all use the same logo of a blue circle and all the

associates use the "State Bank of" name, followed by the regional headquarters'

name;

State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur

State Bank of Hyderabad

State Bank of Mysore

State Bank of Patiala

State Bank of Travancore

Earlier SBI had only seven associate banks that constituted the State Bank Group.

Originally, the then seven banks that became the associate banks belonged to

princely states until the government nationalised them between October 1959 and

May 1960. In tune with the first Five Year Plan, emphasising the development of

rural India, the government integrated these banks into the State Bank of India

system to expand its rural outreach. There has been a proposal to merge all the

associate banks into SBI to create a "mega bank" and streamline operations.[9]

- 23 -

The first step towards unification occurred on 13 August 2008 when State Bank of

Saurashtra merged with SBI, reducing the number of state banks from seven to six.

Then on 19 June 2009 the SBI board approved the merger of its subsidiary, State

Bank of Indore, with itself. SBI holds 98.3% in State Bank of Indore. (Individuals

who held the shares prior to its takeover by the government hold the balance of

1.77%.)[10]

The acquisition of State Bank of Indore added 470 branches to SBI's existing

network of 12,448 and over 21,000 ATMs. Also, following the acquisition, SBI's total

assets will inch very close to the Rs 10-lakh crore mark. Total assets of SBI and the

State Bank of Indore stood at Rs 998,119 crore as on March 2009. The process of

merging of State Bank of Indore was completed by April 2010, and the SBI Indore

Branches started functioning as SBI branches on 26 August 2010.

State Bank of India Mumbai LHO.

Non-banking subsidiaries

Apart from its five associate banks, SBI also has the following non-

banking subsidiaries:

1.SBI Capital Markets Ltd

2. SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd

- 24 -

3. SBI Factors & Commercial Services Pvt Ltd

4. SBI Cards & Payments Services Pvt. Ltd. (SBICPSL)

5. SBI DFHI Ltd

6. SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd.

7. SBI General Insurance

Current Board of Directors

After the end of O. P. Bhatt's reign as SBI Chairman on 31st March, 2011, the post

was taken over by Pratip Chaudhuri, who is the former Deputy Managing Director

of the International Division of SBI. As on 4th August, 2011, there are twelve

members in the SBI Board of Directors, including Subir Gokarn, who is also one of

the four Deputy Governors of the Reserve Bank of India. The complete list of the

Board members are:

1. Pratip Chaudhuri (Chairman)

2. Hemant G. Contractor (Managing Director)

3. Diwakar Gupta (Managing Director)

4. A Krishna Kumar (Managing Director)

5. Dileep C Choksi (Director)

6. S. Venkatachalam (Director)

7. D. Sundaram (Director)

8. Parthasarathy Iyengar (Director)

9. G. D. Nadaf (Officer Employee Director)

10. Rashpal Malhotra (Director)

- 25 -

11. D. K. Mittal (Director)

12. Subir V. Gokarn (Director)[12]

Branches of SBI

State Bank of India has 172 foreign offices in 37 countries across the globe.

SBI has about 25,000 ATMs (25,000th ATM was inaugurated by the then

Chairman of State Bank Shri O.P. Bhatt on 31 March 2011, the day of his

retirement); and SBI group(including associate banks) has about 45,000

ATMs.

SBI has 21,500 branches, including branches that belong to its associate

banks.

SBI includes 99345 offices in India.

India's number one ADB is in bellary i e State bank of India bellary ADB

Symbol and slogan

The symbol of the State Bank of India is a circle and not key hole and a small

man at the centre of the circle. A circle depicts perfection and the common

man being the centre of the bank's business.

Slogans : "Pure banking nothing else"also includes : "With you - all the

way" and : "a bank of common man"

Loan to NTPC

On 8th July, 2011, SBI agreed to give a loan of Rs 10,000 crore to NTPC (National

Thermal Power Corporation), making it the largest loan SBI had ever given to any

single customer in its entire 200 year history. The loan had a "door-to-door"

maturity period of 12 years, accompanied by a drawdown period of four years. An

NTPC press release said at the time of the declaration of the loan that "The loan

shall be utilized for financing the capital expenditure of ongoing and new projects."

- 26 -

NTPC chairman at the time, Arup Roy Choudhury clarified that the loan amount

would be used to add 128,000 MW capacity by the end of year 2032 (NTPC'c

capacity at the time of the declaration of the loan was 34,584 MW).[13]

This loan was offered amidst declining finance for power projects in India, which

were a direct result of the lending constraints placed by the Reserve Bank of India

and the increased risk awareness of power projects. It will also help minimize the

shortfall of around Rs 4.51 Trillion that the Power Ministry of India expected to

incur in achieving the objectives of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (This plan targeted

an addition of 78,577 MW or power generation capacity which would require an

investment of Rs 10.3 Trillion).

Employees

SBI has turned into the third-largest employer in India among listed companies

after Coal India Limited(383,347) and Tata Consultancy Services(226,751).

Comparative analysis

State Bank of India, and HDFC Bank

A Comparative analysis of Stress Management in State Bank of India, and HDFC

Bank was done with an objective to study the stress experienced by employees of

State Bank of India and HDFC to find out the level and source of stress and to

know the factors that causes stress and to analyze the perception of employees

towards the management in handling stress. Result shows that Employees share

their problems with their colleagues and Supervisors. Management of Private

Sector Banks is more effective in handling their stress situations as compared to

Public Sector Banks. Most of the employees of HDFC Bank handle stressful

situations optimistically as compared to Central Bank of India.

A study has been undertaken with an aim to systematically investigate the

factors causing role stress amongst bank professionals. A total of 530 frontline

- 27 -

employees from various public and private sector banks were surveyed for their

experience on role stress. The anonymous responses of the bank employees were

taken through questionnaire during the period of August, 2009 to January, 2010..

Majority of the Employees (38 per cent) belonged to the age group of 21-30 years

and maximum (34 per cent) were found to earn a salary between Rs. 21000 to Rs.

30000 per month. Organizational Role Stress (ORS) scale developed by Pareek

(Pareek, 2005) has been used as the reference for development of the research

instrument. Lack of adequate resources at work, which has been found to be a

factor causing role stress, may end up in an experience of even greater workload as

it may have direct negative effects and /or may interact with role excess dimension

to produce negative effects (Chand& Sethi, 1997). Planning for making available

the required resources is, therefore, imperative for reducing role stress at work.

A research study was conducted aimed at determining the existence of stress

in the Nigerian Banking Industry. A structured questionnaire was designed to

collect information from both executives and none-executives of the Nigerian

banking industry. At an X2 0.05 and one degree of freedom, the null hypothesis

was found to be significant, significant existence of stressors in the Nigerian

banking sub-sector. However, the stress level is higher among the executive than

the none-executive. It was concluded that there exist high level of stress in the

Nigerian Banking Industry, which affect personal health significantly thereby

requiring management action in implementing stress-relieving measures.

A study was conducted in Pakistan describes the occupational stress in public

and private banks. A randomly selected sample of 100 employees from private and

public banks shows that occupational stress is found higher among private bank

employees compared to public bank employees. Among different occupational

stress variables role over load, role authority, role conflict and lack of senior level

support contribute more to the occupational stress. Bank employees cannot afford

the time to relax and "wind down" when they are faced with work variety,

discrimination, favoritism, delegation and conflicting tasks.

- 28 -

Occupational stress is an increasingly important occupational health problem

and a significant cause of economic loss. Occupational stress may produce both

overt psychological and physiologic disabilities. However it may also cause subtle

manifestation of morbidity that can affect personal well-being and productivity. So

attention should be paid to reduce the stress in their occupational field

.

- 29 -

Literature Review

INTRODUCTION TO STRESS

A lot of research has been conducted into stress over the last hundred years. Some

of the theories behind it are now settled and accepted; others are still being

researched and debated. During this time, there seems to have been something

approaching open warfare between competing theories and definitions: Views have

been passionately held and aggressively defended. What complicates this is that

intuitively we all feel that we know what stress is, as it is something we have all

experienced. A definition should therefore be obvious…except that it is not.

Definition:

According to Selye (1956) stress is “any external event or internal drive which

threatens to upset the organismic equilibrium”.

Wolf and Goodell (1968) defined stress as a dynamic state with in an organism in

response to a demand for adaptation.

Cofer and Appley (1964) defined stress as a state of an organism where he perceives

that his wellbeing is endangered and that he must direct all his energies to its

protection.

Lazarus (1966) referred stress a state of imbalance with in an organism that is

elicitedby an actual/perceived disparity between environmental demands and the

organism’s capacity to cope with these demands; and is manifested through variety

of physiological, emotional and behavioral responses.

McGrath (1970) defined stress as a perceived imbalance between demand and

response capacity under conditions where failure to meet demand has important

consequences. Cox (1978) has described three classes of definitions. Stress can be

variously thought of as a response, i.e. the stress response to an extreme stimulus; as

a stimulus i.e. as the stressor itself as an intervening variable.

- 30 -

Spielberger (1979) defined stress in two different ways. According to him, it is a

dangerous potentiality, harmful/unpleasant external situation/conditions (stressors)

that produce stress reaction; and secondly to the internal thought, judgment,

emotional state and physiological process that are evoked by stressful stimuli.

Ryhal and Singh (1996) stated that stress is the state of an organism it perceived

that its well-being is endangered and that it must direct all its energies to its

protection

The types of stress are as follows

Mechanical

Stress (physics), the average amount of force exerted per unit area.

Yield stress, the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically.

Compressive stress, the stress applied to materials resulting in their

compaction.

Biological

Stress (biological), physiological or psychological stress; some types include:

Chronic stress, persistent stress which can lead to illness and mental disorder

Eustress, positive stress that can lead to improved long-term functioning

Workplace stress, stress caused by employment

Music

Accent (music).

Stress (band), an early '80s melodic rock band from San Diego.

Stress (punk band), an early '80s punk rock band from Athens.

Stress (Neo-Psychedelic band), from the late 1980's.

Stress, a song by the French band Justice on their debut album

- 31 -

Other

Stress (game), card game

Stress (linguistics), phonological use of prominence in language

Chronic Stress:-

Chronic stress is stress that lasts a long time or occurs frequently. Chronic

stress is potentially damaging.

Symptoms of chronic stress can be:

· upset stomach

· Headache

· Backache

· Insomnia

· Anxiety

· Depression

· Anger

In the most severe cases it can lead to panic attacks or a panic disorder. There are a

variety of methods to control chronic stress, including exercise, healthy diet, stress

management, relaxation techniques, adequate rest, and relaxing hobbies.

Ensuring a healthy diet containing magnesium may help control or eliminate stress,

in those individuals with lower levels of magnesium or those who have magnesium

deficiency. Chronic stress can also lead to a magnesium deficiency, which can be a

- 32 -

factor in continued chronic stress, and a whole host of other negative medical

conditions caused by a magnesium deficiency.

It has been discovered that there is a huge upsurge in the number of people who

suffer from this condition. A very large number of these new cases suffer from

insomnia.

In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and

disease, the authors found that stress plays a role in triggering or worsening

depression and cardiovascular disease and in speeding the progression of

HIV/AIDS.

Compressive stress:

Compressive stress is the stress applied to materials resulting in their compaction

(decrease of volume). When a material is subjected to compressive stress, then this

material is under compression. Usually, compressive stress applied to bars,

columns, etc. leads to shortening. Loading a structural element or a specimen will

increase the compressive stress until the reach of compressive strength. According

to the properties of the material, failure will occur as yield for materials with

ductile behavior (most metals, some soils and plastics) or as rupture for brittle

behavior (geometries, cast iron, glass, etc).

In long, slender structural elements -- such as columns or truss bars -- anincrease

of compressive force F leads to structural failure due to buckling atlower stress

than the compressive strength.

Compressive stress has stress units (force per unit area), usually with negative

values to indicate the compaction. However in geotechnical engineering,

compressive stress is represented with positive values.

- 33 -

Stress in Biological terms:

Stress is a biological term which refers to the consequences of the failure of

ahuman or animal body to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats

to the organism, whether actual or imagined. It includes a state of alarm and

adrenaline production, short-term resistance as a coping mechanism, and

exhaustion. It refers to the inability of a human or animal body to respond.

Common stress symptoms include irritability, muscular tension, in ability to

concentrate and a variety of physical reactions, such as headaches and accelerated

heart rate.

The term "stress" was first used by the endocrinologist Hans Selye in the 1930sto

identify physiological responses in laboratory animals. He later broadened and

popularized the concept to include the perceptions and responses of humans trying

to adapt to the challenges of everyday life. In Selye's terminology, "stress" refers to

the reaction of the organism, and "stressor" to the perceived threat. Stress in

certain circumstances may be experienced positively. Eustress, for example, can be

an adaptive response prompting the activation of internal resources to meet

challenges and achieve goals.

The term is commonly used by laypersons in a metaphorical rather than literal or

biological sense, as a catch-all for any perceived difficulties in life. It also became

a euphemism, a way of referring to problems and eliciting sympathy without being

explicitly confessional, just "stressed out". It covers a huge range of phenomena

from mild irritation to the kind of severe problems that might result in a real

breakdown of health. In popular usage almost any event or situation between these

extremes could be described as stressful.

- 34 -

What is Stress?

Stress refers to the strain from the conflict between our external environment and

us, leading to emotional and physical pressure. In our fast paced world, it is

impossible to live without stress, whether you are a student or a working adult.

There is both positive and negative stress, depending on each individual’s unique

perception of the tension between the two forces. Not all stress is bad. For example,

positive stress, also known as eustress, can help an individual to function at optimal

effectiveness and efficiency. Hence, it is evident that some form of positive stress

can add more color and vibrancy to our lives. The presence of a deadline, for

example, can push us to make the most of our time and produce greater efficiency.

It is important to keep this in mind, as stress management refers to using stress to

our advantage, and not on eradicating the presence of stress in our lives.

On the other hand, negative stress can result in mental and physical strain. The

individual will experience symptoms such as tensions, headaches, irritability and in

extreme cases, heart palpitations. Hence, whilst some stress may be seen as a

motivating force, it is important to manage stress levels so that it does not have an

adverse impact on your health and relationships. Part of managing your stress

levels include learning about how stress can affect you emotionally and physically,

as well as how to identify if you are performing at your optimal stress level (OSL)

or if you are experiencing negative stress. This knowledge will help you to identify

when you need to take a break, or perhaps seek professional help. It is also your

first step towards developing techniques to managing your stress levels.

Modern day stresses can take the form of monetary needs, or emotional frictions.

Competition at work and an increased workload can also cause greater levels

ofstress. How do you identify if you are suffering from excessive stress?

Psychological symptoms commonly experienced include insomnia, headaches and

an inability to focus. Physical symptoms take the form of heart palpitations,

breathlessness, excessive sweating and stomachaches.

- 35 -

What causes stress? There are many different causes of stress, and that which

causes stress is also known as a stressor. Common lifestyle stressors include

performance, threat, and bereavement stressors, to name a few. Performance

stressors are triggered when an individual is placed in a situation where he feels a

need to excel. This could be during performance appraisals, lunch with the boss, or

giving a speech. Threat stressors are usually when the current situation poses a

dangerous threat, such as an economic downturn, or from an accident.

Lastly, bereavement stressors occur when there is a sense of loss such as the death

of a loved one, or a prized possession.

Thus, there are various stressors, and even more methods that are varied and

techniques of dealing with stress and turning it to our advantages. In order to do

so, we must learn to tell when we have crossed the line from positive to negatives

tress.

Good stress v/s Bad stress:

Stress has often been misunderstood to be negative, with few people acknowledging

the importance and usefulness of positive stress. In our everyday lives, stress is

everywhere and definitely unavoidable; hence our emphasis should be on

differentiating between what is good stress, and what is bad. This will help us to

learn to cope with negative stress, and harness the power of positive stress to help

us achieve more. There are 4 main categories of stress, namely eustress, distress,

hyper stress and hypo stress. Negative stress can cause many physical and

psychological problems, whilst positive stress can be very helpful for us. Here’s

how we differentiate between them.

Eustress:

This is a positive form of stress, which prepares your mind and body for the

imminent challenges that it has perceived. Eustress is a natural physical reaction by

your body which increases blood flow to your muscles, resulting in a higherheart

- 36 -

rate. Athletes before a competition or perhaps a manager before a major

presentation would do well with eustress, allowing them to derive the inspiration

and strength that is needed.

Distress

We are familiar with this word, and know that it is a negative form of stress. This

occurs when the mind and body is unable to cope with changes, and usually occurs

when there are deviations from the norm. They can be categorized into acute stress

and chronic stress. Acute stress is intense, but does not last for long. On the other

hand, chronic stress persists over a long period of time. Trigger events for distress

can be a change in job scope or routine that the person is unable to handle or cope

with.

Hyper stress

This is another form of negative stress that occurs when the individual is unable to

cope with the workload. Examples include highly stressful jobs, which require

longer working hours than the individual can handle. If you suspect that you are

suffering from hyper stress, you are likely to have sudden emotional breakdowns

over insignificant issues, the proverbial straws that broke the camel’s back. It is

important for you to recognize that your body needs a break, or you may end up

with severe and chronic physical and psychological reactions.

Hypo stress

Lastly, hypo stress occurs when a person has nothing to do with his time and feels

constantly bored and unmotivated. This is due to an insufficient amount of stress;

hence some stress is inevitable and helpful to us. Companies should avoid having

- 37 -

workers who experience hypo stress as this will cause productivity and mindfulness

to fall. If the job scope is boring and repetitive, it would be a good idea to

implement some form of job rotation so that there is always something new to

learn.

The types of stress are named as eustress and distress. Distress is the most

commonly referred to type of stress, having negative implications, whereas eustress

is a positive form of stress, usually related to desirable events in person’s life. Both

can be equally taxing on the body, and are cumulative in nature, depending on a

person's way of adapting to a change that has caused it.

Work stressors

The work factor is closely associated with the level of stress experienced by the

employees in the organization.

Tharakan (1992) studied on occupational stress and job satisfaction among working

women. He observed that professional women experienced greater work related

stress than on-professional women. The expectation of technocrats was much higher

than the no technocrats.

Fulcheri et al. (1995) also observed that size of work loads, the complexity of tasks

and responsibility is the major sources of stress factors. The reasons for frustration

are delay in career development and a slow erosion of status among the managers.

Aminabhavi and Triveni (2000) revealed that nationalized bank employees have

Significantly higher occupational stress than non nationalized bank employees, in

the dimensions such as role conflict, unreasonable group/political pressure, intrinsic

Impoverishment and strenuous working conditions.

Bhattacharya and Guha (2006) conducted a study on stress and coping: A study on

lady criminal lawyers of Kolkata city. A group of 34 lady criminal lawyers were

selected for the study. The significant factors, which are generating stress, are busy

schedule of work, oddity hours, poor interaction, leading tendency of superiors, and

poor interpersonal relationship among the colleagues in the work environment.

- 38 -

Latha and Panchanatham (2007) found out the job stressors and their implications

on the job performance of 40 software professionals. Result showed that work load

acts as major stressors for software professionals. Long work hours are indirectly

associated with psychological distress.

Role stressors

The role factor is closely associated with the level of stress experienced by the

employees in the organization

Madhu et al. (1990) conducted a study on role stress: differential influences of some

antecedently factors. 173 managerial personnel from steel organization and 76 from

petroleum organization participated in the study. The present study attempted to

compare the influence of the antecedental factors namely, personal, organizational,

job, superior,

leadership styles and communication factors on role conflict and role ambiguity. It

was found that role conflict and role ambiguity experienced by the employees were

most significant in the petroleum organization.

Mishra and Dixit (1995) attempted to reveal the coping styles of 300 allopathic

doctors. It was found that each of the four type of job stress namely role based

stress, task based stress, boundary-spanning stress and conflict mediating stress

influenced burn out among the doctors and role based stresses such as role conflict

and role ambiguity are related with feeling of lack of personal accomplishment.

Peterson (1995) explored role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload as reported

by industrial workers and also found that managers are more stressed due to role

overload from his study “organizational issues for managers”.

Upadhyay and Singh (1999) compared the level of occupational stress experienced

by the 20 college teachers and 20 executives. The executives showed significant

higher levels of stress than college teachers on role over load, role ambiguity, role

conflicts factor.

Hasnain et al. (2001) on his study “role stress and coping strategies in different

- 39 -

occupational groups” assessed the coping strategies in three different occupational

groups (20 engineers, 20managers and 20 teachers). Role over load and role erosion

were found to be major sources of role stress in all three groups.

Pandey and Tripathy (2001) also found that teaching is a stressful occupation. Job

stressors in this profession are role ambiguity and unreasonable group pressure.

Personal development stressors

The personal development factor is closely associated with the level of stress

experienced by the employees in the organization.

Fulcheri et al. (1995) also observed that delay in career development and a slow

erosion of status is the main reasons for frustration among the managers.

Upadhyay and Singh (1999) compared the occupational stress level experienced by

the 20 college teachers and 20 executives. The teachers showed significant higher

levels of stress than executives on intrinsic impoverishment and status factors. They

experienced stress because their personal wishes and strong desire for better and

prosperous career were felt to be blocked by others.

Gaur and Dhawan (2000) examined that the relationship between work related

stressors and adaptation pattern among women professionals. A sample of 120

women professionals (30 teachers, 30 doctors, 30 bank officers and 30 bureaucrats)

participated in the study. It showed that teachers experienced more stress as far as

opportunities and obstacles of career development are concerned.

Tang et al. (2001) reported that teachers experience a great deal of stress in the

course of their career. Burn out represents teachers’ negative response to the

mismatch between job requirements and their perceived abilities, self-efficacy and

proactive attitude.Triveni et al. (2006) concluded that the major sources of job stress

perceived by 90veterinary assistant surgeons were numerous meeting, work load,

lack of personal growth, lack facilities and monotonous nature of work.

Latha and Panchanatham (2007) found out the job stressors and their implications

on the job performance of 40 software professionals. More than 50% of the

- 40 -

respondents do not feel stressed by the working conditions and promotional

opportunities.

Interpersonal relationship stressors

The interpersonal relationship factor is closely associated with the level of stress

experienced by the employees in the organization,

As per the report by Madhu et al. (1990) the contribution of interpersonal relation

factors to job stress were found significant among the employees in the steel

industry.

Upadhyay and Singh (1999) compared the level of occupational stress experienced

by the 20 college teachers and 20 executives. The teachers showed significant higher

levels of stress than executives on under participation and poor peer relation

factors.

Potter et al. (2002) concluded that the interpersonal stressors at work place have the

influence on the employees. Interpersonal conflicts experienced in the work place

also predict diseases and well being declines. Results proved that psychosocial

environment of workplace have unique effects on employee.

Osmany and Khan (2003) conducted a study on Organizational stress in working

women by taking 30 married and 30 unmarried working women. He found that

unmarried working women reported high stress at work place due to political

pressure and for married women, it may be due to poor peer relation.

Bhattacharya and Guha (2006) conducted a study on stress and coping: A study on

lady criminal lawyers of Kolkata city. A group of 34 lady criminal lawyers were

selected for the study. The significant factors that are generating stress are busy

schedule of work, odd duty hours, poor interaction, leading tendency of superiors,

and poor interpersonal relationship among the colleagues in the work environment.

Organizational climate stressors

The organizational climate factors are closely associated with the level of stress

experienced by the employees in the organization.

- 41 -

Madhu et al. (1990) conducted a study on role stress: differential influences of some

antecedental factors. 173 managerial personnel from steel organization and 76 from

petroleum organization participated in the study. It was found that the petroleum

organization has acclimate which would assist the employees in stress reduction

where as the steel organization may not have developed such a climate.

Basha and Ushashree (1997) studied on job stress and coping as related to

perceptions of organizational climate. Significant negative relationship was found

between perception of organizational climate and the amount of stress experienced

by the employees.

Newstrome and Davis (1998) found that when job autonomy provided to managers

is high, they enjoy their work and have freedom to do the task according to their

own will so that they feel less stress.

Vashishtha and Mishra (2000) found that appraisal support had a partially

moderating effect on occupational stress in organizational commitment relationship.

Das and Singhal (2003) explored the effect of job autonomy upon occupational

stress among managers, 300male managers were selected for the study. The findings

of the study revealed that the managers with high job autonomy show less stress as

compared tomanagers with low job autonomy.

Rastogi and Kashyap (2003) conducted a study on “occupational stress and work

adjustment among working women”. Sample consisted of 150 nurses, clerks, and

teachers.

The results concluded that maximum occupational stress is found among nurses as

compared to other two groups. Nurses’ work under the most severe occupational

environment. Teachers perceive the minimum occupational stress because their

working climate is best in comparison to the other two groups.

Vashishtha and Mishra (2004) explored the relative contribution of social support

and occupational stress to organizational commitment of supervisors (n=200) the

result revealed that the social support and occupational stress significantly predict

the degree oforganizational commitment of supervisors.

Latha and Panchanatham (2007) found out the job stressors and their implications

on the job performance of 40 software professionals. More than 50% of the

- 42 -

respondents do not feel stressed by the working conditions and promotional

opportunities. It can be inferred that IT industry is providing better working

environment.

It is quite obvious that occupational stress influences employee’s experiences in

different aspects of their job, such as job performance and job satisfaction. A part

from this, occupational stress in turn gets influenced by the factors like work, role,

interpersonal relationship, personal development and organizational climate.

Studies in this regard revealed the above facts.

LEVEL OF STRESS

Reddy and Ramamurthy (1990) reported that top-level managers experienced more

occupational stress.

Tharakan (1992) studied on occupational stress and job satisfaction among working

women. He observed that professional women experienced greater work related

stress than non-professional women. The expectation of technocrats was much

higher than the no technocrats.

Barnes (1992) conducted a study on stress in aviation personnel. A sample of 25

captains, 16 flight engineers, 11-cabin crewmembers from air India were considered

for the study. The results revealed that the cabin crews have far more stressors than

other aviation groups. This is followed by pilots.Srivastava et al. (1994) revealed tat

in private sector organization middle level managers faced greater stress and

anxiety as compared to top level managers.Sahu and Mishra (1995) explored the life

stress and coping styles in teachers. The sample consisted of 120 male and 120

female teachers. The males experienced greater stress in the work and society areas,

while females experienced more stress in family areas.

Aminabhavi and Triveni (1998) found that the signal maintainers have higher

occupational stress as compared to other employees in railways. It also showed that

railway employees who expressed moderate level of job satisfaction and life

satisfaction have significantly higher occupational stress than those who expressed

higher life and job

satisfaction.

- 43 -

Boroun et al. (1998) studied the job stress and job performance among 150 self

paced repetitive workers. He indicated that the low satisfied workers experienced

more ‘afterwork’ stress than the high-satisfied workers.

Gaur and Dhawan (2000) examined that the relationship between work related

stressors and adaptation pattern among women professionals. A sample of 120

women professionals (30 teachers, 30 doctors, 30 bank officers and 30 bureaucrats)

participated in the study. It showed that the four professionals groups have shared

almost similar level of stress except in the categories of career development and

stressors specific to working

women .Aminabhavi and Triveni (2000) revealed that nationalized bank employees

havesignificantly higher occupational stress than non nationalized bank employees,

in the dimensions such as role conflict, unreasonable group/political pressure,

intrinsic impoverishment and strenuous working conditions. Non-nationalized bank

employees have significantly higher stress due to low status.

Pandey and Srivastava (2000) studied the work stress experienced by teachers,

railway and bank employees. Maximum work stress was reported by the railway

employees but the level of stress was lesser in bank personnel and least in teachers.

Harshpinder and Aujla (2002) found in their study that working women were more

stressed due to sociological factors where as non-working women were more

stressed due to environmental factors. Bhatia and Kumar (2005) attempted to

explore occupational stress and burn out among employees. A sample consisted of

100 employees belonging to supervisor and below supervisor level. Employees at

supervisor rank experienced more occupational stress than below supervisor level

due to more responsibility and accountability.

Das and Singhal (2003) explored the effect of job autonomy upon occupational

stress among managers, 300male managers were selected for the study. The findings

of the study revealed that the managers with high job autonomy show less stress as

compared tomanagers with low job autonomy.

A study by Aujla et al. (2004) showed that working women were significantly more

stressed due to psychological stressors than non-working women.

- 44 -

Ojha and Rani (2004) examined the level of life stress and various dimensions of

mental health among working (n=30) and non-working (n=30) Indian women.

Working women were significantly scored higher on life stress in comparison to non

working women .Bidlan (2005) conducted a study on “job involvement, job

frustration, and occupational stress among workers of small and large scale

industrial units”. He examined semi-skilled workers (n=200) from small and large-

scale industrial units. Results showed that small scales industrial worker had

significantly greater degree of job stress than the workers of large-scale industrial

units.

Srivastava (2005) on his study effects of cognitive appraisal on the relationship of

job stress and job related health outcomes considered the sample size of 300. The

results showed that the employees who are appraised the severity of and threats

posed from stressful situation as to be high experienced markedly higher degree of

job stress in comparison to those who appraised the severity and expected threats as

to be low.

Panchanatham et al. (2006) analyzed the stress pattern of coercive and nom coercive

leaders. A group of 60 problem-solving executives who belong to implementer style

were considered for the study. It proved that coercive leaders are more stressful

than non-coercive leaders. S.R.L.M. and Sarada Devi (2006) assessed the probable

ratio of satisfaction to stress of women in different occupations. The total sample

comprised of 120 working women in which 30 lawyers, 30 engineers and 60 clerks.

The findings of the study revealed that among all the three categories of women

employees, the probable ratio of stress was more than satisfaction in their role

performance. From all these studies it can be concluded that individuals do

experience stress of different levels; only their sources of stress vary according to

the type of institution, working conditions in which they have to work

COPING STRATEGIES

Mishra and Dixit (1995) attempted to reveal the coping styles of 300 allopathic

doctors. It was found from the investigation that those who use effective coping (i.e.

above average control style and below average escape style) are less burn out than

- 45 -

those who use ineffective coping (i.e. above average escape style and below average

control style).

Upamanyu (1997) explored the stress management techniques used by the educated

working women. The sleep & relaxation, exercise, time management, diet and yoga

are the best way adopted to manage stress by educated working women

Aminabhavi and Triveni (2000) in their study found that age, sex, coping strategies

ofbank employees have not influenced their occupational stress.

Pandey and Srivastava (2000) studied coping with work stress in career oriented

females. It was found from the result that teachers expressed significantly better

active coping than bank employees.

Gaur and Dhawan (2000) examined that the relationship between work related

stressors and adaptation pattern among women professionals. A sample of 120

women professionals (30 teachers, 30 doctors, 30 bank officers and 30 bureaucrats)

participated in the study. They showed a configuration of adaptation pattern of

active coping. The junior level job group or junior age group is significantly more

active coping, greater painfulness and has more initiative as compared to middle

and senior age group or level of employment status.

Harshpinder and Aujla (2001) investigated the different physical stress management

techniques utilized by women. Results showed that working women were making

more use of writing dairy, standard furniture and high fiber diet as compared to

non-working women. The two groups did not differ significantly in the use of other

techniques.

Hasnain et al. (2001) on his study “role stress and coping strategies in different

occupational groups” assessed the coping strategies in three different occupational

groups (20 engineers, 20managers and 20 teachers). No significant difference was

obtained among the coping strategies of the three groups. The two coping strategies

used by these three groups were extra-persistive and inter-persistive (approach

coping). In a nutshell it can be said that in all the three groups approach coping

strategies were more frequently used than avoidance strategies.

Aminabhavi and Kamble (2004) conducted a study on work motivation and stress

- 46 -

coping behavior of technical personnel at a railway workshop. The sample

comprised of 30technical personnel in the age range of 30-59 years. It was found

that middle –aged technical personnel had significantly higher stress coping

behavior as compared to the older technical personnel.

Aujla et al. (2004) investigated to analyze the different stress management

techniques used by 75 working women and 75 non-working women of Ludhiana

city. Results showed that majority of the respondents in both the categories were

using various stress management techniques viz. relaxation, music, prayer,

recreation with family, planning etc .Planning and relaxation were most preferred

techniques among both the groups .Aditi and Kumari (2005) found that the stress

buffering effects of friendship and social support systems seem to a significant

contributor to high levels of stress.

Randeep and Ravindran (2005) attempted to explore the relationship between

copingstrategies and coping styles among 30 marketing executives in two private

sector mobilephone companies. It was concluded that in the use of coping styles such

as task strategies,logics, home and work relationship, time management and

involvement, executives differ considerably with respect to their cognitive styles.

Bhattacharya and Guha (2006) conducted a study on stress and coping: A study on

lady criminal lawyers of Kolkata city. A group of 34 lady criminal lawyers were

selected for the study. The significant coping mechanisms as preferred by them are

reading books, traveling or outing, listening to music etc.

Chand (2006) studied to examine the psychological factors in the development of

work stress. The respondents are 150 junior management scale-1 officers in various

banking institutions. The findings of the study revealed that job related strain is

positively related with escape coping and negatively related with life event stress,

control coping and symptom management coping.

Sikthingnanavel (2006) explored the effect of select yogic practices on stress of

working women of 15 normal female volunteers. The suitable parameters were used

before and after 10 days training programmer. The results show that there is a

greater improvement in the reduction of stress in the experimental group than the

control group.

- 47 -

All these studies have revealed that coping strategies of individuals has significant

effect on mitigating of stress. The above studies explored different stress

management techniques to reduce or minimize stress.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RELATION TO STRESS AND

COPING STRATEGIES

As far as gender differences are concerned, the studies revealed the following facts

Gender differences in relation to stress Beena and Poduval (1992) conducted a study

on sample of 80 executives in different organizations (40 male and 40 female) with in

the age range of 25-45 years, to know the gender difference in work stress. The

result revealed that female executives experienced higher rate of stress.

Mitra and Sen (1993) in their study found that male and female executives differed

significantly on role ambiguity, role conflict, inter role distance, future prospects

and human relation at work and femininity and masculinity dimensions. Male

executives with masculine sex role orientation faced greater job stress and anxiety

than females possessing an androgynous personality. Authors attributed this fact to

a greater reluctance to self disclose among men and different socialization patterns

laid down for both men and women in Indian society.

Ushashree et al. (1995) on their study considered 80 male and 80 female high

Schoolteachers in the age group of 25-40 year(adult) and 41-60 years(middle) age to

know the effect of gender on teacher’s experience of job stress and job satisfaction.

Analysis of data indicated significant effect of gender on job stress.

Sahu and Mishra (1995) made an attempt to explore gender differences in

relationship between stresses experienced in various areas of life. The sample for the

study was 120 men and 120 women teachers. The result revealed the significant

positive relationship between works related stress and society related stress in

males. On the other hand, in females, a significant positive relationship was

observed between family stress and society related stress.

Bhagawan (1997) studied on job stress among 53 male and 47 female teachers from

20 schools in Orissa. It was found from the results that male teachers experienced

more stress compared to female teachers.

- 48 -

Barkat and Asma Praveen (1999) studied the effect of gender on organizational role

stress. The sample consisted of 50 managers, 25 male and 25 female of SBI. The age

range of the subject was between 36-55 years. Results indicated that females

showed lower degree of role stress than their male counterparts.

Aminabhavi and Triveni (2000) conducted a study on the nationalized and non

nationalized bank employees. The sample consisted of 78 bank employees of which

39 nationalized and 39 non-nationalized banks. The result revealed that male and

female bank employees do not differ significantly in their occupational stress.

Pradhan and Khattri (2001) studied the effect of gender on stress and burn out in

doctors. They have considered experience of work and family stress as intra-psychic

variables. The sample consisted of 50 employed doctor couples. Mean age was 40

years for males and 38 years for females. The result indicated no gender difference

in the experience of burn out, but female doctors experience significantly more

stress.

Triveni and Aminabhavi (2002) conducted a study to know the gender difference in

occupational stress of professional and non- professionals. The sample consisted of

300professionals (doctors, lawyers and teachers) and 100 non professionals. The

result revealed that women professionals experience significantly higher

occupational stress than men due to under participation.

All these studies have revealed controversial results but gender of individuals has

significant effect on experience of stress. In some situations, women experience more

stress than men and vice versa.

FACTORS INFLUENCING STRESS

Both the individual and organizational factors influence stress.

Demographic factors and stress

The relationship between demographic variables viz., age, gender, education,

occupation, experience, type of family, and stress reviewed as bellow.

1. Age

Reddy and Ramamurthy (1991) analyzed the influence of age on stress

experience of a person. The sample consisted of 200 executives. The results

- 49 -

revealed that executives in the age group of 41-50 experienced more stress than

the age group of 51-60. Moderating variables among executives experiencing

stress include not only age but also the years of service in the employment.

Beena and Poduval (1992) conducted a study on sample of 80 (40 male and 40

female) executives in different organizations. They found that when age

increases, experienced stress also increased due to the increase in the

responsibility of the executives.

Female executives showed higher rate of stress because women experience

greater amount of work change than men do.

Mayes (1996) conducted a study on police officers, fire fighters, electrician and

executives aged 18-63 years. Multiple regression revealed that age moderated the

relationship among various stressors and physiological symptoms as well as

psychological depression and life satisfaction.

Aminabhavi and Triveni (2000) in their study found that age, sex, coping

strategies of bank employees have not influenced their occupational stress.

Virk et al. (2001) conducted a study on occupational stress and work motivation

in relation to age, job level and type-A behavior. He reported that age and job

level can havestrong influence on job stress.

Rastogi and Kashyap (2003) conducted a study on “occupational stress and work

adjustment among working women”. Sample consisted of 150 nurses, clerks, and

teachers. The average age of the sample is quite matured and experienced, which

help them to ignore the stress and maintain the smooth adjustment in the

organization.

Bhatia and Kumar (2005) studied on occupational stress and burn out in

industrial employees. The sample consisted of 100 employees belonging to

supervisor and below supervisor level. Their chronological age ranged from 22-

32 years and 33-42 years. Among the industrial employees at supervisor rank

and below supervisor rank belonging to higher age group experienced more

occupational stress.

Anitha Devi (2007) aimed at identifying the degree of life stress and role stress

- 50 -

experienced by professional women. A total sample of 180 women professionals

belonging to six occupations were chosen for the study. The results revealed that,

the older person experience lower life stress and role stress. Younger people

experience more stress as compared to older people. The greater the numbers of

years of service the greater life and role stress. The lower the income, greater

stress experienced i.e. stress decreases with increase in income.

From the above studies, it can be concluded that younger age group is more

susceptible to stress due to lack of experience and older age group experience

stress due tithe increase in the responsibility.

2. Education

Education acts as mediator, either increases or reduces stress depending on

perspective of the individuals.

Ansari (1991) had studied the nature and extent of stress in agriculture

university teachers. Sample consisted of 235 respondents comprising 30

professors, 74 associate professor’s and135 assistant professors. The result

revealed that the correlation between the nature of stress and qualification of

teachers in different cadres was found to be none significant.

Chand and Monga (2007) examined the correlates of job stress and burn out

among 100 faculty members from two universities. He found that, higher

education could combat stress and burn out related problems among the

faculty members.

3. Occupation and position

Ryhal and Singh (1996) studied the correlates of job stress among university

faculty.

A sample of 100 faculty members 30 professors, 31 associate and 39 assistant

professors.

Results revealed that assistant professors experienced higher job stress than

associateprofessors and professors.

Orpen (1996) examined the moderating effects of cognitive failure on the

relationshipbetween work stress and personal strain. He compared the work

- 51 -

stress among 136 nurses and 12 college lecturers. The results found that

nurses experienced more stress than the lecturers.

Ansari and Singh (1997) made an attempt to explore the contribution of

demographicvariables to the nature of stress experienced by the teachers in

an agriculture university. The study comprised sample of 235 faculty

members (23 professors, 74 associate and 138assistant professors).The

professors were either in moderate or in high stress categories ascompared to

associate and assistant professors.Upadhayay and Singh (1999) studied the

level of occupational stress experienced bythe 20 college teachers and 20

executives. The executives showed significant higher levels of stress than

college teachers on role over load, role ambiguity, role conflicts factor. Gaur

and Dhawan (2000) examined that the relationship between work related

stressors and adaptation pattern among women professionals. A sample of

120 womenprofessionals (30 teachers, 30 doctors, 30 bank officers and 30

bureaucrats) participated in the study. It showed that the four professionals

groups have shared almost similar level of stress except in the categories of

career development and stressors specific to working

women.Pandey and Srivastava (2000) had studied the female personnel

working in railway,bank and teaching institutions. A sample of 96 females,

16 subjects in each professional area were taken. The study identified that

respondents among all the three dimensions, clerks of bank and railway

experienced more work stress as compared to teachers.

Aminabhavi and Triveni (2000) revealed that managers experience

significantly higher occupational stress than clerks. The fact is that managers

have greater responsibility of his position than the clerks.

Anitha Devi (2007) aimed at identifying the degree of life stress and role

stress experienced by professional women. A total sample of 180 women

professionals belonging to six occupations were chosen for the study. The

result showed science and technology professionals and doctors experienced

significantly greater life and role stress followed by administrators and self-

- 52 -

employed. Teachers and bankers experienced comparatively lesser stress in

both role as well as life.

Chand and Monga (2007) examined the correlates of job stress and burn out

among 100 faculty members from two universities. Respondents with

internal locus of control, high social support and high job involvement

experience less stress. Results also revealed that, professors and minimum by

assistant professors report maximum stress.

Kaur and Kaur (2007) attempted to make a study on occupational stress and

burn out among women police. The sample comprised of 80 women police

and age ranges between 25-45. The results concluded that police work is most

stressful occupation and as the occupational stress increases the level of the

burn out also increases. From all these studies, it can be concluded that as

the position of the worker increases, the stress level also increases. Teachers

experienced low stress as compared to other professionals.

4. Experience

Blix et al. (1994) conducted a study on occupational stress among university

teachers and found that faculty having less than 10 years of experience had

higher stress than faculty with more than 20 years of experience.

Ryhal and Singh (1996) considered university faculty for their study

comprised sample of 100 faculty members 30 professors, 31 associate and 39

assistant professors. Results revealed that those with 26-35 years experience

had higher job stress than those with teaching experience of16-25 years and

5-15 years. Those with 16-25 years experience had higher job stress than

those with teaching experience of 5-15 years.

Ansari and Singh (1997) made an attempt to explore the contribution of

demographic variables to the nature of stress experienced by the teachers in

an agriculture university. The study comprised sample of 235 faculty

members (23 professors, 74 associate and 138 assistant professors).The

associate professor’s total service experience was positively related to stress.

- 53 -

Bhagawan (1997) conducted a study on 100 teachers selected from 20 schools

in Orissa. The sample consisted of 100 teachers (53 male and 47 female

teachers).The study revealed that higher the teaching experience, lesser the

perceived burn out.

Bhatia and Kumar (2005) studied on occupational stress and burn out in

industrial employees. A sample consisted of 100 employees belonging to

supervisor and below supervisor level. Their experience/length of service

varied from 2-6 and 7-12 years. Industrial employees at supervisor rank and

below supervisor rank with more experience of service had more

occupational stress due to more feeling of depersonalization and more

exhaustion that is emotional.From the above studies, it can be concluded that

the length of service has negative and positive relationship with stress. Even

then more studies revealed that individual with lesser experience,

experienced more stress as compared to the individual with more service

years.

5. Type of family

Nuclear family creates more stress as compared to joint family. Joint family

and support from the Joint family acts as buffer against stress.

Abrol (1990) had examined the strains experienced and coping strategies

used by 27 male and 27 female teachers. Results indicated that subjects

reported interpersonal and psychological stress. They used social support to

deal with stress.

Vashishtha and Mishra (1998) observed that social support from the family,

coworkers, supervisors and other people could minimize stress among the

employees.

Pandey and Srivastava (2000) had studied the female personnel working in

railway,bank and teaching institutions. A sample of 96 females, 16 subjects in

each professional area both from nuclear and joint family were taken. The

study identified that respondents belonging to nuclear family had expressed

more interpersonal work stress.

- 54 -

6. Organizational factors and stress

The organizational factors seem to have the most significant influence on an

individual. The relationship between Organizational factors viz., work, and

role, personal development, interpersonal relationship, organizational

climate and stress of the individual reviewed as below.

7. MARITAL STATUS

Marital status has an important role in deciding the job satisfaction. Most of

the studies have revealed that the married person finds dissatisfaction in his

job than his unmarried counterpart. The reasons stated to be are that wages

were insufficient due to increased cost of living, educations to children etc

REDUCING STRESS

1. Job analysis:

We have all experienced that appalling sense of having far too much work to do

and too little time to do it in. We can choose to ignore this, and work unreasonably

long hours to stay on top of our workload. The risks here are that we become

exhausted, that we have so much to do that we do a poor quality job and that we

neglect other areas of our life. Each of these can lead to intense stress.

The alternative is to work more intelligently, by focusing on the things that are

important for job success and reducing the time we spend on low priority tasks.

Job Analysis is the first step in doing this. The first of the action-oriented skills that

we look at is Job Analysis. Job Analysis is a key technique for managing job

overload – an important source of stress.

To do an excellent job, you need to fully understand what is expected of you. While

this may seem obvious, in the hurly-burly of a new, fast-moving, high-pressure role,

it is oftentimes something that is easy to overlook.

- 55 -

By understanding the priorities in your job, and what constitutes success within it,

you can focus on these activities and minimize work on other tasks as much as

possible. This helps you get the greatest return from the work you do, and keep

your workload under control. Job Analysis is a useful technique for getting a firm

grip on what really is important in your job so that you are able to perform

excellently. It helps you to cut through clutter and distraction to get to the heart of

what you need to do.

2. Rational & positive thinking:

You are thinking negatively when you fear the future, put yourself down, criticize

yourself for errors, doubt your abilities, or expect failure. Negative thinking

damages confidence, harms performance and paralyzes mental skills.

Unfortunately, negative thoughts tend to flit into our consciousness, do their

damage and flit back out again, with their significance having barely been noticed.

Since we barely realize that they were there, we do not challenge them properly,

which means that they can be completely incorrect and wrong. Thought Awareness

is the process by which you observe your thoughts and become aware of what is

going through your head. One approach to it is to observe your "stream of

consciousness" as you think about the thing you’re trying to achieve which is

stressful. Do not suppress any thoughts. Instead, just let them run their course

while you watch them, and write them down on our free worksheet as they occur.

Then let them go. Another more general approach to Thought Awareness comes

with logging stress in your Stress Diary. When you analyze your diary at the end of

the period, you should be able to seethe most common and the most damaging

thoughts. Tackle these as a priority using the techniques below. Here are some

typical negative thoughts you might experience when preparing to give a major

presentation:

Fear about the quality of your performance or of problems that may

interfere with it;

- 56 -

Worry about how the audience (especially important people in it like your

boss) or the press may react to you;

Dwelling on the negative consequences of a poor performance; or

Self-criticism over a less-than-perfect rehearsal. Thought awareness is the

first step in the process of managing negative thoughts, as you cannot

manage thoughts that you are unaware of.

Rational Thinking

The next step in dealing with negative thinking is to challenge the negative thoughts

that you identified using the Thought Awareness technique. Look at every thought

you wrote down and challenge it rationally. Ask yourself whether the thought is

reasonable. What evidence is there for and against the thought? Would your

colleagues and mentors agree or disagree with it?

Looking at the examples, the following challenges could be made to the negative

thoughts we identified earlier:

Feelings of inadequacy: Have you trained yourself as well as you reasonably

should have? Do you have the experience and resources you need to make the

presentation?

Have you planned, prepared and rehearsed enough? If you have done all of these,

you’ve done as much as you can to give a good performance.

Worries about performance during rehearsal: If some of your practice was less

than perfect, then remind yourself that the purpose of the practice is to identify

areas for improvement, so that these can be sorted out before the performance.

Problems with issues outside your control: Have you identified the risks of these

things happening, and have you taken steps to reduce the likelihood of them

happening or their impact if they do? What will you do if they occur? And what

do you need others to do for you?

- 57 -

Worry about other people's reactions: If you have prepared well, and you do the

best you can, then you should be satisfied. If you perform as well as you

reasonably can, then fair people are likely to respond well. If people are not fair,

the best thing to do is ignore their comments and rise above them.

When you challenge negative thoughts rationally, you should be able to see

quickly whether the thoughts are wrong or whether they have some substance to

them. Where there is some substance, take appropriate action. However, make

sure that your negative thoughts are genuinely important to achieving your

goals, and don't just reflect a lack of experience, which everyone has to go

through at some stage.

Positive Thinking & Opportunity Seeking

By now, you should already be feeling more positive. The final step is to prepare

rational, positive thoughts and affirmations to counter any remaining negativity. It

can also be useful to look at the situation and see if there are any useful

opportunities that are offered by it. By basing your affirmations on the clear,

rational assessments of facts that you made using

Rational Thinking, you can use them to undo the damage that negative thinking

may have done to your self-confidence.

Continuing the examples above, positive affirmations might be:

Problems during practice: "I have learned from my rehearsals. This has put

me in a position where I can deliver a great performance. I am going to

perform well and enjoy the event."

Worries about performance: "I have prepared well and rehearsed

thoroughly. I am well positioned to give an excellent performance."

Problems issues outside your control: "I have thought through everything

that might reasonably happen and have planned how I can handle all likely

contingencies. I am very well placed to react flexibly to events."

- 58 -

Worry about other people's reaction: "Fair people will react well to a good

performance. I will rise above any unfair criticism in a mature and

professional way.” Make sure that identifying these opportunities and

focusing on them is part of your positive thinking.

3. LAUGHTER

During stress, the adrenal gland releases corticosteroids, which are converted to

cortical in the blood stream. These have an immunosuppressive effect. Dr. Lee

Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan at Loma Linda University School of

Medicine have produced carefully controlled studies showing that the experience of

laughter lowers serum cortical levels, increases the amount and activity of T

lymphocytes—the natural killer cells. Laughter also increases the number of T cells

that have suppresser receptors.

What Laughter Can Do Against Stress And Its Effects?

Laughter lowers blood pressure and reduces hypertension.

It provides good cardiac conditioning especially for those who are unable to

perform physical exercise.

Reduces stress hormones (studies shows, laughter induces reduction of at

least four of neuron endocrine hormones—epinephrine, cortical, dopac, and

growth hormone, associated with stress response).

Laughter cleanses the lungs and body tissues of accumulated stale air as it

empties more air than it takes in. It is beneficial for patients suffering from

emphysema and other respiratory ailments.

It increases muscle flexion, relaxation and fluent blood circulation in body.

Boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease

fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and disease-destroying antibodies

called B-cells.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins—body's natural painkillers.

- 59 -

Produces a general sense of well-bein

SCOPE & SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The world today is fast changing and every individual faces a lot of pressure and

demand at work. These pressures at work lead to mental and physical disorders.

Stress refers to an individual’s response to a disturbing factor in the environment

and the consequences of such a reaction. This study will help organizations know

what causes stress and how to reduce the same in employees since it is a well-known

fact that a healthy and sound employee is a productive employee.

Objectives:

To study the stress experienced by employees of HDFC and SBI.

To find out the level and source of stress.

To know the factors that causes stress.

To analyze the perception of employees towards the management in handling

stress.

- 60 -

- 61 -

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research is defined as human activity based on intellectual application in the

investigation of matter. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering,

interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of

human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the

universe. Research can use the scientific method, but need not do so.

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. The

research methodology in the present study deals with research design, data

collection methods, sampling methods, survey, analysis and interpretations.

APPROACHES TO RESEARCH

Descriptive approach is one of the most popular approaches these days. In this

approach, the researcher describes a problem by using questionnaire or schedule.

This approach enables a researcher to explore new areas of investigation.

RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of

data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with

economy in procedure.

· A well-structured questionnaire is framed.

· Data is collected from the employees in the. HDFC AND SBI

· Findings are made and necessary suggestions and recommendations are given.

DATA SOURCES

There are two types of data collection namely primary data collection and

secondary data collection.

PRIMARY DATA

- 62 -

The primary data is defined as the data, which is collected for the first time and

fresh in nature, and happen to be original in character through field survey.

SECONDARY DATA

The secondary data are those that have already been collected by someone else and

have been passed through statistical process.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

The data collection method used in this research is questionnaire method. Here the

data are systematically recorded from the respondents.

RESEARCH TOOL

A structured questionnaire has been prepared to get the relevant information from

the respondents. The questionnaire consists of a variety of questions presented to

the respondents for their despondence.

SAMPLING

Sampling is that part of statistical practice concerned with the selection of

individual observations intended to yield some knowledge about a population of

concern, especially for the purposes of statistical inference. Each observation

measures one or more properties (weight, location, etc.) of an observable entity

enumerated to distinguish objects or individuals. Survey weights often need to be

applied to the data to adjust for the sample design. Results from probability theory

and statistical theory are employed to guide practice.

SAMPLE UNIT

The employees of the HDFC AND SBI are the sample unit in the survey.

SAMPLE SIZE

- 63 -

The sample size chosen for this study is 100 as instructed by the department since it

is a MINIRESEARCH PROJECT.

SAMPLING METHOD

Sampling methods are classified as either probability or non-probability. In

probability samples, each member of the population has a known non-zero

probability of being selected.

Probability methods include random sampling, systematic sampling, and stratified

sampling. In non-probability sampling, members are selected from the population

in some nonrandom manner. These include convenience sampling, judgment

sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling. The advantage of probability

sampling is that sampling error can be calculated. Sampling error is the degree to

which a sample might differ from the population. When inferring to the population,

results are reported plus or minus the sampling error. In non probability sampling,

the degree to which the sample differs from the population remains unknown. In

this research, the sampling methods used are Random sampling, Convenience

sampling and Snowball sampling

Random sampling is the purest form of probability sampling. Each member

of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected. When

there are very large populations, it is often difficult or impossible to identify

every member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes

biased.

Judgment sampling is a common non-probability method. The researcher

selects the sample based on judgment. This is usually an extension of

convenience sampling. For example, a researcher may decide to draw the

entire sample from one "representative" city, even though the population

includes all cities. When using this method, the researcher must be confident

that the chosen sample is truly representative of the entire population.

- 64 -

Snowball sampling is a special non-probability method used when the

desired sample characteristic is rare. It may be extremely difficult tor cost

prohibitive to locate respondents in these situations. Snowball sampling relies

on referrals from initial subjects to generate additional subjects. While this

technique can dramatically lower search costs, it comes at the expense of

introducing bias because the technique itself reduces the likelihood that the

sample will represent a good cross section from the population.

STATISTICAL METHODS USED

Percentage analysis

Pie diagram

PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS:

Percentage refers to a special kind of ratio. Percentages are used in making

comparison between two or more series of data. Percentage is used to describe

relative terms the distribution of two or more series of data.

No. of Respondents

Percentage of Respondents = ------------------------ X 100

Total Respondents

- 65 -

Demographic Profile

- 66 -

Age:

Table 1

Respondents No. Respondent percentage

20-25 25 25

25-30 25 25

30-35 30 30

35-ABOVE 20 20

TOTAL 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 30% of the respondents are 30-35

of age and 25% of the respondents are 20-25 and 25-30

Gender:

Table 2

- 67 -

Respondents No. Respondent percentage

MALE 50 50

FEMALE 50 50

TOTAL 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 50% of the respondents are male

and 50% of the respondents are female

Monthly Income:

Table 3

Respondents No. Respondent percentage

Below Rest. 10,000 25 25

10,000- 20000 25 25

- 68 -

20,000-30000 30 30

Above 30,000 20 20

TOTAL 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table it is clearly evident that 30% of the respondents

are20000-30000of monthly and 25% of the respondents are 10000-20000

Education Qualification

Table 4

Respondents No. Respondent percentage

Under graduation 55 55

Post – graduation 45 45

TOTAL 100 100

- 69 -

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table it is evident that 55% of the respondents are UG

of education and 45% of the respondents are PG

Marital Status

Table 5

Responses No. of Responses percentage

MARRIED 65 65

UNMARRIED 35 35

TOTAL 100 100

- 70 -

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 65% of the respondents are

Married of age and 35% of the respondents are unmarried

Years of experience:

Table 5

Responses No. Responses

- 71 -

Less than 1yr 20

1-2 yrs 20

2-3 yrs 30

3-4 yrs 20

Above 4yrs 10

TOTAL 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 65% of the respondents are

2-3of years of experiences and 20% of the respondents are unmarried

1. Do you satisfied with your current job?

Responses No. of Responses percentage

Yes 80 80

- 72 -

No 20 20

Total 100 100

No. of Respondents

Yes

No

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 80% of the respondents are said

YES, they satisfied their current job and 20% of the respondents are said no

2. Do you regularly spend time for entertainment?

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 68 68

- 73 -

No 32 32

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 68% of the respondents are said

YES, they entertainment regularly and 32% of the respondents are said no.

3. Do you balance your work and personal life?

- 74 -

Response No. of Responses percentage

Yes 55 55

No 45 45

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 55% of the respondents are said

YES, they balance their work and personal life and 45% of the respondents are said

no

4. Do you respond with anger, when someone interrupts you?

- 75 -

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 32 32

No 78 78

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 32% of the respondents are said

YES, they respond with anger, when someone interrupts them and 78% of the

respondents are said no

- 76 -

5. Do you discuss your problems with your colleagues or any other close to you?

Response No. of Respondent percentage

Yes 51 51

No 49 49

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 51% of the respondents are said

YES, they discuss their problems with their colleagues or any other close to them

and 49% of the respondents are said no

- 77 -

6. Are you tensed at your non-achievement of your target?

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 85% of the respondents are said

YES, tensed at their non-achievement of their target and 15% of the respondents

are said no

- 78 -

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 85 85

No 15 15

Total 100 100

7. Do you find that you are prone to negative thinking about your job?

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 32 32

No 78 78

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 32% of the respondents are said

YES, they are prone to negative thinking about their job and 78% of the

respondents are said no

- 79 -

8. Do you have trouble falling asleep?

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 58 58

No 42 42

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 58% of the respondents are said

YES, trouble falling asleep and 42% of the respondents are said no

- 80 -

9. Do you have problem of BP/Sugar/any other health problems? 

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 85% of the respondents are said

YES, they have problem of BP/Sugar/any other health problems and 15% of the

respondents are said no

- 81 -

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 85 85

No 15 15

Total 100 100

10. Do you feel stress sometimes?

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Always 40 40

Often 42 42

Occasionally 10 10

Rarely 08 08

Never 00 00

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

- 82 -

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 42% of the respondents are said

often they have feel stress sometimes and 8% of the respondents are said rarely.

11. Reason of your stress is

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Work load 28 28

Family problems 31 31

Both 38 38

Others 11 11

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

- 83 -

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 38% of the respondents are

said family problems Reason of your stress and 11% of the respondents are said

rarely.

12. Yoga or Meditation will reduce your stress.

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Strongly agree 22 22

Agree 29 29

Undecided 41 41

Disagree 8 8

Strongly Disagree 0 0

Total 100 100

- 84 -

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 41% of the respondents are

said undecided Yoga or Meditation will reduce your stress and 11% of the

respondents are said rarely

13. Spending time with your family/friends reduces stress.

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Strongly agree 48 48

Agree 33 33

Undecided 12 12

Disagree 07 07

Strongly disagree 00 00

Total 100 100

- 85 -

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 48% of the respondents are

strongly agree said and 7% of the respondents are disagree

14. Is your social life balanced?

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

Yes 48 48

No 52 52

Total 100 100

- 86 -

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 48% of the respondents are strongly agree said yes and 52% of the respondents are no

15. You have an important function at your home and your boss asks to give a 4

hour over time, what will be your response?

Responses No. of Respondents percentage

- 87 -

Yes 28 28

No 72 72

Total 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart and table, it is evident that 28% of the respondents are said yes and 72% of the respondents are said no

FINDINGS

- 88 -

1. Most of the respondents have many years of long association with the

organization

2. Most of the employees feel that they have no time for themselves and their

personal lives because of work overload.

3. The respondents are sociable and have no problems interacting with their

colleagues.

4. Employees’ are satisfied with the working conditions.

5. Role overload is the major cause of stress.

6. The respondents face a moderate level of stress

- 89 -

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Organize a Stress Management Program that focuses on different leave

categories of employees’ at all hierarchical level.

- 90 -

2. Take adequate steps to redesign jobs, which are taxing to employees’ abilities

and capacities.

3. Adequate role clarification to be made whenever necessary to eliminate role

ambiguity.

4. Introduce more job oriented training programs, which improve employees’

skill and their confidence to work effectively.

5. Encourage open channel of communication to deal work related stress.

6. Undertake stress audit at all levels in the organization to identify stress area

improving conditions of job and alleviating job stress.

7. Introduce ‘Pranayam’ (Brain Stilling and control of Vital Force) as a holistic

managerial strategy to deal with occupational strategy.

8. . Provide counseling on work related and personnel problems and support

from a team of welfare health and counseling staff.

9. Attractive system of reward and recognition of good work.

10. Companies must have the Stress Management Programmers like yoga.

11. Company must start Recreation center for employees where employees can

play and do yoga.

12. Top management must do proper arrangement to reduce the work stress of

employees. 

13. The Banks must start Recreation Centers. 

EMPLOYEES’ SUGGESTION TO REDUCE STRESS

This project consists of the information about the employees, working in the

banking industry, who are undergoing stress. So considering this factor, the topic

becomes one of the most important parts of the project as it consists of the opinion

of the employees who work in the banks. The response of employees from major

banks in the city was marvelous as they gave their valuable opinion about reducing

- 91 -

stress because of the last question included in the questionnaire. The opinion of the

employees was as follows:

“Just smile away” An employee- HDFC Bank

“Just believe in yourself and just do what your heart wants” An employee-

HDFC Bank

“Talking to family member “- Watching TV or listening good music, -

Going for a walk or long drive” An employee- HDFC Bank

“Working in environment welfares, lot of positive attitude.

Positive attitude is only that reduces stress and achieves success. Most of

the people frustrate due to lack of positively and stress level climbs up due

to that. So get positive attitude about work, about life, and forget the

stress” An employee- SBI Bank

“We should do such activities from which we get happiness

and also make others happy. Pass your time with your close friends and

relatives.” An employee- SBI Bank

“Play and watch cricket” An employee- SBI Bank

“Listen music and spend time with family” An employee- SBI Bank

“Get adjusted with others, Find and spend time for prayer,

Study the scriptures, See oneness in all, All are manifested of the supreme

GOD” An employee- SBI Bank

- 92 -

Conclusion

Stress is an inevitable consequence of socioeconomic complexity and, to some extent,

its stimulant as well. People experience stress, as they can no longer have complete

control over what happens in their lives.

- 93 -

Employees share their problems with their colleagues and Supervisors.

Management of Private Sector Banks is more effective in handling their

stress situations as compared to Public Sector Banks.

Most of the employees of HDFC Bank handle stressful situations

optimistically as compared to state of India.

Most of the employees are satisfied with the existing stress Management system

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In spite of the precautions, vigilance and scrupulousness taken by the investigator

to make the study objective, it cannot be denied that there are certain limitations.

The questionnaires were filled be 100 employees working in, HDFC bank

and SBI bank. Therefore, the scope of sample findings was less.

100 employees of different designations filled the questionnaire. Therefore,

the point of view of employees differs as per their designations.

The employees from whom the questionnaires are filled are in a heavy

workload so some of the questionnaires filled by the employees who are in

stress cannot be called reasonable.

As the study was done within a limited time, investigator could not select a

sufficiently large sample for the study.

The employees were reluctant to give correct information

- 94 -

LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Tatum Malcom, “What is Occupational stress”; Wisegeek publications;

November: 23; 2011; http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-occupational-

stress.htm

- 95 -

2. Wikipedia, “Occupationalstress”; December2010;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_stress

3. Townscend C “Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing”;5th edition;

Jaypeepublications; Page no:3-8

4. Peace, “The Concept of Stress”;Friday;December22;2006

http://motivationcentre.blogspot.com/2006/12/concept-of-stress.html

5. Deepimano, “Stress among bank employees’’; Future studies; posted on 2-

11-2011,http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Stress-Among-Bank-Employees/

579423

6. Malik Nadeem “A study on occupational stress experienced by private and

public banks employees”; African journal business management; Volume

5;Page no:3063-3070;18 April 2011.

http://www.academicjournals.org/ajbm/pdf/pdf2011/18Apr/Malik.pdf

7. Scott Elizabeth, “Effects of poorly managed anger”; about.com;

June27;2011. http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/anger_proble :

8. DHHS, “Stress at work; Centre for disease control and prevention”; NIOSH

PublicationsNo: 99101; 1999 http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/

9. Life positive foundation, “Stress and work place”; 2000-2011

http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/stress/stress-at- work. asp

10. AIS, “Job Stress-Stress at work”; American Institute Of Stress

http://www.stress.org/job.htm

- 96 -

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: …………………………………… Age: …...

a) 20-25 b) 25-30 c) 30-35 d) 35 and above Gender:

a) Male b) female

- 97 -

Monthly Income:

a) Below Rest. 10,000 b) 10,000- 20000 c) 20,000-30000d) Above 30,000

Education Qualification:

a) Under graduation b) Post – graduation

Marital Status

a) Married b) Unmarried

Years of experience:a) Less than 1yr b) 1-2 yrs c) 2-3 yrs d) 3-4 yrs e) Above 4yrsb)

1. Do you satisfied with your current job?

a) Yes b) No

2. Do you regularly spend time for entertainment?

a) Yes b)) No 

3. Do you balance your work and personal life?

a) Yes b) No

4. Do you respond with anger, when someone interrupted you?

a) Yes b) No

5. Do you discuss your problems with your colleagues or any other close to you?

a) Yes b) No

6. Are you get tensed at your non-achievement of your target?

a) Yes b) No

7. Do you find that you are prone to negative thinking about your job

a) Yes  b) No

8. Do you have trouble falling asleep?

a) Yes  b) No

- 98 -

9. Do you have problem of BP/Sugar/any other health problems? 

a) Yes b) No 10. Do you feel stress sometimes?

a) Always  b) Often

c) Occasionally d) Rarely

e) Never 

11. Reason of your stress is

a) Workload or work related problems

b) Family problems

c) Both

d) Others

12. Yoga or Meditation will reduce your stress.a) Strongly  b) Agree

c) Undecided d) Disagree

e) Strongly disagree13. Spending time with your family/friends reduces stress.

a) Strongly agree b) Agree

c) Undecided d) Disagree

e) Strongly disagree

14. . Is your social life balanced?

a) Yes b) No 

15. You have an important function at your home and your boss asks to give a 4 hour over time, what will be your response?

- 99 -

a) Yes b) No 

- 100 -