Chapter 9 - Stress and Conflict Flashcards
Contemporary Environment Demands (Stress)
- 30% of U.S. workers claimed to have high levels of workplace stress
- globalization and strategic alliances have led to a dramatic increase in executive travel stress, relocation and technnology
- By leaving stress unaddressed, employers invite an increase in unscheduled time off, absence rates, and health care costs
- Work life balance struggles
- increasing number of people are “workaholics”
Workaholic Warning Signs
- Sending e-mails from home in the evenings or later;
- Being the last one in the office;
- Having difficulty delegating;
- Exhibiting excessive perfectionism;
- Skipping lunch;
- Looking tired; and
- Having an attitude consistent with depression or exhaustion.
Global Work Stress
- Americans reported lack of job control, direct interpersonal conflict, anger, frustration, feeling overwhelmed, and stomach problems
- Chinese stress from job evaluations, work mistakes, indirect conflict, employment conditions, and lack of training
- In France, three engineers committed suicide, three men voiced anxiety about unreasonable workloads, high pressure management tactics, exhaustion, and humiliating criticism in front of colleagues during performance reviews
Stress vs. Distress
Distress examples: a college student is placed on scholastic probation, a loved one is seriously ill, or the boss gives a formal reprimand for poor performance
Stress: Could be good, for example, a college student makes the dean’s list; an attractive, respected acquaintance asks for a date; an employee is offered a job promotion at another location
Kinds of Bad Stress: office politics, red tape, and a stalled career and “good” stress as challenges that come with increased job responsibility, time pressure, and high-quality assignments
Hindrance Stressors
- a negative effect on motivation and performance
- Examples: organizational politics, red tape, role ambiguity, and in general those demands unnecessarily thwarting personal growth and goal attainment
Challenge Stressors
- were found to have a positive effect on motivation and performance
- Examples: high workload, time pressure, high responsibility, and in general those demands that are viewed as obstacles to be overcome in order to learn and achieve
Tense Energy
- is a stress-driven state characterized by a constant sense of pressure and anxiety
Calm Energy
- is a stress-free “flow”
Is characterized by:
- low muscle tension,
- an alert presence of mind,
- peaceful body feelings,
- increased creative intelligence,
- physical vitality,
- a deep sense of well-being
On-the-Job Stress
- may enhance such energy levels
- challenging work helps employees remain focused and interested
- a completely stress-free workplace is not the ideal
Ivancevich and Matteson definition of stress
- the interaction of the individual with the environment
- an adaptive response, mediated by individual differences and/or psychological processes, that is a consequence of any external (environmental) action, situation, or event that places excessive psychological and/or physical demands on a person
(1) it refers to a reaction to a situation or event, not the situation or event itself;
(2) it emphasizes that stress can be impacted by individual differences; and
(3) it highlights the phrase “excessive psychological and/or physical demands
Beehr and Newman definition of job stress
a condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterized by changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning.
Stress (general definition)
- an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical, psychological, and/or behavioral deviations for organizational participants
What is NOT Stress
- Stress is not simply anxiety. (Anxiety operates solely in the emotional and psychological sphere, whereas stress operates there and also in the physiological sphere. Thus, stress may be accompanied by anxiety, but the two should not be equated)
- Stress is not simply nervous tension. (Unconscious people have exhibited stress, and some people may keep it “bottled up” and not reveal it through nervous tension).
- Stress is not necessarily something damaging, bad, or to be avoided (Stress is inevitable; distress may be
prevented or can be effectively controlled)
Burnout
- when the ability to cope with stress begins to let us down, then we may be on the road to burnout
- losing a sense of the basic purpose and fulfillment of your work
- creates a sense of isolation and a feeling of lost control, causing the burned-out employee to relate differently to others and to their work
Why Burnout Occurs
- Research in this area shows that burnout is not necessarily the result of individual problems such as character or behavior flaws in which organizations can simply change people or get rid of them
- it is believed that burnout is not a problem of the people themselves but of the social environment in which people work
Stress vs. Conflict
- conceptually similar to stress is conflict
- conflict in the field of organizational behavior is more associated with disagreement or opposition at the interpersonal or intergroup level
Categories of Stressors Affecting Occupational Stress
Figure 9.1 on page 250
All contribute to job stress:
- Extraorganizational Stressors
- Organizational Stressors
- Group Stressors
- Individual Stressors
Extraorganizational Stressors
- outside forces and events
- includes societal/technological change, globalization, the family, relocation, economic and financial conditions, race and gender and residential or community conditions
wellness
defined as “a harmonious and productive balance of physical, mental, and social
well-being brought about by the acceptance of one’s personal responsibility for developing and adhering to a health promotion program
Wellness Deterioration
- people tend to get caught up in the rush-rush, mobile, urbanized, crowded, on the-go lifestyle of today, their anxiety and wellness in general has deteriorated; the potential for stress on the job has increased
- failure to attend to one’s health places an executive at risk of failure, and in the extreme, of death
Family Stress
- A person’s family has a big impact on one’s stress level
- Relocating the family because of a transfer or a promotion can also lead to stress
- under globalization, expatriate manager may undergo cultural shock and then when repatriated, may experience isolation; both are significant stressors
Sociological-demographic Stress
- such as race and gender
- Increasing diversity also increasing stressors which include differences in beliefs and values, differences in opportunities for rewards or promotions, and perceptions by minority employees of either discrimination or lack of fit between themselves and the organization
- not only must race and gender be considered in analyzing extraorganizational stressors, but also the country culture and economic system
Four Organizational Stressors
FIGURE 9.2. on page 253
- ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND STRATEGIES
- ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND DESIGN
- ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES
- WORKING CONDITIONS
STRESSOR: ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND STRATEGIES
Downsizing Competitive pressures Merit pay plans Rotating work shifts Bureaucratic rules Advanced technology
STRESSOR: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND DESIGN
Centralization and formalization Line-staff conflicts Specialization Role ambiguity and conflict No opportunity for advancement Restrictive, untrusting culture
STRESSOR: ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES
Tight controls Only downward communication Little performance feedback Centralized decision making Lack of participation in decisions Punitive appraisal systems
STRESSOR: WORKING CONDITIONS
Crowded work area Noise, heat, or cold Polluted air Strong odor Unsafe, dangerous conditions Poor lighting Physical or mental strain Toxic chemicals or radiation
job stressors especially related to performance
includes: - role ambiguity - conflict - overload - job insecurity - work-family conflict - environmental uncertainty -situational constraints the above list is negatively related to job performance
Organizational Stressors: reengineering, restructuring, and downsizing
- Reengineering, restructuring, and downsizing have become commonplace as the result of intense pressures to outperform the competition
- Downsizing, in particular, has taken and continues to take its toll on employees
- the “survivors” of downsizing “often experience tremendous pressure from the fear of future cuts, the loss of friends and colleagues, and an increase in work-load and translates to longer hours and more stress
Bullying
- Interpersonal conflicts in a group end up as a bullying problem
- repeated, health-harming mistreatment that could involve verbal abuse, threatening, humiliating, or offensive behavior or actions; or work interference
- leads to tremendous stress for a victim and even those who witness this problem
