Power - The Concept and Theory in Organizational

Behavior
Power is an important dynamic (concept or variable) in organizational behavior.
Max Weber: "The probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a
position to carry out his own will despite resistance."
Pfeffer: "The potential ability to influence behavior, to change the course of events,
to overcome resistance, and to get people to do things that they would not
otherwise do."
The concept of power needs to be distinguished from authority and influence.
Authority is the right to direct others and ask them to do things which they would
not otherwise do, but it is legitimate and is exercised in the working of
organizations.
Influence is conceived as more broader and it is the ability to alter actions of other
people in general ways by changing their satisfaction criteria and thus improve their
performance. Authority is different from power because of its legitimacy and
acceptance in an organizational context and leadership is broader than power and
indicates a willingness on the part of the follower to follow in the absence of
authority.
Luthans remarked that operational definition of power is still lacking.
The classifications of Power
Psychologists John French and Bertram Raven provided five categories
1. Reward power
2. Coercive power (punishment power)
3. Legitimate power
4. Referent power
5. Expert power

Coercive Power
Coercive power is the most primitive type of power in the workplace. Coercive power exists
when a person in authority threatens a subordinate with some type of punishment if a certain
duty or activity is not completed or performed correctly. It is important to note that coercive
power is used most effectively in scenarios where the business is in a crisis or is somehow
threatened. Coercive power can also be used effectively when attempting to make cuts in
personnel as a result of management shifts and transitions.

Legitimate Power
Legitimate power exists when the subordinates of someone in authority comply with orders
given to them because they believe that the position or title that the person holds gives him the

right to use that power. Legitimate power can be enhanced by ensuring that the business has a
clearly defined chain of command and organizational structure.

Reward Power
Many employees are motivated by rewards and incentives to comply with orders given by a
superior. This motivation is an example of reward power. Additional examples of reward power
include public praise, wage increases and job promotions as a result of jobs well done. The
purpose of reward power is to trigger that part of human nature that appreciates being recognized
for high performance.

Referent Power
Referent power refers to the power that is gained as a result of being admired by subordinates in
the workplace. Business leaders who have gained referent power often have done so as a result
of entrusting their employees with increased responsibility and latitude in how to perform their
jobs. Referent power is best achieved and used in a workplace where employee turnover is low
and in an environment where personal relationships can be cultivated.

Expert Power
It is natural for people to respect and follow those who are experts in a given field or occupation.
Expert power results from the expertise a person has gained through the experiences and training
that have marked her business career. Subordinates of a person who has gained expert power
believe that the leader will guide them correctly due to her vast expertise.

Distinction between POWER, AUTHORITY and INFLUENCE :Influence

Conventionally, to influence people is to change the opinions or behavior of others.
From a systems Any definitions of Power, Authority,
and Influence in human systems
must take into account the web
of interrelationships of the human
members of that system view, influencers do not change opinions or behavior. Influencers
provide a nudge, a catalyst, or a force that people use to change themselves. When
influencers engage in this way with the influenced, they are in turn influenced
themselves.
Power
Conventionally, Power is the ability of an influencer a person or group or institution
to change people, by some means or other.
To believe that influencers do the changing is to ascribe more power to them than they
actually have. Influencers say or do, but the people they influence are the ones who

actually do the changing. Two powers are needed: the power to influence and the power
to change. The power that actually matters is thus an attribute of the system, rather than
an attribute of influencers.
Authority
Conventionally, Authority is legitimate Power some say "legitimized" Power.
Authority need not be "legitimate." Rather, authority is something conferred, voluntarily
or under duress, on an influencer or would-be influencer by the person or people the
influencer wants to influence. Because it's conferred on the influencer by the influenced,
both parties are involved. Authority, too, is an attribute of the system.

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, sharing,

and effectively using organizational knowledge. It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to
achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge.
Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved
performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and
continuous improvement of the organization. KM efforts overlap with organizational learning
and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a
strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge. It is an enabler of
organizational learning.

KM practices :

Techno-centric with a focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge

sharing and creation.
Organizational with a focus on how an organization can be designed to facilitate
knowledge processes best.
Ecological with a focus on the interaction of people, identity, knowledge, and
environmental factors as a complex adaptive system akin to a natural ecosystem

KM Strategies
Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after KM-related activities.
[
Organizations have tried knowledge capture incentives, including making content submission
mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement plans. Considerable
controversy exists over whether incentives work or not in this field and no consensus has
emerged.
One strategy to KM involves actively managing knowledge (push strategy). In such an instance,
individuals strive to explicitly encode their knowledge into a shared knowledge repository, such
as a database, as well as retrieving knowledge they need that other individuals have provided to
the repository. This is commonly known as the Codification approach to KM.
Another strategy to KM involves individuals making knowledge requests of experts associated
with a particular subject on an ad hoc basis (pull strategy). In such an instance, expert
individual(s) can provide their insights to the particular person or people needing this (Snowden
2002). This is commonly known as the Personalization approach to KM.
Hansen et al. propose a simple framework, distinguishing two opposing KM strategies:
codification and personalization. Codification focuses on collecting and storing codified
knowledge in previously designed electronic databases to make it accessible to the organization.
Codification can therefore refer to both tacit and explicit knowledge. In contrast, the
personalization strategy aims at encouraging individuals to share their knowledge directly.
Information technology plays a less important role, as it is only supposed to facilitate
communication and knowledge sharing among members of an organization.
Other knowledge management strategies and instruments for companies include: Rewards (as a
means of motivating for knowledge sharing)

Storytelling (as a means of transferring tacit knowledge)

Cross-project learning

After action reviews

Knowledge mapping (a map of knowledge repositories within a company accessible by

all)

Communities of practice

Expert directories (to enable knowledge seeker to reach to the experts)

Best practice transfer

Knowledge fairs

Competence management (systematic evaluation and planning of competences of

individual organization members)

Proximity & architecture (the physical situation of employees can be either conducive or
obstructive to knowledge sharing)

Master-apprentice relationship

Collaborative technologies (groupware, etc.)

Knowledge repositories (databases, bookmarking engines, etc.)

Measuring and reporting intellectual capital (a way of making explicit knowledge for
companies)

Knowledge brokers (some organizational members take on responsibility for a specific

"field" and act as first reference on whom to talk about a specific subject)

Social software (wikis, social bookmarking, blogs, etc.)

Inter-project knowledge transfer

Emotional Intelligence in an
organization

Emotional intelligence, alternatively known as EI or EQ, reflects an

individuals ability to deal with daily environmental challenges and helps
predict success in life, both in professional and personal pursuits. EI
competencies include empathy, intuition, creativity, flexibility, resilience,
stress management, leadership, integrity, happiness and optimism, as well
as intrapersonal and interpersonal communication skills.
The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
A growing body of research demonstrates that
emotional intelligence is a better predictor of success than traditional
measures of cognitive intelligence (IQ). The workplace is an ideal
environment for people to develop their social and emotional skills, as
individuals are motivated to develop those capabilities in pursuit of success
and promotion. The concept is equally important to employers, as their
bottom-line productivity rests on the emotional intelligence of the whole
organization. When executives and employees work to improve capabilities
in areas in which they are weakest, it benefits the entire organization,
improving communication and increasing productivity.

Organizational change

Organizational change is a structured approach in an organization for ensuring that

changes are smoothly and successfully implemented to achieve lasting benefits.
Globalization and the constant innovation of technology result in a constantly
evolving business environment. Phenomena such as social media and mobile
adaptability have revolutionized business and the effect of this is an ever increasing
need for change, and therefore change management. The growth in technology also
has a secondary effect of increasing the availability and therefore accountability of
knowledge. Easily accessible information has resulted in unprecedented scrutiny
from stockholders and the media and pressure on management.
Organizational change directly affects all departments from the entry level
employee to senior management. The entire company must learn how to handle
changes to the organization.

Resistance to change
It is difficult for organizations to avoid change, as new ideas promote growth for
them and their members. Change occurs for many reasons such as new staff roles;
increases or decreases in funding; acquisition of new technology; new missions,
vision or goals; and to reach new members or clients. Changes can create new
opportunities, but are often met with criticism from resistant individuals within the
group.
12 typical reasons for resistance to change
1. Misunderstanding about the need for change/when the reason for
the change is unclear If staff do not understand the need for change you
can expect resistance. Especially from those who strongly believe the current
way of doing things works welland has done for twenty years!
2. Fear of the unknown One of the most common reasons for resistance is
fear of the unknown. People will only take active steps toward the unknown if
they genuinely believe and perhaps more importantly, feel that the risks
of standing still are greater than those of moving forward in a new direction
3. Lack of competence This is a fear people will seldom admit. But
sometimes, change in organizations necessitates changes in skills, and some
people will feel that they wont be able to make the transition very well
4. Connected to the old way If you ask people in an organization to do
things in a new way, as rational as that new way may seem to you, you will
be setting yourself up against all that hard wiring, all those emotional

connections to those who taught your audience the old way and thats not
trivial
5. Low trust When people dont believe that they, or the company, can
competently manage the change there is likely to be resistance
6. Temporary fad When people belief that the change initiative is a
temporary fad
7. Not being consulted If people are allowed to be part of the change there
is less resistance. People like to know whats going on, especially if their jobs
may be affected. Informed employees tend to have higher levels of job
satisfaction than uninformed employees
8. Poor communication Its self evident isnt it? When it comes to change
management theres no such thing as too much communication
9. Changes to routines When we talk about comfort zones were really
referring to routines. We love them. They make us secure. So theres bound
to be resistance whenever change requires us to do things differently
10.Exhaustion/Saturation Dont mistake compliance for acceptance. People
who are overwhelmed by continuous change resign themselves to it and go
along with the flow. You have them in body, but you do not have their hearts.
Motivation is low
11.Change in the status quo Resistance can also stem from perceptions of
the change that people hold. For example, people who feel theyll be worse
off at the end of the change are unlikely to give it their full support. Similarly,
if people believe the change favours another group/department/person there
may be (unspoken) anger and resentment
12.Benefits and rewards When the benefits and rewards for making the
change are not seen as adequate for the trouble involved

Expecting resistance to change and planning for it from the start of your change management
progamme will allow you to effectively manage objections. Not dealing proactively is one pitfall
but there are many other common mistakes:

Managing resistance to change :It is normal to experience resistance whenever there is change.
Understanding that there will be resistance to change will help you anticipate resistance, identify
its sources and reasons, and modify your efforts to manage the issues of change to ensure the
success of your change efforts. Resistance is actually healthy. Try not to react against it
defensively. It is good for you because it makes you check your assumptions and it forces you to
clarify what you are doing. You must always probe the objections to find the real reason for
resistance. Many times, it comes down to personal fear. As the leader, you must take the time to
understand resistance and you may have to come at it from several different angles before it is
conquered. You must understand what your employees are feeling, as well as thinking.
Ways to reduce resistance to change:
1. Involve interested parties in the planning of change by asking them for suggestions and
incorporating their ideas.
2. Clearly define the need for the change by communicating the strategic decision
personally and in written form.
3. Address the "people needs" of those involved. Disrupt only what needs to be changed.
Help people retain friendships, comfortable settings and group norms wherever possible.
4. Design flexibility into change by phasing it in wherever possible. This will allow people
to complete current efforts and assimilate new behaviors along the way. Allow employees
to redefine their roles during the course of implementing change.
5. Be open and honest.
6. Do not leave openings for people to return to the status quo. If you and your organization
are not ready to commit yourselves to the change, don't announce the strategy.
7. Focus continually on the positive aspects of the change. Be specific where you can.

8. Deliver training programs that develop basic skills as opposed to processes such as:
conducting meetings, communication, teambuilding, self-esteem, and coaching..

Implementing Change in an Organization

As an organization grows and evolves, it will experience change. Implementing
change can be a challenge if improper techniques are used. Developing efficient
ways to introduce and implement change can ease the stress your staff feels when
change is introduced, and it can also help your vendors, customers and business
partners adjust to any changes in the way you do business.

Ownership
When your employees are on board with organizational change, they can then make the internal
transition smoother and help clients and vendors adjust as well. A technique that can get
employees personally involved in change is to encourage them to look at the business as though
they were running it. Virgin International CEO Richard Branson, writing on the Entrepreneur
website, says that having employees think like entrepreneurs by letting each employee know how
their impact on implementing change can improve profitability makes change a personal
responsibility.

Map it Out
If you leave too much to the staff's imagination when it comes to change, that can create
misinformation and make change management difficult. In the Kotter 8-Step Change Model, as
outlined on the Mind Tools website, it is recommended that employees be given the details of
what the change is and how it will affect the company. Trying to make drastic changes without
informing employees of the nature of the changes can create confusion. Tell employees exactly
what is going on and create understanding from the beginning.

Go in Stages
Change should be implemented in stages. Create the sense of urgency that gathers support for
change. Then develop a solution that should be rolled out on a trial basis. Do not go live with the
change immediately. Have a small group of employees try the change first to work out any errors
and make any changes. Then slowly integrate the change into your organization. This gives
employees a chance to become familiar with the changes being made and adjust to them
gradually.

Get Everyone Involved

For change to take hold, the entire management and executive teams need to get involved and
create enthusiasm among the staff. Even if a manager or executive is not directly involved in the
change, her support for the new plan can help the staff feel more at ease. When the management
team shows unified support for an initiative, it is easier for employees to accept.

Conflict:Organizational conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of

needs, values and interests between people working together. Conflict takes many forms in
organizations. There is the inevitable clash between formal authority and power and those
individuals and groups affected. There are disputes over how revenues should be divided, how
the work should be done, and how long and hard people should work. There are jurisdictional
disagreements among individuals, departments, and between unions and management. There are
subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes, role definitions, and
struggles for power and favor. There is also conflict within individuals between competing
needs and demands to which individuals respond in different ways.

Sources of CONFLICT:Typical disputes come in the form of formal court cases, grievances, arguments, threats and
counter threats etc. Conflict can exist without disputes, but disputes do not exist without conflict.
Conflict, however, might not be so easily noticed. Much conflict exists in every workplace
without turning into disputes.
The first step in uncovering workplace conflict is to consider the typical sources of conflict.
There are a variety of sources of workplace conflict including interpersonal, organizational,
change related, and external factors.
Interpersonal
Interpersonal conflict is the most apparent form of conflict for workplace participants. It is easy
enough to observe the results of office politics, gossip, and rumours. Also language and
personality styles often clash, creating a great deal of conflict in the workplace.
There are a variety of ways to uncover such sources of conflict, including the use of personality
testing instruments like Myers-Briggs, Thomas-Kilman, FIRO-B, and Personality Dynamics
Profiles. In addition to this, confidential surveys, interviews and focus groups can be a good way
of uncovering interpersonal sources of conflict.
Organizational
There are a number of organizational sources of conflict. Those relating to hierarchy and the
inability to resolve conflicting interests are quite predominant in most workplaces.
Labour/management and supervisor/employee tensions are heightened by power differences.
Differences in supervisory styles between departments can be a cause of conflict. Also there can
be work style clashes, seniority/juniority and pay equity conflict. Conflict can arise over resource
allocation, the distribution of duties, workload and benefits, different levels of tolerance for risk
taking, and varying views on accountability. In addition, conflict can arise where there are
perceived or actual differences in treatment between departments or groups of employees.
Trends/Change

The modern workplace has significant levels of stress and conflict related to change-management
and downsizing. Technological change can cause conflict, as can changing work methodologies.
Many workplaces suffer from constant reorganization, leading to further stress and conflict. In
line with reorganization, many public and non-profit organizations suffer from downloading of
responsibilities from other organizations.
External Factors
External factors can also lead to conflict in the workplace. Economic pressures are caused by
recession, changing markets, domestic and foreign competition, and the effects of Free Trade
between countries. Conflict arises with clients and suppliers effecting customer service and
delivery of goods. Also public and non-profit workplaces in particular can face political
pressures and demands from special interest groups. A change in government can have a
tremendous impact, especially on public and non-profit organizations. Funding levels for
workplaces dependent upon government funding can change dramatically. Public ideologies can
have an impact on the way employees are treated and viewed in such organizations.

Types of Conflict
When most people hear the word conflict, they think of the term in a negative manner.
Surprisingly, conflict can actually be a positive within an organization. Conflict can bring about
change, improve situations and offer new solutions. Two types of conflict that can occur within a
company are functional and dysfunctional. Functional conflict is healthy, constructive
disagreement between groups or individuals, while dysfunctional conflict is unhealthy
disagreement that occurs between groups or individuals.

Functional Conflict
Susie Steel is a vice president in a real estate development firm called Hearts Development. She
has spent enormous amounts of energy cultivating a relationship with a local town regarding an
available plot of land. Susie would like to purchase the land to build townhomes for sale. She has
developed an excellent relationship with the town politicians and community members.
An issue has developed over the planned usage of the land, though. The town will sell the land to
Susie's company but feels that townhomes would be bad for the overall community. They're
concerned with the additional cost and burden of kids that the townhomes would bring into the
community. Susie understands the community's concern and wants a win-win situation to occur.
She feels that this issue will be a functional conflict due to the fact that the disagreement will
bring a positive end result to both parties. Positive results of functional conflict include:

Awareness of both sides of issues

Improvement of working conditions due to accomplishing solutions together

Solving issues together to improve overall morale

Making innovations and improvements within an organization

In Susie's case, constructive criticism and discussion resulted in a compromise and a solution
between the parties. Susie understood the town's concern but needed to find something to build
that would bring revenue for the company. Through their joint meetings, the end solution was for
Hearts Development to build a retirement community, which would only have citizens 55 and
over living in the town. This would eliminate the issue of having more young people come into
town and burden the school system.

Dysfunctional Conflict
Sometimes, conflict can be a very negative experience for companies. Susie's colleague, John
Dirt, is also a vice president of development at Hearts. He also has a major conflict regarding a
construction project. He is looking to build a nuclear power plant in an East Coast town. The
town is vehemently against having a power plant, and the discussions have been heated in
conflict. This is a win-lose situation, or a dysfunctional conflict. Most dysfunctional conflicts
are unhealthy and stem from emotional or behavioral origins.
The town is very emotional over the fact that a possible nuclear power plant could be built in
their neighborhood. They are extremely concerned with the danger and health issues. John Dirt
has had to use threats, personal attacks and deception in order to get his power plant plans passed
by the town. Negative results of dysfunctional conflict include:

Individuals use threats, verbal abuse and deception, which destroy

relationships
Both parties can end up losing in this type of conflict

This type of conflict can lead to retaliation and further acts of negativity

Ways of Managing Conflict in

Organizations
Conflict is inevitable in small businesses. Conflict can arise from a variety of
sources, and between supervisors and subordinates, between co-workers, and
between employees and customers. Managers and organizations can choose to see
conflict as inherently negative, acting to suppress it at every opportunity, or as
inherently positive, leveraging conflict to affect positive change.

Meaning and Types of Grievance:Definition

Have you ever worked for an employer who you believed did not meet the terms of your employment
contract? Perhaps you were not fully compensated for your work or you experienced unsafe work
conditions. In this situation you may wish to file a formal complaint against your employer. This is

known as an employee grievance. Whether the grievance is valid or not, it can have a negative
effect on employee morale, productivity, and retention. Organizations must therefore have policies
and procedures in place to address employee grievances. This is an important human resource
management function.

Grievance means any type of dissatisfaction or discontentments arising out of factors

related to an employees job which he thinks are unfair. A grievance arises when an
employee feels that something has happened or is happening to him, which he thinks is
unfair, unjust or inequitable. In an organization, a grievance may arise due to several
factors such as:
1. Violation of managements responsibility such as poor working conditions
2. Violation of companys rules and regulations
3. Violation of labour laws
4. Violation of natural rules of justice such as unfair treatment in promotion, etc.

Types of Grievances
Let's first look at some of the most common types of employee and workplace grievances. Keep in
mind that a grievance can be real or imaginary, and employees file grievances for a range of issues
that can be minor or major.
Pay and Benefits: This is the most common area of employee complaints and grievances. These
grievances may involve the amount and qualifications for pay increases, pay equity for comparable
work within the organization, and the cost and coverage of benefit programs.
Workloads: Heavy workloads are a common employee and workplace grievance. If you work for a
company that is going through lean times, you may have been asked to take on more work without a
pay increase. Perhaps your employer decides not to fill a vacant position and instead assigns
additional work to you and your colleagues. Such situations lead to employee frustration and
dissatisfaction.
Work Conditions: A safe and clean work environment is crucial to employee satisfaction and
motivation. Extensive state and federal regulations protect worker health and safety. Employees who
believe a company is not following applicable regulations and guidelines may decide to file a
grievance.
Union and Management Relations: When unions represent employees, both the union and
management must avoid unfair labour practices. These illegal acts involve threatening or coercive
behaviour by either party designed to obtain an employee's loyalty or cooperation. The National
Labour Relations Actspecifies unlawful activities for employers and unions. For example,
employers cannot threaten employees with termination if they vote for a union. Employees may file
grievances when they experience unfair labour practices.

1.

Grievance resulting from management policies include:

Wage rates

Leave policy

Overtime

Lack of career planning

Role conflicts

Lack of regard for collective agreement

Disparity between skill of worker and job responsibility

2.

Grievance resulting from working conditions include:

o

Poor safety and bad physical conditions

Unavailability of tools and proper machinery

Negative approach to discipline

Unrealistic targets

3.

Grievance resulting from inter-personal factors include

o

Poor relationships with team members

Autocratic leadership style of superiors

Poor relations with seniors

Conflicts with peers and colleagues

It is necessary to distinguish a complaint from grievance. A complaint is an indication of

employee dissatisfaction that has not been submitted in written. On the other hand, a
grievance is a complaint that has been put in writing and made formal.
Grievances are symptoms of conflicts in industry. Therefore, management should be
concerned with both complaints and grievances, because both may be important
indicators of potential problems within the workforce. Without a grievance procedure,
management may be unable to respond to employee concerns since managers are
unaware of them. Therefore, a formal grievance procedure is a valuable communication
tool for the organization.

Process of handling grievance:The manager should immediately identify all grievances and must take appropriate steps to
eliminate the causes of such grievances so that the employees remain loyal and committed to
their work. Effective grievance management is an essential part of personnel management. The
managers should adopt the following approach to manage grievance effectively1. Quick action- As soon as the grievance arises, it should be identified and resolved.
Training must be given to the managers to effectively and timely manage a grievance.
This will lower the detrimental effects of grievance on the employees and their
performance.
2. Acknowledging grievance- The manager must acknowledge the grievance put forward
by the employee as manifestation of true and real feelings of the employees.
Acknowledgement by the manager implies that the manager is eager to look into the
complaint impartially and without any bias. This will create a conductive work
environment with instances of grievance reduced.
3. Gathering facts- The managers should gather appropriate and sufficient facts
explaining the grievances nature. A record of such facts must be maintained so that
these can be used in later stage of grievance readdress.
4. Examining the causes of grievance- The actual cause of grievance should be
identified. Accordingly remedial actions should be taken to prevent repetition of the
grievance.
5. Decision process- After identifying the causes of grievance, alternative course of
actions should be thought of to manage the grievance. The effect of each course of
action on the existing and future management policies and procedure should be
analysed and accordingly decision should be taken by the manager.
6. Execution and review- The manager should execute the decision quickly, ignoring the
fact, that it may or may not hurt the employees concerned. After implementing the
decision, a follow-up must be there to ensure that the grievance has been resolved
completely and adequately.
An effective grievance procedure ensures an amiable work environment because it redresses
the grievance to mutual satisfaction of both the employees and the managers. It also helps the
management to frame policies and procedures acceptable to the employees. It becomes an
effective medium for the employees to express t feelings, discontent and dissatisfaction openly
and formally.

STRESS:DEFINATION OF STRESS
Stress is a state of discomfort experienced by an individual. Loss of emotional stability is the
general expression of stress. It is generally apparent when the individual experiences a
biological disorder. Stress has a positive association with the age constraints and the nature
of occupation. Certain occupation is more prone to stress than the others. For instance,
drivers of vehicles, doctors, lawyers and managers are more likely to get stress than
teachers, bankers and operating personnel. Individuals feel stress when the need of desire is

not accomplished in the normal expected ways. This is because of natural constraints
operated on the individuals. The more the intensity of the desire and the greater is the
uncertainty associated with the achievement of the goal, the greater is the degree of stress.
Employees are working for longer hours, talking on the work once done by laid-off
colleagues, meeting tighter deadlines and cutting back on family demands of monthly
mortgages, childcare issues and aging parents, and the deterioration. Perhaps these are
potential reasons for stress in the employees. Let us first learn what is stress?
The following are the features of stress.

Stress is both psychological aspect.

It is common to both the genders.

It results from deviation of expectations from actual situation.

It is symptomatic, Potential stress appears with the symptoms. If the potential stress
is ignored it leads to actual stress.

Stress is treated to be negative. Nevertheless, it has positive consequences. This is

called as eutstress.

Stress is an interactive concept. It does not spring from the internal organs of the
individual. It comes from the interaction of the human being with the environment. Thus,
environment has a profound influence on the stress.

Stress is generic term. If it is applied to the context of organization, it is known as

work stress or job stress.

Stress occurs only when the human being feels mediation of the internal or external
factors.

Stress is related to the attitude of the person. Stress does not occur when the person
is having an indifferent attitude to the opportunity.

Stress is associated with certain common biological disorders such as heart attack,
stroke, diabetic, blood pressure, neurological disorders etc.

CAUSES OF STRESS
Stress is a psychological state of imbalance coupled with biological disorder. Individual
experiences deviation in his biological system which is called potential stress. Potential
stress moderated by individual, organizational and environmental variable leads to actual
stressors. Thus, stressors can be intra-organizational factors. The intra organizational factors
causing stress are divided into individual factors and organizational factors. Let us learn
them in detail.
9.2.1

Intra Organizational factors

Individual Factors: Individual factors, which cause stress include: personality and
individual differences, family problems, economical problems, life styles and role demands.

i)

ii)

iii)

iv)

v.

Personality and individual differences: Individual basic dispositions are the

main reason for potential stress. Introversion, extroversion, masculinity, rigidity, locus
of control, personal life, demographic differences such as age, health, education and
occupation are some of the reasons causing stress in individuals. It is found that type
A personality is prone to more stress than type B personality. Type B personality is
typically relaxed, carefree, patient and less serious in achieving objectives. Thus, he
never feels stress.
Family Problems: Family issues influence the personal life of individuals. Sound
marital relationships, marital discipline, early and healthy children may lead to happy
personal life. They enjoy the life and become positive in their attitudes. So they do
not tend to greater stress. On the other hand, poor marital relationships, nagging
wife, family separations, extra marital relationships, disturbing children, poor
settlement of family members, aging parents, dual reasons for greater stress in the
individuals.
Economic Problems: Economic difficulties are the main cause of stress. Poor
management of personal finances, heavy family expenditure, and constant demand
for money, poor incoming earning capacity and slow financial growth in the job are
some of the economic reasons responsible for greater stress. For instance, an
increasing family expenditure, increased expenditure on children education and
health create heavy demand for income. This creates greater stress in the
individuals.
Life styles: Life styles of individuals can cause stress. The following situation of
life style cause stress:

Sedentary life styles cause greater stress.

Individuals experiencing certain unique situations may be compelled to alter

their attitude, emotions and behavior. These are known as life trauma. Life
trauma is potential reason for stress.

Faster career changes bring more responsibilities to the individuals. Persons

occupying higher positions in the younger are likely to get heart attacks due
to greater stress. This is because of inability to adapt to the new carrier
responsibilities.

Role

Demands:

individuals

play

multiple

roles

in

their

personal

life

and

organizations. In their personal life and organizations. In their personal life, they play
the roles of family head, husband, father, brother and son. In social life they play the
roles of club members, informal community group members, members of reaction
groups, religious groups and a number of other social groups.
Organizational Factors: An organization is a combination of resources, goals strategies,
and policies. In order to make people to work, organizations create structure, process and
working conditions. In modern organizations, number of globalism, organizational
adjustments like mergers and acquisitions lead to stress among employees stress. In
addition, a number of internal organizational factors cause management employee stress.
Some of them are poor working conditions, strained labour management relations, disputed
resources allocations, co-employee behaviour, organizational design and policies,
unpleasant leadership styles of the boss, misunderstandings in organizational
communication, bureaucratic controls, improper motivation, job dissatisfaction, and less
attention to merit and seniority. Let us learn the organizational stressors in detail.

Extra-Organizational Factors
Environmental Factors: Environmental factors are extra organizational. Nevertheless,
they create job stress in individuals. These are internal and external factors. Most of the
internal environmental factors relate to the organizational goals, management systems,
structure, processes and design of organizations. They are discussed on preceding section.
External environmental factors relate to general environment of the organization. They are
political, economical, technological, governmental, social, cultural and ethical.
CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS
An individual experiences stress through psychological breakdown or biological changes.
However stress is not negative always. Stress has also positive consequences. The positive
form of stress is known as eustress. The word taken from Greek language means good
stress. Mild stress elevates body metabolic and biological rates. The increase in the
metabolism leads to secretion of juices from body glands that will increase the inner drive
for achievement. Achievement motivation comes from deep intention, mild tensions inner
urge, fire and feeling of restless to achieve objectives. Stress helps in the development of
people too. In its mild form it enhances job performance, leads to excellence and provides
impetus to work hard ad perform better. Individuals involved in the discharge of professional
oriented jobs, jobs involving creativity, challenge, interpersonal communications and certain
managerial jobs, will be benefited by stress, which leads to positive performances. However
job involving physical effort do not get benefit out of stress. As indicated above mild levels
of stress increases job performance. It stimulates body and increases reactivity.
Physiological consequences: Stress influences the biological system of the human being.
Certain visible forms of stress are increased blood pressure, proneness to heart diseases,
cancer sweating, dry mouth, hot and flashes cold, frustration, anxiety, depression, increased
level of cholesterol, ulcer, arthritis, etc. physical stress increases the body metabolic rate.
This results to manulfuctioning of internal and consequently the body disorder. This is felt in
the form of increasing heart beating, increase in breathing rate and headache. This creates
biological illness. The physical stress also creates psychological problems. In fact, physical
stress and psychological disorders are interrelated. However, physical disorders and stress
always need not associate positively. This is because of complexity of symptoms of physical
stress and lack of objective measurement of impact of stress on bodily disorders.
9.4.2 Psychological Consequences: Psychological consequences are interrelated to
biological consequences. They are invisible, but the employees job performance.
Psychological stress creates a pressure on human brain. This is expressed in terms of certain
psychological symptoms such as anger. Anxiety, depression, nervousness, irritation,
tensions, anxiety and emotions lead to procrastination. Psychological stress produces
interpersonal aggressions, misunderstanding in communication, poor job performance,
lowered self esteem, increased resentment, low concentration on the job and increased
dissatisfaction. Psychological stress produces harshness in the behavior and may lead to
assumption of authoritarian leadership style by the superior executive.
9.4.3 Behavioral Consequences: Stress has an impact on employees behavior. An
abnormal behavior is observed in those individuals who are prone to stress. A change in
eating habits, sleep disorder, increased smoking alcoholism, fidgeting and aloofness are
some of the behavioral changes observed in stressful employees. Sometimes leads to
anxiety, apathy, and depression and emotion disorder. This leads to impulsive ad aggressive
behavior and frequent interpersonal conflicts. Under eating, overeating, drug abuse ad
sleeplessness are some of behavioral consequences.
Organizational Consequences: Stress has negative impact on the performance of the job.
Organizations face the problems of poor performance and other negative consequences.
Some of them are described below:

i)

Absenteeism: Employees subject to stress were found to addict to drugs and

alcohol. Thus, they abstain from the jobs frequently. This creates discontinuity in the
jobs and adversely effect performance of other employees.
ii)
Turnover: Turnover and stress have shown some relationships. An employee
experiencing continued stress develops disgust and frustration. Therefore, they are
likely to change their jobs.
iii)
Decision-Making: Excessive stress distorts perception of managers. This
adversely affects their capacity to take decision. Thus, stressful executives become
irrational in the decision making. This leads to loss of organizational resources and
reputation.
iv)
Disturbed Customer Relationship: Employees experiencing excessive stress
develop irritation, looses emotional tolerance. Intolerance impels them to pick up
conflicts easily due to misunderstandings. Employees dealing with the customers and
the public disturb relationship due to their impatient behaviour. For instance sales
persons, bank employees, otherwise, customers dealing with them will have trouble
in dealing with the company. This also creates poor impression on the corporate
image of the organization.
CREATING A STRESS FREE ENVIRONMENT
Stress is both positive and negative. You have already learnt that mild to moderate levels of
stress helps in developing positive behavior in organization and its good for the
organizational health. However negative consequences of stress always overweigh positive
ones. Thus, it is generally agreed that stress reduction is a serious concern to management
and individuals. The individuals responsibility should always be greater than organizational
responsibility. This is because of dictum that protecting ones. Organizations perhaps help in
developing certain programmes for stress reduction. It is not out of the context to mention
that theoretical management of stress should be distinguished from practical management.
Most of the individual techniques relate to the personality of individuals. Certain techniques
require the individuals to sacrifice the self concept and comfortable levels. Thus, it is difficult
to promote the individuals to adapt the strategies of stress reduction. Nevertheless, it should
understand that it is not an impossible task. Creating a stress free environment requires a
thorough investigation of the stressors, understanding, analyzing the implications,
appraising the costs and benefits and above all brings commitment to the programmes by
changing the attitude.