Chapter Six: Stress Management

• Researchers define stress as a physical, mental, or emotional

response to events that causes bodily or mental tension. Simply put,
stress is any outside force or event that has an effect on our body or
mind.
• Stress is the way that you react physically, mentally and emotionally
to various conditions, changes and demands in your life.
• Stress is a part and parcel life; however, if it exceeds to a person’s
abilities to cope with it, it would cause mental and physical imbalance
in the person.
• Therefore, a challenge for everyone today is to make stress work for
self as a productive force rather than as a deterrent which can cause
imbalance in an individual.
• To handle a stressful situation, the brain signals the release of stress
hormones
• This chemical substances in turn trigger a set of responses that
provides the body with extra energy: blood sugar level rises,
heartbeat speeds up and blood pressure increases, muscles tense for
action etc.
 Sources of stress
 Environmental factors: Environmental uncertainty influences stress
levels among employees in an organization. Changes in the business
cycle crate economic uncertainties. Political uncertainties can be stress
inducing. Technological uncertainty can cause stress because new
innovations can make an employee's skills and experience obsolete in a
very short period of time.
 Organizational factors:
• Pressures to avoid errors or complete tasks in a limited time period,
work overload, a demanding and insensitive boss, and unpleasant
coworkers are a few examples.
• Task demands related to a person's job such as the design of the
individual's job (autonomy, task variety, degree of automation) working
conditions, and the physical work layout.
• Individual Role play demands relate to pressures:- (1)Role conflicts:
create expectations that may be hard to reconcile or satisfy. (2) Role
overload: is experienced when the employee is expected to do more
than time permits.
 Cont’d
• (3) Role ambiguity: is created when role expectations are
not clearly understood. (4) Interpersonal demands: are
pressures created by other employees.
• (5) Organizational structure: refers to the level of
differentiation in the organization, the degree of rules and
regulations, and where decisions are made. Excessive rules
and lack of participation in decisions might be potential
sources of stress.
• (6)Organizational leadership: represents the managerial
style of the organization's senior executives. By virtue of
their managerial styles they create an organizational culture
which reflects tension, fear and anxiety. They overemphasize
tight control, hire and fire policies which keep organizational
members on hot seat and create stress among them.
 Cont’d
 Individual factors: Are factors in the employee's personal life.
Include:
• Family issues: like broken families, wrecked marriages and other
family issues may create stress at workplace.
• Personal Economic Problems: Economic problems created by
individuals overextending their financial resources, and Spending
more than earnings stretches their financial positions that creates
debt situation leading to stress among individuals
• Personality characteristics: A significant individual factor
influencing stress is a person's basic dispositional nature. For
example, Over-suspicious, anger and hostility increases a person's
stress and risk of heart disease. Besides, individuals with high level
of mistrust for others also cause stress for themselves. More over,
Individual difference variables like (Perception, Job experience,
Locus of control, and Self-efficacy) can moderate the relationship
between potential stressors and experienced stress
 Consequences and symptoms of stress
Physiological consequences: increased blood
pressure, headaches, heart attacks, Back Pain,
Fatigue etc.
 Psychological consequences: job dissatisfaction,
difficulty concentrating, increased errors, poor
decision making, tension, anxiety, irritability,
boredom, work postponement etc.
 Behavioral consequences: reduced in
productivity, absence, turnover, eating habits,
smoking, drinking, etc.
 Stress Management strategies
• Time management: Managing your time instead of
letting it manage you, Using a “to-do” list, following a
written plan( like daily work schedule), setting goals,
getting organized, getting structured etc.
• Avoiding procrastination/postponement : Making a
realistic list of things you need to do each day, doing the most
important things first. That way, even if you don’t finish the list,
you get the most important things done.
• Relaxation/taking a break: Sometimes it is better to get away
from the situation for a short time. To do so, take a walk, focus
on pleasant thoughts, make Progressive muscle relaxation,
practice deep breathing; then, go back to the task feeling
refreshed and ready to tackle it.
 Cont’d
• Thinking positive: Negative thinking leads to stress and anxiety.
One negative thought, for example, leads to another…then
another….then another ….. According to Henry Ford, “If you think
you will fail, or think you will succeed, you are probably right.”
• Getting help: Keep in touch with friends and family, and develop a
support group, discuss the case….
• Arranging eating: Eat right :Cut down on sugar, caffeine, and
processed foods; Eat nutritiously: all food groups, especially fresh
fruits and vegetables; Eat a little every couple of hours or so; Eat
slowly.
• Practicing Spirituality: attending Church/mosque , helping others,
Putting your faith to work! Being thankful.
Think like "I am at peace in the midst of chaos or madness. No person,
place or thing has the power to upset me."
 Stress Implication on Performance
• Stress isn’t always negative as an influence on our lives. It has
two faces—positive and negative.
• Constructive stress, or eustress, acts in a positive way.
• Moderate levels of stress by prompting increased work effort,
stimulating creativity, and encouraging greater diligence.
• You may know such stress as the tension that causes you to
study hard before exams, pay attention, and complete
assignments on time in a difficult class.
• Destructive stress, or distress, is dysfunctional for both the
individual and the organization. Too much stress can overload
and break down a person’s physical and mental systems
resulting in absenteeism, turnover, errors, accidents,
dissatisfaction, reduced performance, unethical behavior and
even illness.
 Chapter seven: Culture and diversity

• Group Assignment
• Discuss the Implications of Culture(include such
issues like language and religion) and cultural
diversity on OB (5-8 pages)
• Discuss the effects/challenges and opportunities/of
Globalization on the behavior of people at work in
organizational setting (5-8 pages)
• Submission date: 29, April 2016.
• Number of group members: 5 persons per group
• Value: 15%(depends): 5% presentation and 10%
writing related issues(like organization ,relevance ,
coherence…)
 Chapter Eight: Power and politics in organization
• Power: The ability to get someone to do something you
want done or the ability to make things happen in the way
you want them to.
• Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the
behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes.
• The essence of power is control over the behavior of
others. Power is the force you use to make things happen
in an intended way, whereas influence is what you have
when you exercise power, and it is expressed by others’
behavioral response to your exercise of power.
• Managers derive power from both organizational and
individual sources. These sources are called position power
and personal power, respectively.
 Positional Power
• The following are bases/sources of positional power:
• Reward power: is the extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and
intrinsic rewards to control other people. Examples of such rewards
include money, promotions, compliments, or enriched jobs.
• Although all managers have some access to rewards, success in
accessing and utilizing rewards to achieve influence varies according to
the skills of the manager.
• coercive power :is the extent to which a manager can deny desired
rewards or administer punishments to control other people. It a Power
founded on punishment instead of reward. For example, a manager
may threaten to withhold a pay raise, or to transfer, demote, or even
recommend the firing of a subordinate who does not act as desired.
• The availability of coercive power also varies from one organization and
manager to another. The presence of unions and organizational policies
on employee treatment can weaken this power base considerably.
 Cont’d
• Legitimate/lawful power, or formal authority: represents a
special kind of power a manager has because subordinates
believe it is legitimate for a person occupying the managerial
position to have the right to command. If this legitimacy is lost,
authority will not be accepted by subordinates. It stems from the
employees values or beliefs that the “boss” has a “right of
command” to control their behavior. For example, the boss may
have the formal authority to approve or deny such employee
requests as job transfers, equipment purchases, personal time off,
or overtime work.
• Informational power: Is a power that stems from controlling
access to information. In most organizations, the “right” to know
and use information is restricted and confined by a series of rules
and regulations.
 Personal Power
• Personal power resides in the individual and is independent of that individual’s
position.
• Bases of personal Power are:
• Expert power: is the ability to control another person’s behavior through the
possession of acknowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person does not
have but needs. Expert power is relative, not absolute.
• Rational persuasion: is the ability to control another’s behavior because through
the individual’s efforts, the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a
reasonable way of achieving it. Much of what a supervisor does day today involves
rational persuasion up, down, and across the organization. Rational persuasion
involves both explaining the desirability of expected outcomes and showing how
specific actions will achieve these outcomes.
• Referent power: is the ability to control another’s behavior because the person
wants to identify with the power source. In this case, a subordinate obeys the boss
because he or she wants to behave, perceive, or believe as the boss does. This
obedience may occur, for example, because the subordinate likes the boss
personally( Role- model e.g. My role- models OM teacher) and therefore tries to do
things the way the boss wants them done. In a sense, the subordinate attempts to
avoid doing anything that would interfere with the pleasing boss–subordinate
relationship.
 Power and Leadership
• Power is ability to get things done even when others resist
• Leadership is about getting people to want to get things
done and enabling them to do it
• Behavior of powerful leaders
– Delegate authority not only responsibility
– See people’s talents as a resource
– Change people’s working conditions
– Get resources and information for work group
– Take risks, are entrepreneurs.
– Press for innovations
– Share power widely
– Help develop people to reach their aspirations
 Cont’d
• Behavior of Powerless Leaders
• Supervise closely
• Do not delegate authority/but only responsibility
• Often distrust subordinates
• See people’s talents as a threat belittling them, fear
• Stick to the rules
• Do not take risks; risk averse
• Strongly focus on the work
• Protect his or her territory
 Tactics to gain Power
 Bargaining: is the use of negotiation through the exchange of benefit
or favor; eg. collective bargaining b/n labor and management
 Friendliness: a person can gain power over another person by
flattery(sweet talk) , creation of goodwill, acting humble and being
friendly.
 Coalition: when two or more persons or groups combine their efforts
and energy for a common vested interest/goal.
 Co-optation : A group gives some of its important positions to
members of the other groups or include them in its policy- making
committee. This reduces criticisms and threats from other groups
 Reason: a person can use reasoning to gain power. Reasoning consists
of use of facts and data to make logical or rational presentation of
ideas. To make decisions.
 Assertiveness: the use of direct and forceful approaches, pointing the
rule needs compliance.
 Higher Authority: some managers gain the support of higher levels i.e.
strong affiliation with.
Major Techniques of Organizational politics practices
Restricting access to information: Although people don't always engage in outright lying
and falsification, they may be inclined to control others' access to information in ways that
enhance their own power. For example, people may withhold information that makes
others look bad, avoid contact with others who are expected to press them for things they
don't want to say, and so on.
Cultivating a favorable impression: People interested in being highly influential tend to go
out of their way to engage in some degree of image building – attempts to enhance the
goodness of one's impressions on others. This may take the form of associating oneself
with others' successful accomplishments and drawing attention to one's own successes.
Developing a base of support: To successfully influence others, it is often useful to gain the
support of others in the organization. With this in mind, managers may "lobby" for their
ideas before they officially present them at meetings, and "call in favors" they have done
for others in the organization.
Blaming and attacking others: A commonly used political tactic involves finding a scapegoat
— that is, someone to put blame on for some failure or wrong doing. Explaining that
something is really someone else's fault, making another "take the fall," for it—until the
truth comes out, of course.
Aligning with those more powerful: One of the most direct ways to gain power is by
associating oneself with those that are higher in power. This may be done by finding a
more powerful person to serve as one's mentor.
 Tactics of gaining political power
Social Exchange: relies on the powerful norm of reciprocity in society, where two people in
a continuing relationship feel a strong obligation to repay their social “debts” to each
other.
Alliances/coalitions: two or more persons join in a longer-term power group to get benefits
that they usually desire.
• Form around people inside and outside the organization
• Those believed important to person’s position
Identification with Higher Authority: gaining special privileges by becoming identified with
a powerful figure in the organization.
Selective Service: giving service selectively to gain support, often by bending the rules.
Power and Status Symbols: acquiring power and status symbols that imply that you are an
important person in the firm.
Power Plays: aggressive tactic involving grabbing of power from others.
Networks: joining or forming interest groups that have a common objective. The group
operates on the basis of friendships and personal contacts.
Co-optation: get support by putting possible opponents on a task force or advisory board.
Reciprocity: It is good to help others. Accordingly, recognize those members of the
organization who will be more powerful in future. Help them so that they reciprocate the
same when you need their support.
 Ethical Issues of political behavior in Organizations
• Utilitarian view: according to this view using power and
political behavior to serve only one's self-interest; and use
of excessive organizational resources to reach a personal
goal is unethical.
• Sense of justice strongly argues for fair treatment
• Giving preferential treatment to someone to build a sense
of obligation is unethical.
• Using power and political behavior that violates another
person's rights is unethical
• A political tactic such as co-optation can violate others'
rights
• Co-opted individual, unless he or she understands the goal
of the political actor, has not consented to such influence.
 Guidelines for ethical political behavior

– Distinguishes organizational statesmanship

from "dirty politics"
– Behavior should serve people outside the
organization, beyond the single political actor
– Individuals should clearly know intent of actor;
give free consent to be influenced.
– Right of due process should not be violated
while the political behavior unfolds
– Administration of policies should allow fair
treatment of all affected people