CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1. 1 INTRODUCTION

Pressure at the workplace is an inescapable fact considering the demands of the present-
day work environment. To an extent pressure may be perceived as acceptable and may
even help in keeping organizational members vigilant, motivated and eager to learn.
However, when that pressure becomes excessive or unmanageable, it leads to stress,
which can adversely affect an employee’s health and performance. Till the middle of the
19th century there was relatively low level of stress in workplace. However,
occupational stress has grown alarmingly over the past few decades. In the simplest
terms occupational stress is understood as the harmful physical and emotional response
that occurs when the requirements of the job exceed the capabilities, needs or resources
of the worker. Occupational stress has gradually increased due to technological
advancements, growing globalization, fierce global market competitions, global financial
crises and automation of work processes and systems, which is affecting almost all
countries, all professions and all categories of employees, as well as families and
societies. As a result, it has become essential to focus upon the issue of occupational
stress.

Stress has been described as a stimulus, a response, a stimulus-response combination or a

transactional relationship between individuals and the environment. As a stimulus, stress
can be understood as consisting of the attributes of the environment that are considered
distressing and cause strain reactions in the individual exposed to such environmental
factors. In this sense, the stimulus-based models of stress focus on what happens to the
individual at physical level and not what happens in the person. Intellectually and
psychologically as a response, stress is considered from the viewpoint of an individual’s
psychological reactions to stressors. A third understanding of stress is based on the
broader notion of the stimulus-response relationship. Here, stress is seen, not as
individual responses to external forces but as an interaction between the individual and
those sources of demands that dilute the wellbeing of an individual. The ‘interactionist’
approach to stress (Cooper and Cartwright, 1997) depicts stress as the end result of a

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structural mismatch between the needs and demands of the individual and his/her
environment.

To summarize, job stress results from the influence of external stimuli (stressor). Second,
it involves the personal evaluation of external stimuli (appraisal). And third, job stress
negatively impacts mental, emotional, physical, and/or behavioral functioning (strain). In
short, job stress is a dynamic process in which subjective cognitive appraisals of job-
related stressors produce negative health and/or behavioral strain outcomes (R. Kahn and
P. Byosiere, 1992).

Scholars have developed four perspectives for understanding job stress. First, originating
from medicine, the response-based view classifies job stress as a strain outcome in the
form of either a cognitive (dissatisfaction), physiological (illness), and/or behavioral
(absenteeism) response. Second, the stimulus-based view applies an engineering analogy
to job stress. Its chief concern is identifying stressors (e.g., caseloads or layoffs) capable
of weakening one’s internal means of resistance, rather than the outcome associated with
these stresses. Third, derived from organizational psychology, the interactional view
emphasizes the interplay between two distinct stressors. For example, stress arises when
social workers managing high caseloads are delegated little, to no control, over assigned
job duties. The fourth perspective, which has emerged from cognitive psychology, is the
transactional view in which job stress is construed as a reciprocal person-environment
relationship involving subjective judgments of the work milieu that influence the
presence or absence of strain outcomes.

There is considerable disparity in different viewpoints whether work stress should be

conceptualized as pressures from the environment, or strain within the affected
individual, or the interactional or transactional relationship between the individual and
external forces. In extending these arguments, the diversity and differences of stress
models seem to further exacerbate the problem of finding an integrated meaning of
occupational stress. Furthermore, the methodological confusions earlier highlighted also
limit our full understanding of the endemic nature of job stress realities that are
constantly evolving especially in our modern world deeply engrained in rapid
technological advancements, fierce global market competitions, growing globalization,
automation of work processes and systems.

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Stress, thus, is an unavoidable part of human life. With growing complexities all aspects
of life have become imbued with stress. This is especially true of industrial organizations
where each employee undergoes one type of stress or the other which impacts his or her
physical, mental and social health. In this study our focus will be on the issue of
occupational stress and its management by the employees of various types of
organizations, namely, those in the information technology industry, in which the work is
highly taxing and creates various kinds of physical, mental and social pressures for the
employees.

1.2 CONCEPT OF STRESS

The historical beginning of the study of stress can be traced to Walter Cannon (1915) and
Hans Selye (1977) who can be credited for establishing the earliest scientific basis for
study of stress by using animal studies. Cannon measured the psychological responses of
animal to external pressures such as heat and cold, surgical procedures, and then
extrapolated from these studies to human beings. (1939). Selye’s work on stress emerged
from his lab experiments as well as his scientific work as a medical student in Prague.

The term “stress” as it is presently used was conceived by Hans Selye in 1936, who
defined it as the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change, later
changing it to the “rate of wear and tear on the body”. Later researchers explained stress
in general as a physical, psychological and emotional response to events that cause
physical or mental tension. According to Richard S. Lazarus (1966) stress is a situation
when one comprehends that one may not be able to muster the personal and social
resources required to fulfill one’s needs and demands. For Tom Cox (1993) too, stress
denotes a psychological condition that emerges with the realization of the discrepancy
between one’s occupational demands and one’s skills to deal with those demands.

Deo Strumpfer (1983) distinguished between “good” and “bad” stress. Distress or “bad”
stress implies detrimental and disagreeable demands on the individuals while “positive”
stress, i.e., eustress, (derived from Greek work ‘en’ meaning good) points to a pleasing
and easy variety of stress, its illustration being an employee who thrives in a competitive
or demonstrating work environment even though stressful. D. S. Krantz, N. E. Grunberg
and A. Baum (1985) speak of stressors as stimuli that make demands on an organism
which then needs to adapt to the stimuli. For Beehr and Newman (1978) stress is a

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circumstance where occupational factors relate to the employee to change his or her
physical and psychological condition.

1.3 TYPES OF STRESS

Stress has varied forms. Eustress can be defined as a good and positive stress which
provides immediate energy and motivation for people to do their work. Eustress is
supposed to increase the productivity in an organization. Distress on the other hand, is
otherwise known as bad stress and has negative consequences. In this type of stress, the
body and mind experience an uncomfortable feeling when the normal routine is
constantly adjusted and altered. Distress decreases the level of motivation and results in
decreasing the quality of performance. Acute stress is the type of stress which comes
immediately with a changed routine. It usually involves immediate and intense reaction
of body and mind to a significant threat or challenge but it passes quickly. Chronic stress
occurs if there is a constant change of routine week after week. This is dangerous and
can lead to health problems of different types. The other type of negative stress is called
hyper-stress that comes when a person is required to accept more than one can take. A
stressful job will cause that person to face hyper-stress. Hypo stress is basically
insufficient amount of stress. A person who is continuously bored experiences this type
of stress called hypo stress. Stress is thus, an emotional and physical strain on the body.
And one of its most common forms is occupational or job stress.

1.4 OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

Occupational stress is stress related to one’s work. According to WHO (2007) the stress
related to work is the one faced by people in response to the work demands and various
types of pressures which do not correspond to their level of knowledge and capability
and which thus, call into question their capacity to handle their work pressures.

In the same way H. K. Mahajan (2013) defines occupational stress as the harmful
physical and emotional response that occurs when the demands of the job exceed the
capabilities, needs or resources of the worker.

Jose Rivera (2018) defines it as a condition in which a person experiences a sharp

intensity of anxiety, mental fatigue, and other symptoms. He also adds that certain
professions and jobs may entail conditions that cause more stress than others.

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Overall occupational stress is defined as consisting of the harmful physical and
psychological effects on individuals that crop up when there is inconsistency between
demands of the work environment and individual needs, abilities, and resources. Most
people experience some episodic short term stress due to events in their work place but it
is not harmful for them. However, if the stressful conditions persist for a long time, there
may be serious physical, psychological and social consequences.

Occupational stress may occur due to heavy work load, lack of clarity regarding one’s
occupational tasks, job expectations etc. Some of its main symptoms are tension,
inability to concentrate on work, feeling of excessive tiredness, irritability etc. Hence,
stress is a complex phenomenon and can be explained in several ways, but in simple
words it is the wear and tear or fatigue of everyday life.

1.5 STRESS MANAGEMENT

Today Stress Management is given much attention, specifically in the corporate sector,
more so in the Information Technology organizations. Occupational stress is a prevalent
and costly problem in every organization. Therefore, today, majority of the organizations
are turning to stress management to overcome the problem of occupational stress. The
principle of stress management is being followed for the improvement in their own
response to stress and also for enabling the organization to reduce workplace stressors
(Van der Hek and Plomp, 1997). The major aim of the stress management is to prevent
and reduce occupational stress among employees and the organization. Various methods
are being followed with a view to reduce occupational stress of employees, such as –
biofeedback, meditation and massage, counseling to identify the suitable stress
management method for employee. There are many solutions to cope up with certain
situations, even though there are some adverse situations which cannot be controlled.
Implementing effective stress management principles is something that makes the work
life of employees run a little more smoothly. It is important to implement stress
management techniques or principles in the work life of employees.

1.6 DEFINITIONS OF STRESS MANAGEMENT

In general, stress management includes mechanisms and techniques which are aiming at
arming a person with effective methods and means to cope with psychological stress.

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According to John Sichel (2016), stress management is a process which controls the
occupational stress of employees. It may include practicing daily meditation, identifying
releasing activities, or a combination of multiple techniques used to reduce occupational
stress. Interventions to reduce the impact of stressor in the work place have been defined
by Oxford University Press Glossary (2015). An individual focus, aimed at increasing an
individual’s ability to cope with stressors or by stress management programs with an
organizational focus which attempts to remove the stressor in a role. Gale Encyclopedia
of Medicine (2008), has described stress management as a technique that would help
people to learn about stress for controlling and identifying the specific symptoms of
stress in their lives.

1.7 STRATEGIES OF STRESS MANAGEMENT

According to J. E. Bower and S. C. Segerstrom (2004), there are so many techniques and
strategies to cope with the occupational stress such as physical fitness, reading books,
relaxation, cognitive therapy, meditation, yoga, attending conference related to reduction
of stress, listening music etc. According to Louise Thomson (2002), the techniques of
stress management consist of prevention, timely reaction, and treating the effects. Stress
Management techniques will tend to differ on the basis of philosophical paradigms
followed by an organization.

1.8 MODELS RELATING TO STRESS MANAGEMENT

1.8.1 Transactional Model

Stress can be thought of as resulting from an “imbalance between demands and

resources.’’ or as occurring when “pressure exceeds one’s perceived ability to cope. “as
stated by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman (1984). Stress management was
developed and premised on the idea that stress is not a direct response to a stressor but
rather one’s resources and ability to cope up with or mediate the stress response and are
open and responsive to change, thus allowing stress to be controllable (Lazarus and
Folkman, 1984). First of all in order to develop an effective stress management program,
certain factors need to be identified. These factors are central to a person for controlling
his/her stress. There is a strong need to identifying intervention methods which
effectively target these factors. The interpretation of Lazarus and Folkman’s focuses on

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the transaction between people and their external environment known as the transactional
model. The models conceptualize stress as a result of how a stressor is appraised and
how a person assesses his or her resources to cope with the stressor. The model breaks
the stressor-stress link by proposing if stressors are perceived as positive or challenging
rather than as a threat, and if the stressed person is confident that he or she possesses
adequate rather than deficient coping strategies, stress may not necessarily follow the
presence of a potential stressor. The model proposes that stress can be reduced by
helping stressed people change their perceptions of stressors, providing them with
strategies to help them cope and further improve their confidence in their ability to do so.

1.8.2 Health Realization Model

Scholars like D. H. Barlowis advocated the health realization model of stress. According
to this model stress does not essentially follow the existence of a potential stressor. The
health realization model focuses on the nature of thought rather than focusing on the
individual’s appraisal of so-called stressors in relation to his or her own coping skills (as
the transactional model does). Stress results from assessing oneself and one’s conditions
through a mental filter of insecurity and negativity, whereas a feeling of well-being
results from approaching the world with a “quiet mind” as per this model. This model
suggests that helping individuals under the stress to understand the nature of thought,
especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are having negative
thinking help them, disengage from it, and have an access to positive feeling and
thinking, all these will reduce their stress (Barlow, 2007).

1.9 TECHNIQUES OF STRESS MANAGEMENT

According to T. Cox, A. Griffiths and S. Leka (2004), there are several techniques by
which can manage the occupational stress. These include:

 Primary prevention, which involves decreasing stress by a) Ergonomics, b)

environment design c) Organizational and management improvement.

 Secondary prevention, involving decreasing stress through Education, Programme.

 Tertiary prevention, which entails decreasing stress through improving management

system.

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According to James Ronald Webster the managers are playing important role in
identifying and managing stress within the organization. So the strategies of stress
management include: a) Recognition of employee and team achievement b) Treating
employees with respect c) Formulating conflict management strategies according to
circumstances d) Consulting the employees when they are feeling anxiety and e)
Involving participation of employees in making decisions of organizations.

According to Soni Kushwaha (2015) the techniques of stress management include:

1) Becoming knowledgeable about stress and its impact

One of the important things in stress management is understanding the stress, process
and impact of stress. persons should identify stress and find the level of stress and make
plan for reducing the stress.

2) Changing the life style

Reducing smoking, having regular meals, always beginning the day with breakfast,
having a proper diet, reducing the intake of alcohol, doing meditation and adopting yoga
as a way of life

3) Managing one’s time

Making a plan for one’s work and distinguishing between what should be done and what
would be important to do.

R. Donatelle (2009) explained various stress management strategies adopted by the

management. These strategies are:

1. Knowledge about stress: a person should know about concept and symptoms of
stress so as to prevent check negative impacts of stress at workplace.

2. Exercise (Physical fitness): Exercise will help the people to reduce and cope up with
stress. Non-competitive exercise like walking, running, swimming, jogging etc.
neutralizes the impact of stress.

3. Time Management is the way to control and analyze stress. The lack of time
management causes stress among people at the place of work. Through the time
management the people are able to prevent stress.

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4. Meditation means focusing on the positive aspects of life by closing the eyes and
clearing the mind of negative thoughts.

Apart from this, management can improve the employees’ ability of dealing with
difficult work situations through stress management training program and employees’
assistance programs. Therefore, the process of stress management is performed by
removing stress factors or by training the employees to battle the conditions which create
stress at work place. The stress management process and its implication at work place is
that it results in more creativity and quicker cursor movement for achieving the
organizational goals. The HR management through a better recognition and management
of stress factors can impart training to the management and employees and thus prevent
negative stress and its effects.

1.10 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction

Literature Review is a broad, comprehensive, in depth systematic and critical review of

published scholarly study articles published papers and books. It is a key step in the
management research process. It refers to an extensive, exhaustive and systematic
examination of publications relevant to the research study.

Considering this fact an exhaustive literature reviews have been taken by the researcher
from various information sources like Journals, periodicals, books, reports, M. Phil. or
Ph. D. theses etc. From these resources, various informations on different facts related to
the Occupational Stress and Stress Management have been collected, assessed and
analyzed by the researcher.

The available literature related to the Occupational Stress and Stress management has
been reviewed by the researchers in the present chapter. The reviewed literature has been
divided into the following segments.

1.10.1 Review of Literature Related to Occupational Stress in Information Technology

Organizations

1.10.2 Review of Literature Related to Stress Management in Information Technology

Organizations

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1) Review of Literature Related to Occupational Stress in Information Technology
Organizations

Suresh Kumar (2016) has focused on the occupational stress among BPO workers.
Through the study he has identified the main kinds of stress such as distress, Hypo-
Stress, Eu-stress. Main purposes of the research were to recognize the occupational stress
level between BPO workers and to know the difference in occupational stress among
male and female BPO workers. He has pointed out that, BPO employees have moderate
occupational stress. He has also observed that occupational stress contributed not only to
the physical disorder but also to the emotional problems.

H. Jadeja and M. Verma (2016) have pointed out that, occupational stress at workplace
is generally caused by various factors such as – work overload, workplace condition,
organizational behavior, organizational culture, lack of participation etc. They have also
pinpointed stress management strategies to control and decrease occupational stress
among employees which include training program, meditation, time management etc.

M. M. Kinstone and M. Ngonidzashe (2016) have sought to find out the various
effective techniques of managing stress as perceived by employees in Zimbabwe. Case
study method was used for the purposes of study. The study was concerned with
industrial area of Zimbabwe. As per the opinion, it is not healthy for the employees to
have stress and it leads to demotivation at workplace. In their opinion, counseling is one
such technique that provides solution and improves coping capacity of affected
employees. They are of the view that prevention and management of occupational stress
requires organizational level interventions, because stress is generally created by the
organization itself. Apart from this they have also suggested that, the organization should
also have a stress management policy and it should facilitate the establishment of
employees’ committee with a view to improve communication within the organization.
Frequent workshops on safety trainings should be held and interactive sessions with new
employees should be carried out frequently. Findings of the study revealed that the
employees are actively following the concept of counseling, body exercise and sports as
techniques for managing stress at work place.

J. S. Narban, B.P.S.Narban and Jitendra Singh (2016) have presented an exploratory

study on occupational stress, to bring out its causative factors and impacts. Through the
study they have focused on the concept of stressors. They have pointed out that job stress

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affects job satisfaction negatively and there is a significant relation between these two
concepts. Through the study, they have observed that, occupational stress results in
decreased performance, absenteeism, low turnover and employee misalignment with the
organization. They have concluded that the exploration on occupational stress has been
relatively a neglected area of research among the industrial psychologists. They have
also suggested that an empirical research in the area of employee health should consider
and map the effects and influences of various factors like environmental and personal
process along with, human consequences and organizational consequences. In the
opinion of Narban et al. occupational stress needs to be constantly harnessed and
minimized to provide conducive work environment at the workplace.

K.V.D Prasad, R. Vaidya and V.A. Kumar (2016) have focused on occupational stress
on work performance of international agricultural research institute employees and IT
sector employees. Through the study they have observed that there is a higher effect of
occupational stress on work performance of IT employees as compared to IARI
employees. They found that the effect of stress on work performance of IARI employees
was moderate. The result of study indicated that higher stress among IT employees
caused physical problems.

J. M. Jani (2016) has focused on the factor of work stress and the stress management
techniques adopted by the smart employers in India. In his opinion it was the
responsibility of both the employer and the employee to check stress at workplace.
Through the study he has focused on stress management activities implemented by
Google India, Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Larsen and Toubro.
According to him, stress arises where the job in the organization demands the work
beyond the capacity and capability of the workers. He has pointed out that, stress is a
state of mental or emotional tension which occurs due to adverse circumstances. In his
opinion the nature of work is responsible for stress which is changing rapidly maybe now
more than ever before.

Priyesha Jain and Akhil Batra (2015) surveyed the employees of the Quincy to
identify the level of work stress for corporate individuals and to point out the distressing
factor that affect of the persons. Through the study, they have focused on the areas
explored by the workers, managers and those who were able to change the situation, so
that the factors of stress would be reduced. The main aims of the research were to
identify the root cause of the work-related stress and analyze the factors related to the

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workplace, to delve into the inadequacy of the managers and employers of the
organization in dealing with issues, to study the yardsticks at workplace and at times the
role of HR officials in it. They have observed that repeated heavy workload, unfair work
distribution, work monotony, pressure of deadlines underutilization of skills and working
relationships are some of the major causes of work stress, which have impact on mental
or emotional well-being of Indian workers. They have further opined that friendly
atmosphere would decrease stress caused due to work overload.

R. G. Ratnawat and P. C. Jha (2014) found improving stress management strategies at

workplace would help employees to be free from stress. Due to prevention of stress, the
work performance of employees would also increase. They identified 35 occupational
stress inducers through articles and reports published in various journals for the period of
15 years i.e. from 1990-2014. In their opinion, it is important to recognize various types
of occupational stress and their effects on the work performance of employees. They
have pointed out that occupational stress among employees would lead to resignation,
addiction, depression, anxiety etc.

Ali M. Mosadeghard (2014) has studied the condition of stress among employees in the
Iranian hospital. He has mentioned the negative impacts of occupational stress on
employees’ physical and psychological condition. The research found out that working
conditions along with organizational and individual factors were responsible for
occupational stress. He has observed that majority of workers were working under high
rate of occupational stress. The main causes of work stress were lower income,
inequality at work, higher workload, shortage of staff, lack of recognition and promotion,
pressure of time schedule, insecurity of job, lack of management support etc. He has also
pointed out that due to high level of occupational stress, employees faced physical and
psychological problems such as backache, high blood pressure, heart problem, anxiety,
and depression as well.

R. Gomathi and R. Deepika (2013) have stated that work stress would affect the
physical and psychological condition of the workers. They have pointed out that stress
among the workers led to poor labour turn over and high rate of absenteeism and
incurred additional expenditure and as a result organizations had to spend a lot of money
every year on the sickness of workers. In this context they have opined that, managers
should be aware of the causes and factors of stress and also know how to reduce it.
Through the research they have found out those factors of stress among the workers and

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also the coping mechanisms for the same. They have recommended that the workers
must give importance to time management techniques, so that they can complete the
work within the specified time. They have also suggested that organizations should even
be counseling the workers whenever they face the problem of work stress. Apart from
this the organization should introduce employee assistance programs (EAP) and should
have stress control workshop as per the level of workers. They have concluded that
organizations should try to enhance the psychological well-being and health of the
workers, so that in future organizations could make more profit and have high percentage
of employee retention.

Florin Buicu (2010) has opined that Occupational Stress affected performance and
productivity of employees and organization. The other programs implemented by some
organizations to help physical and mental health of employees. These programs helped to
avoid stress at workplace and trained them to cope with it. According to her,
management of stress is very important for good mental makeup or positive mindset,
physical and psychological health. Through the study she has presented some preventive
strategies to reduce stress at organizational level and at employee level. In the study she
has focused on the Romanian stress management programs. She has pointed out that
Romanian employers believe that “people are lazy by nature and help to pool the work,
and they need to be tightly controlled and promptly punished”. She has concluded that
occupational stress still exists in Romania.

2) Review of Literature Related to Stress Management in Information Technology

Organizations:

B. Prathusha, S. Durga Prasad and M. S. Reddy (2016) have stated that occupational
stress is an inevitable problem in the IT organizations. The IT employees are known for
their long working hours, tight working schedule and higher competitiveness. All these
issues are taking their toll which is leading to occupational stress. Prathusha et al. have
measured occupational stress among IT professionals for the purpose of their study. They
have observed that work stress or occupational stress exists amongst IT employees. They
have suggested that, to overcome the problem of stress, the IT organizations must ensure
the employees with proper workspace and impart them with training through various
stress management programs. In the opinion of the authors, IT organizations should
follow management strategies such as yoga, meditation, biofeedback etc. they have also
stated that at organizational as well as individual level, work stress had an impact on

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employee’s behavior and on the job. They have concluded that considering the colossal
importance of assessing the occupational stress there is a need for a systematic study of
stress in the organizational settings.

Ipseeta Satpathy, C. M. Patnaik and B. Mitra (2014) have stated that, the situation of
place of work is not always negative and bad. Sometimes stress would increase the
motivation among us. Through review of literature they have pointed out that, those
employees who were working in IT organizations faced more stress because they needed
to update their knowledge frequently. Through the research they have also observed that
various researchers found that stress management was a crucial factor for an employee.
In this context they have suggested that, the IT employees should try to help themselves
to keep themselves fit as well as out of stress.

Kedar Rayamajhi (2014) stress is the incapability to combat with stress or pressure in
an occupation at workplace.

Kumar, D. R. R., Ramachandran, M., and Ram, S. S. (2011). They have explained
the year picture about the stress of work faced by an Indian information technology
sector employee. They have stated that stress is a self-developed pain generalized by
thoughts. Through the study, they have focused on the various types of stress faced by
the IT employees. These stresses were Eustress and Distress. To avoid the workspace
stress authors have suggested that, employees at first should be aware of their capability
and they should analyze their skill level. Apart from this, every employee has to take-up
SWOT analysis to know the correct level of capability. In the opinion of the authors,
SWOT analysis test helps to enhance the existing skills in the current situation. Authors
have concluded that publishing (taking out) a stress journal can help in identifying the
regular stressors in life. In the context they have suggested certain methods to help
management and employees to draft a way out of stress. First of all, they should take
note of what caused work stress, how employees felt physically and mentally and how
employees responded to stressors in life.

Devi, U. T. (2011). The writer is of the opinion that occupational stress has become an
important problem due to the dynamic social factors and changing requirements of
modern lifestyles. In the study, the author has thrown a light on the widespread silent
problem named "stress" which gave rise to acute dysfunctions and resulted in many
diseases, increased family and mental problems as well as other harassments. In the

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opinion of the author, IT professionals remain under stress because they are highly target
driven and highly pressurized on results. Through this study, author has also focused on
the level of stress among the IT employees, and suggested some coping strategies. Some
of the stress coping strategies identified by the author were stress management programs,
job-related physical activities, lifestyle modification programs, maintenance of
supportive organization culture, stress counseling, programs and also spiritual programs.
He has concluded that the issue of occupational stress has become contemporary, is an
occupational hazard in fast pacing IT profession and it needs to be addressed
immediately.

Alireza Bolhari, J. Bolhari and S. Bairamzadeh (2012) have concentrated on the

measure of stress level among Iranian IT employees. They have also focused on the
relationship between occupational stress and stress management strategies. They have
recommended that there should be more research about the relationship between
participants of stress management and work stress.

N. Ramesh, B. Joseph, P. R. Kiran and A. T. Babu (2010) have conducted a study to

assess the extent of increased balance of stress levels among the information technology
employees. They have focused on the factors related to stress among the IT employees in
Bangalore. Through their study they have focused on the study variables like gender,
total work experience, working hours, the time and number of dependents. They have
observed that there was no association between stress and gender, experience of work,
number of independents. Insomnia was the most common stress symptom among the IT
employees. They have suggested that, management of the IT organizations have two
devices and they adopt various stress management methods to reduce stress and to
prevent unpleasant consequences of work stress on the employees and on the
organizations. They have concluded that the prevalence of work stress was neither high
warning immediate intervention nor was it extremely low so as to rule out a consequence
of the present trends which continue among the IT employees.

Mohan. C. A, Balaji. D. K, and Kuamr. Kishore. T, (2010). They have pointed out
that work stress can take several forms such as kitchen stress, marital status,
unemployment stress, occupational stress etc. Through the study, authors have pointed
out that, employees engaged in IT organizations also go through a lot of anxiety,
depression, and loneliness due to unpleasant working conditions in the organizations.
They often exhibit a feeling of inadequacy, lowered self-esteem and dissatisfaction. They

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have observed that employees in IT organizations faced various health hazards such as
headache and server heart problems. Through the study authors have attempted to focus
on the relationship between stress and self-esteem and impact of occupational stress on
the health of IT employees. The results of the study indicated that employees with high
and medium self-esteem experience high level of stress, longer working hours, demands
work creating pressure, erratic food intervals and anxiety are some of the major reasons
affecting the personal health of the IT employees. The authors have advised that IT
employees should adopt approaches strategies, which confronts the issues of
occupational stress and increases the capability of employees to deal with this stress.
Thus the employees would be able to overcome occupational stress and to cope up with
role stress. They have further suggested that IT organizations should play a charismatic
role in envisioning, empowering and energizing the employees.

P. Nagesh and M. S. Narsinha (2008) in their study have explained that there should be
factors which would help to reduce the stress at workplace, such as good condition of
working, safety, avoidance from conflict and arguments, management support etc. They
have concluded that, there should be trainings and programs about how to cope with
stress at workplace.

1.11 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) What are the challenges faced by organizational employees due to occupational

stress?

2) What is the nature and extent of stress experienced by the employees of a small
scale IT organization?

3) What is the impact of occupational stress on the physical and psychological

condition of the employees?

4) In what way does occupational stress affect the work performance of employees of
an organization?

5) What are the major initiatives taken by a management to identify the occupational
stress
among IT employees?

6) What are the various stress management strategies used by organizations for
reducing occupational stress among their employees?

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1.12 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

For better understanding of Occupational Stress and Stress Management among

Information Technology organizations’ employees, the following objectives have been
framed for the present research.

1. To assess the degree of stress among the respondents;

2. To identify the factors causing stress for the respondents;

3. To analyze the effects of stress on the job performance of the employees of the
selected IT organizations; and

4. To examine the strategies used by the selected IT organizations to reduce stress

among IT employees.

1.13 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.13.1 Research design

A research design is a map developed to guide the research. It is a part of planning stage
of a research, a blue print for the collection, measurement and analysis of data. Research
design as a master plan specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and
analyzing the needed information. It is the conceptual structure within which research is
conducted. The function of research design is to provide for the collection of relevant
information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. The preparation of
research design, appropriate for a particular research problem, involves the consideration
of the following. Areas in this study, Descriptive research design will be used.

1.13.2 Research setting

The proposed study “Occupational Stress and Its Management: A Comparative Study of
Information Technology (IT) Employees in Pune and Chandigarh” is based on the
research which would be carried out in Pune which is known as an IT hub and
Chandigarh city where the IT industries have come up in the last decade or so. Since a
comparative research on this nature of the topic has not been carried out the researcher
proposes to carry out the research on information technology organizations which are
situated in Pune city and Chandigarh. Occupational stress can be found among the
members of organizations of all sizes. However, it is usually presumed that larger the
organization, greater the stress level that is why most of the studies done in this area
focus primarily on large scale organizations. However, the interest of the reasons lies in

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studying the nature and extent of occupational stress in small scale organizations which
have by and large been neglected by organizational studies.

1.13.3 Population and sampling

The universe of the study include the management and employees of small sized IT
organizations located in Pune and Chandigarh. Chandigarh has 12 such units while Pune
has 242 small sized IT organizations. The sample organizations for the study were
selected through random sampling technique and included three small scale IT units
from Pune and three from Chandigarh. Sample size of respondents was to be around 300
in total, comprising of 150 employees from IT organizations in Pune and 150 from
Chandigarh. Stratified random sampling technique was employed to select respondents
for the study.

1.13.4 Data sources

For the purpose of the study both Primary and secondary data was used.

1. Primary Research Data: Primary data was to be collected from the respondents
through questionnaires, observations, interviews and discussions.
2. Secondary Research Data: was to be gathered through journals, newspapers, articles,
website, etc.

1.13.5 Procedure of data collection

After thorough explanation of the questionnaire to the respondents by the researcher,

copies of the questionnaires was to be distributed fixing a suitable time to collect the
filled in questionnaires so as to avoid misplacements of the questionnaires. In order to
gather valid and reliable data, the researcher made certain that the questionnaires were
well prepared. The questionnaires comprised of both close-ended and open ended
questions which would cover the topic of research.

1.13.6 Research instrument

For the current study open and close-ended questionnaires was designed. Questionnaires
were divided into several parts to obtain in depth information in areas spelt out in the
objectives of the study. The questionnaires were circulated to the IT employees. A total
of approximately 300 questionnaires were distributed to the IT employees. Also, two
types of measurement of stress (Social Readjustment Rating Scale and Occupational
Stress Index) used for the current study.

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1.13.7 Data analysis

To make the study more scientific, the researcher use statistical tools like mean, chi-
square, t-test, correlation, Anova, and statistical package for social science (SPSS) for
analyzing the collected data. Simple and cross-tables were constructed and statistical
inferences were drawn from the collected data. Charts, pie charts etc. were used for
validation and interpretation of the data. Responses have been expressed in percentages.
After completion of the questionnaires the data was to be checked and all items of the
questionnaires which are based on the responses of respondents were to be grouped and
coded to be analyzed through the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS). This
method happened to be one of the most convenient and the best instruments to identify,
compare, describe, and reach a conclusion.

In addition to the above details of research methodology, the researcher was to use the
following specific methodology for attaining the objectives.

S.No Objectives Methodology to be used

1 To determine the degree of Data to be collected through self-structured

stress among the respondents tool/scale for measuring the level of stress
among IT employees

2 To identify the causes of stress Identification of the major causes of stress to

among respondents be done with the help of primary data
gathered with the help of the closed ended
questionnaire

3 To analyze the effects of stress Parameters which affect the employees’ work
on the job performance of the (job performance) to be ascertained with the
employees of the selected IT help of the closed ended questionnaire and by
organizations; and analyzing the primary data

4 To examine the strategies used Stress reduction strategies and techniques

by the selected IT used by the management and employees to be
organizations to reduce stress determined through the questionnaire and
among IT employees interviews

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1.13.8 Limitations of the study

1. Access to the people in IT sector is not easy and therefore, getting hold of the
employees of such organizations in large numbers might not have been possible.

2. Time constraints on the part of IT Employees could also be one of the limitations.

3. Lack of cooperation from the top managers of IT organizations for distributing

questionnaires among employees.

4. Lack of cooperation from the IT employees while distributing questionnaires. Many

of questionnaires were received either blank or half filled.

1.14 CHAPTER SCHEMES

Chapter-1: Introduction

The chapter would cover the concept, meaning, definitions of Occupational Stress and
Stress Management. It would also provide a review of literature related to occupational
stress and stress management.

Chapter-2: Levels and Types of Occupational Stress

The chapter would focus on identifying the types of Occupational Stress, as well as, the
measurement of the levels of stress among the respondents

Chapter-3: Occupational Stress and Work Performance

The chapter would analyze the consequences of occupational stress on the work
performance of employees

Chapter-4: Management Strategies to cope with Occupational Stress

The chapter would deal with the strategies and techniques of coping with Occupational
Stress

Chapter-5: Conclusion

The last chapter would summarize the findings of the study and provide inferences and
suggestions to cope with the problem of occupational stress.

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