Stress As An Organizational Crisis - Research Paper Example

Stress As An Organizational Crisis A national highway during rush hour should not be littered with pedestrians lest it impedes efficient traffic. A business conglomerate should not be manned with lethargic employees lest it hampers growth. An individual should not be brought down by ill health lest it inhibits optimum performance. In a world characterized by fast evolving economies, swift changing ideals, rapid shifting motivations and quick moving inhabitants, anything that could slacken the pace is deemed a major problem. In the case of an individual, health afflictions have been the major cause of absences in the workplace (Williams 21). To be specific, in the United States, roughly 54% of sickness absences have been attributed to stress which is almost paramount to the situation in Europe, as the numbers were held to be at 28% (Kompier 1). For this reason, a microcosmic predicament is invariably translated into a larger scale through the corporate entity. For this reason, stress should be treated not as an idiosyncratic and detached issue at a personal level, but as an organizational crisis that entails immediate action. But then again, what is this stress and how come it has been attributed as a major cause of concern of business enterprises? The fact is that a wide variety of research works have already been done regarding stress and its key causes, however, there have been almost inexistent works illustrating how to lessen or completely eradicate this problem (Kompier 1). This research paper will provide the readers with an impression as to how pervasive this issue is and how to go about its resolution. However, in order to have a full grasp of the importance of managing stress and its relative consequence to the workplace and the society, it is vital that key terms must first be delineated. To this end, the coping mechanism of an individual must first be elucidated. As a psychological concept, ‘coping’ pertains to the ability of a person to keep his life well within his abstraction of a proper life defined by his own perceived and expected level of satisfaction (Snyder 4). In some instances, ‘coping’ is seen as an arduous exertion of effort to deal with factors – called stressors, that are way beyond the usual levels of human operations in order to cut down the ill effects of those same factors (Snyder 4). As a result, the term ‘coping’ refers to the ability of an individual to deal with internal or external dynamics that threaten the individual rationale. That is, should the individual not be able to deal or have difficulty dealing with the ‘stressors,’ then the individual is termed as “experiencing stress.” Stress then is defined as the body’s natural inclination and normal function to adapt to a change in the environment (Johnson 15). This adaptation is usually requires a physical, mental or emotional modification or response. Stress is said to connote the consequence of a person’s inability to deal with the stressors and as such, his mental, emotional or physical demands. As such, stress then is to be taken as the individual’s failure to adapt to environmental changes and stimuli. Stress, in the medical field, is equivalent to the releasing of stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline (McCabe 23). This episode is said to be similar to the response displayed by an individual during a threatening or hostile situation. That is, stress, in terms of evoking responses is said to be analogous to the biological defensive response exhibited by the human body. This is considered then as the natural inclination of living organisms or creatures. As a result, the condition existent in a person’s environment dictates his physiological and psychological responses and manifestations. These overt responses are referred to as somatic and visceral responses that are displayed when pitted against an event that demands to be dealt with. As a physiological phenomenon, stress is seen as a concept affected by past experiences, present conditions and future expectations (Bat-Tal 569). This means that an individual’s childhood experiences play a major role in shaping the coping ability of a person. That is, past experiences ultimately affect, albeit indirectly, the present stressors which means that individuals often have gone through major life events in the past that have huge impact on their present coping ability and distress. As a result, it has become necessary for medical practitioners to look into the history of a person when dealing with stress-related cases or illnesses. Additionally, present environmental stimulus affect the coping ability of an individual as bio-behavioral issues such as mental load, stress and fatigue, as these are issues brought upon by an interaction of different factors (Hancock 57). This then illustrates the concept of stress as being influenced by an individual’s present state and the concomitant interaction of these factors. Furthermore, this interaction is likewise said to result into divergent cognitive, affective and bodily reactions and that results to idiosyncratic manifestations of stress and fatigue. All in all, stress may be said to be a fact of nature that necessitates the internal response of an individual to an external stimulus (Johnson 19). The response displayed by an individual is largely dependent on a person’s past, present and future tendencies and experiences. That is, the coping mechanism of the individual is then shaped according to his own and that no two people are likely to share the same response action. In this regard, stress then is taken as a universal experience that is keen on subjective personal application as the nature of stress as a psycho-physiological manifestation of personality and social behavior connotes individual differences. That is, that there are certain individuals who illustrate positive emotions when under stress while there are those who become absolutely crestfallen and unable to deal with the stressors present. Stress is said to be triggered by many factors. These stimuli are often referred to as stressors and such encompasses four categories: (1) environmental stressors; (2) ordinary day stressors; (3) major turning points; and, (4) workplace stressors (Johnson 38). Environmental stressors pertain to matters, situations or conduct that compels the individual to adjust his response to such concern that is outside his realm of controllability (Johnson 39). As such, environmental stressors are issues to which the individual has no facility to alter or modify to suit his own condition and such requires him to adjust or bend his decisions, reactions and deeds. Environmental stressors include weather condition, noise level, pollution, pain or bodily condition and individual autonomy. Ordinary day stressors relate to adverse episodes in a person’s usual routine. This is exemplified by lost car keys, food spillage, accidental tripping or falling, sudden and unplanned events, emergencies, traffic and tardiness. The third category connotes that major life events are likewise deemed as factors that contribute to the stress of a person. Major life events or turning points are events in the course of the life of an individual to which elemental changes in his lifestyle and practice must be made. These are events that are the catalyst for transformations in the way of life. This is exemplified by bereavement, annulment or divorce, adoption, financial decline, loss of employment, medical diagnosis of an illness and loss of a major body part or organ. The fourth category pertains to workplace stressors. This refers to conditions in the workplace that must be overtly dealt with by the individual on the threat of loss of employment. This is exemplified by management and leadership ill-favor of workers, poor working conditions, slave wager, meager health benefits, long working hours and unpaid overtime work. Perceived stress, as an environmental stressor, is deemed a hereditable concept that passes down from parent to offspring (Federenko 37). That is, conditions set forth in the familial environment sets off chronic manifestations in the genealogical community thereby causing additional source of physical, psychological and psycho-social strain on an individual. In a similar manner, hypertension is also considered as a hereditary disease that is capable of being handed down from generation to generation (Schneider 829). This is due to the fact that hypertension is considered as one of the main factors that elicit stress among individuals. The work of Schneider further claims that other factors may also contribute to the conception of stress and this includes diet, exercise, obesity, ethnicity, sex and age (831). The fourth category refers to workplace stressors. These stressors are paramount to harmful physical, emotional, psycho-social and physiological conditions in the workplace (Williams 11). Workplace stress occur due to the divergent views, perceptions and actions of the people in the workplace thereby creating an environment that is a melting pot of diverse civilization marred by conflicting interests and cultural pride (Thayer 37). This disparity in individual attitude and actions invariably result into a clash of interests thereby creating a subliminal tension and a personal quest for survival and supremacy. The work of Williams established an eight-point questionnaire to serve as guideposts so as to permit the determination as to whether an individual is faced with workplace stressors (52). The questions are: (1) Why do I always take on more work? (2) Why is my home life a mess? (3) Why do I lose my temper? (4) Why am I always tense? (5) Why do I always work late? (6) Why do I get so many colds? (7) Why do I push myself so hard? (8) Why do I never get time to finish anything? The work of Clarke illustrates the idea that a stressful work environment is equivalent to a direct concoction of physical illnesses or psychological distress and eventually, cumulative trauma (29). This is due to the fact that an intolerable work environment cultivates ill feelings and negative sensation and consciousness to the individual which translates into bad health and diseases. In addition, a causal relationship has been proven to be existent between the health and well-being of a worker and his existent working conditions. Work stressors that may be found in the workplace include other workers’ behavior, organizational climate, goal congruency, appraisal and recognition, role clarity, leadership, participative decision-making, professional growth and over-all operations. These factors all contribute to the creation of either a viable or an intolerable working condition. In order to combat the growing negative consequences of stress, the concept must first be pinpointed as a distinct and extant condition brought about by different factors. Anxiety, depression and physical illness are considered as the basic causes of stress (Rawson 323). Gender is likewise said to be a stressor that highly accentuates the strain felt. It is claimed that women are more apt to cope with the stress whereas men are likely to dwell on the consequences of stress and its ill effects. This is due to the strong support system found by women in their cliques and friendship associations. Furthermore, the factors – deemed stressors, are accordingly categorized into four sectors: environmental, ordinary day, major events and workplace stressors. Additionally, an individual’s energy level, mood and tension are said to be the ideal barometers of a person’s physical capability and psychological penchant (Thayer 22). As such, it is also important to look into the state or balance of these factors as this may largely add on to the strain felt by the individual. That is, when one indicator is showing signs of strain, then the adaptability of the individual is placed on an indeterminate position where responses are also feeble and inadequate. As a result, there is the concomitant need to improve the mood of the person, increase his energy level and allow him to release the tension felt so as to afford a better coping mechanism and tolerate the counter-effects of the strain. Zatura on the other hand, highlights the need to possess a positive behavior for the attainment of a more viable and healthy constitution as this invariably leads to better coping strategies and mechanisms (17). This is due to the fact that as chief causes of negative perception and behavior, depression and anxiety would be largely eliminated when a person is able to skew his mood or outlook and channel it into a sunnier or a more positive disposition. This then requires the person to look into his physiological and psycho-social tendencies and condition and the simultaneous conduct of an outlook shift to a more optimistic nature. Over all, stress is a person’s expected penchant and normal function to acclimatize to a transformation on his environment. This often entails a physical, mental or emotional response that would enable the individual to remain extant despite the changes in his environment. Stress then is considered as a person’s failure to adapt to such new conditions resulting to negative emotion, action and perception. It is likewise claimed that the factors triggering stress is seen to be resultant of four types of stressors – environmental, ordinary day, major life event and workplace. However, as a psycho-social incident, stress is noted to be directly associated with depression and anxiety. For this reason, there appears to be a great need to address the issues leading to stress before stress itself could be eliminated. Stress after all, is a circumstance of degrees. That is, one being expressly set off by the other. Following the growing trend, there seems to be a resounding clamor to improve the working conditions as this has been pinpointed as the main cause of inefficient production and ailing workers. Aside from the physical hardships experienced by the workers, emotional, psychological and physiological threats have been noted to be present in the modern workplace. For this reason, there is a great potential in underscoring and making a more in-depth review of this issue. Stress then in this matter in considered as an economic dilemma that must be addressed by companies so as to allow them to attain a more cost-effective and efficient production team. But then again, the improvement of the workplace is not the singular solution to alleviating the stress or eliminating the stressors. The individual would also do well to take on a more positive outlook in life and attempt to pinpoint the main causes of his depression or anxiety. After a determination has been endeavored, then such causes must be eliminated so as to preclude the escalation of such strain into full-blown stress. The fact that stress is medical condition means that it has a corresponding cure. However, when the cure can be had by a simple change in policy or by just plainly adopting a generally positive position in life, then the potential crisis is easily averted before it can actually become a full- blown condition or constitution. Being deemed as the weakest link or the trouble spot in an organization is a moniker that no one would dare appreciate. As such, each individual must attempt to create a relatively working environment that would suit his propensities and caprices so as to motivate him to perform his tasks better. However, when the strain is stemming from the workplace itself, then the organization or the corporate entity must seek ways to improve the working condition of the employees. Such is no easy feat. But the fact remains that the optimum performance of the employees and the resultant success of the corporation or entity lays on the elimination of whatever distraction or crisis a subject experiences. References Bat-Tal, Yoram, Jiska Cohen-Mansfield, and Hava Golander. “Which Stress Matters? The Examination of Temporal Aspects of Stress.” Journal of Psychology 132 (1998) : 569 – 576. This work focuses on the impact of past experiences, present stressors and future stress trends on psychological distress. A study was conducted on patients admitted to the hospital due to non-life threatening illnesses and their past, present and future stressors were assessed by answering a questionnaire. The study was able to provide proof that past experiences indirectly affect the present stressors which means that individuals often have gone through major life events in the past that have huge impact on their present coping ability and distress. This work is necessary in the research as it illustrates the relevance of looking into the past experiences of an individual to determine his or her coping ability with stress. Clarke, Sharon and Cary Cooper. Managing the Risk of Workplace Stress. London: Routledge, 2004. This work highlights the fact that a stressful work environment is conducive to the conception of physical illnesses or psychological distress and eventually, cumulative trauma. Furthermore, a definitive causal relationship was established in this work between the health and well-being of a worker and his existent working conditions. The working conditions explored in this work encompasses the following: (1) other workers’ behavior; (2) organizational climate; (3) goal congruency; (4) appraisal and recognition; (5) role clarity; (6) leadership; (7) participative decision-making; (8) professional growth; (9) over-all operations. This book is vital in the research as this pinpoint the aspects in the workplace that are the main sources of distress and psychological stress. Federenko, Ilona, Wolff Schlotz, Clemens Kirschbaum, Meike Bartels, Dirk.H. Hellhammer, and Stefan Wust. “The Hereditability of Perceived Stress.” Psychol Med 39 (2009) 211 – 218. This work endeavored to elucidate the concept of perceived stress as a hereditable concept. A study was conducted and the results were able to prove that perceived stress is actually hereditable, even if only in part. Furthermore, it was shown that almost half of the covariance in the stress scale is attributable to genetic factors. This study is important in the research as this delineates stress as more than a psychological concept as it transcends generations and depart from boundaries. Hancock, Peter, and Paula A. Desmond, ed. Stress, Workload and Fatigue. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. This book presented a framework that presents bio-behavioral issues, such as mental load, stress and fatigue, as issues brought upon by an interaction of different factors. This interaction is likewise said to result into divergent cognitive, affective and bodily reactions exhibited in the workplace. This book also highlights the importance of idiosyncratic manifestations of stress and fatigue and that individuals with diverse feelings and perception will likewise display disparate overt behavior. This book is necessary to the research as this became the guiding light in the particularization of stress as that of a peculiar nature and not a universal experience. Johnson, Sheri, Adele Hayes, Tiffany Field, Neil Schneiderman, and Philip McCabe, ed. Stress, Coping and Depression. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000. This particular work highlighted the nature of stress as a psycho-physiological manifestation of personality and social behavior. Furthermore, this book underscored the importance of taking individual differences into account as this initiates a disparate expression and modulation of behavior. That is, this work emphasized the fact that there are certain individuals who illustrate positive emotions when under stress while there are those who become absolutely crestfallen and unable to deal with the stressors present. This book is essential in the research as this illustrated the subjectivity of stress in relation to the distinctiveness of a human being. Kompier, Michiel, and Cary Cooper, ed. Preventing Stress, Improving Productivity. London: Routledge, 1999. This book explained that due to the increasing tendency of corporations to globalize, the stress level of workers likewise increases. It was further claimed that in the case of developed countries, almost 10% of their GNP is devoted to the costs of workplace pressures – sickness absences, labor turnover, premature retirement due to ill health, escalating health insurance and costs of treatment of the results of these same stress. This work also maintained that a great number of researches have been made regarding stress in the workplace and its attendant causes yet there has been no material works imparting resolution to the issue. This book further stated that there is a great demand in presenting ways and means as to how to address this growing dilemma in the workplace. McCabe, Philip, Neil Schneiderman, Tiffany Field, and A. Rodney Wellens, ed. Stress, Coping , and Cardiovascular Disease. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000. This book states that environmental changes should be seen as a threat to an individual due to the resultant affective behavior. This affective behavior is labeled as somatic and visceral responses that individuals exhibit as a means to adapt to their environment. To be specific, this work explored possible similarities between defense reaction and response to psycho-social stressors. As a result, this work was able to show similar responses meaning the same reaction is elicited by an individual on the defensive and an individual coping with stress. Rawson, Harve, Kimberly Bloomer, and Amanda Kendall. “Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Physical Illness in College Students.” Journal of Genetic Psychology 155 (1994) : 321 – 331. This journal article dealt with the inter-relationship of the common stress indicators namely, anxiety, depression and physical illness among college students. It was found that the levels of stress vary depending on the year level of the students in the university as those of the lower years exhibited milder stress indicators whereas those in the higher levels display higher levels of stress. Furthermore, gender was likewise shown as a factor in dealing with stress as women have higher social tendencies therefore, they are more adept at dealing with stress due to the strong clique support. Schneider, Gina, David Jacobs, Richard Gervitz, Daniel O’Connor. “Cardiovascular Haemodynamic Response to Repeated Mental Stress in Normotensive Subjects at Genetic Risk of Hypertension: Evidence of Enhanced Reactivity, Blunted Adaptation, and Delayed Recovery.” Journal of Human Hypertension 17 (2003) : 829 – 840. This journal article mainly revolves on hypertension as a hereditary disease passed on from parent to child. However, stress was slated as one of the causal factors that enable such illness to be conveyed to the offspring. Other factors include diet, exercise, obesity, ethnicity, sex and age. The main thrust of this work however is the elucidation of proof in order to pinpoint differences in cardiovascular reactivity, as an initial stress response and adaptation, as stress response exhibited over a longer period and recovery, as the optimum capability to deal with the stressors. Snyder, Charles S., ed. Coping with Stress: Effective People and Processes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. This book centered on ‘coping’ as a psycho-social concept that entails the inability of the individual to deal with environmental stimulus. That as a result of this inability, the individual either exhibit negative behavior or take on the avoidance route. This work highlights the importance of coping mechanisms during the appraisal period when the individual is in between stimulus and response as this is the instant where he would decide which response to display. Furthermore, it was explained that if the individual opts to take the avoidance route, then hypertension, disruptive thoughts and self doubt would start to besiege the person. This then is the ill-advised route to take as individuals must be taught how to cope with environmental stimulus and not avoid the pressures. Thayer, Robert. The Origin of Everyday Moods: Managing Energy, Tension and Stress. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. This work centralized on the individual’s energy level, mood and tension as key indicators in dealing with stress. These three factors are said to be barometers of our physical capability and psychological penchant. It was explained that when one indicator is showing signs of strain, then the adaptability of the individual is likewise placed on an indeterminate position where responses are also feeble and inadequate. As a result, this work stresses the need to better the mood, increase energy level and release tension so as to afford a better coping mechanism. Williams, Stephen, and Lesley Cooper. Managing Workplace Stress. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2002. This work placed a premium on the need of corporations to capitalize on their workers’ well-being as a crucial aspect in furthering the growth of the business. That is, this work maintained that the efficient performance of the workers translates to viable profits and concomitantly, optimum performance necessitates absence of stressors. This work outlined questions to put out to the workers in order to determine the presence of stress, viz: (1) Why do I always take on more work? (2) Why is my home life a mess? (3) Why do I lose my temper? (4) Why am I always tense? (5) Why do I always work late? (6) Why do I get so many colds? (7) Why do I push myself so hard? (8) Why do I never get time to finish anything? Zautura, Alex. Emotions, Stress and Health. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. This book highlights the importance of positive behavior to physical health that invariably leads to better coping strategies and mechanisms. Depression and anxiety were noted as chief causes of negative perception and behavior. As a result, the emotional and physical well-being of individuals must be placed at a premium as this dictates the outward conduct of the person. Read More