Approval of Thesis

OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN ORGANIZATION & ITS EFFECT TO

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

_______________
( Nurul ‘Afiah binti Zulkifli )

APPROVED:

____________________________
( Mr. Mohd Nur Ruzainy bin Alwi )
Thesis Supervisor

____________________________
( Mr. Suhaimi Bin Sudin)
Evaluation Committee’s Chair

____________________________
( Mr. Zainal bin Munshid )
Chief Examiner

____________________________

(Mr. Mohd Yunus Bin Hj. Majid)

Head Department of Management and Human Resource
College of Business Management and Accounting
Universiti Tenaga Nasional

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to thank everybody with whom I have shared experiences during my studies.
From the people who first persuaded and got me interested into the study of business
and management, especially those who also played a significant role in my life, to
those which made my studies more enjoyable.

It is difficult to overstate my appreciation to the lecturers especially Mr. Suhaimi bin

Sudin as the core lecturer of this research who are responsible for the quality of the
education I have received during my studies and all my lecturers that responsible to
teach and give education while in this University. They have also been a cornerstone
in my professional development. I also want to give my appreciation to my advisor
and co advisor, Mr. Mohd Nur Ruzainy bin Alwi and Dr. Shahrul Nizam bin
Salahudin for their advice and knowledge that they share with me in order to finish
this research.

I am indebted to my classmates for providing a stimulating and fun environment to

learn and grow, especially my group member for the light jokes and fruitful
discussions.

I owe my loving thanks to my family: uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, and nieces.
Without their encouragement and understanding it would have been impossible for
me to finish this work. Particular thank to Muhammad Hanif, my brother. Lastly and
most importantly, I wish to thank my beloved parents, Mr. Zulkifli bin Othman and
Mdm Normala binti Arshad. They have always supported and encouraged me to do
my best in all matters of life. I dedicate this research to them.

3
 Table of Contents
PAGE

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
…………………………………………………………………………………………7
Purpose of the Study
…………………………………………………………………………………………8
Research
Questions……………………………………………………………………………10
Research
Objectives…………………………………………………………………………….11
Significance of the
Study……………………………………………………………...............................12

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Occupational Stress……………………………………………………………………
16
Behavioral Stress………………………………………………………………
18
Cognitive
Stress………………………………………………………………..18
Somatic
Stress………………………………………………………………….19
Employee
performance………………………………………………………………...19
Relationship between Occupational Stress and Employee Performance……21
Summary (Framework)………………………………………………………22

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research
Design……………………………………………………………………….23
Sampling……………………………………………………………………24
Data Collection Procedure………………………………………………….25
Measurement of Variables………………………………………………….25
Dependent Variables……………………………………………… 25
Employee performance………………………………………25
Independent Variables………………………………………………25
Occupational Stress…………………………………………25
Behavioral Stress……………………………………25
Cognitive Stress………………………………………25
Somatic Stress…………………………………………25

Reliability and Validity………………………………………………………...25

Data Analysis……………………………………………………………..…….25

4
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS

Descriptive Statistics…………………………………………………………………..
…..26
Reliability……………………………………………………………………...28
Correlations……………………………………………………………………29
Regression …………………………………………………………………….30
Research Findings……………………………………………………………..32

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Discussion……………………………………………………………………………33
Limitation…………………………………………………………………………….35
Suggestions for Further Study……………………………………………………….37

Recommendation…………………………………………………………………….38

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………....42

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….43

Appendices………………………………………………………...………………....48

A. Occupational Stress Survey

B. Letter of Permission
C. Survey Cover Letter

5
 Abstract of the Thesis

OCCUPATIONAL STRESS IN ORGANIZATION AND ITS EFFECT ON

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

Nurul ‘Afiah binti Zulkifli

The Department of Management and Human Resource,
Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 2011

Occupation or work stress is a chronic disease caused by conditions in the workplace

that negatively affect an individual`s performance and/or overall well-being of his
body and mind. These stress levels can be internal or external for the staff, from their
personal lives or professional lives (Khuwaja, Ali Khan et al, 2002). This study
explores the relationship of occupational stress and employee performance with three
types of stress which are behavioral stress, cognitive stress and somatic stress as a
theorical framework. Data collected from university in Malaysia were used to test
these relationships. By using a structural equation modeling, it was found that certain
type of stress may influence performance and specific dimensions of commitment.
The data obtained through questionnaire was analyzed using the statistical methods
including descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation and regressions. The analysis
showed support for the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between
occupational stress and employee performance indicating that there is occupational
stress among staffs, resulting in low job performance.

6
INTRODUCTION

Organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls

its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment. The
word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-
known word ergon. Work in an organization is like exert a group of people to work
together by doing mental or physical work towards a goal, purpose or out of necessity
for the organization. In order to work in an organization education is the important
ticket to get trough an interview and get the knowledge to survive in the organization
and work environment that been create in a company, let along work experience.
Creating a high performance organization is a popular theme in the training and
development field. To survive in these competitive times, companies can't afford
anything less. Creating a high performance organization requires understanding what
factors influence performance. One of the most significant factors is occupation
stress. In my research, occupation stress in organization can affect the employees’
performance. Stress is present in any type of profession. If you are in the corporate
world, you will deal with executives, clients, and bosses. If you are working in the
medical industry, on the other hand, you will deal with doctors, chief nurses, and
patients. Stress affects a person in different ways. The way he deals with it depends
on the level of stress he faces. Stress can affect his performance too which is cover in
my research, especially if there are no programs in the organization that helps
employees deal with stress.

Occupation or work stress is a chronic disease caused by conditions in the

workplace that negatively affect an individual`s performance and/or overall well-
being of his body and mind. Therefore, in order to answer all of the indicated above,
this research is based on staffs that dedicated their services in organization. In this
research, all staff in every department including lecturers is also facing occupation or
work stress. This stress can be big and small according to the situation that they been
facing. Stress can affect staff’s performance in workplace. Individual with little stress
on them may not make enough effort to perform at their normal stage as their
performance, while those under too much stress often are unable to concentrate or
perform effectively and efficiently. The relationship between stress and performance
is very complex. Some of them maybe can overcome the stress and some of them do

7
not. Hence, this is the things that I want to research because if someone is having a
work stress and can not overcome it, it will affect the performance of the person
positively or negatively.

RESEARCH PROBLEM

Historically, stress has been viewed as an inevitable consequence of work life,

or at most, a health care issue. Neither view begins to capture just how costly this
problem is to employers. Research shows that stress interferes with human
intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal functioning. In fact, nearly every popular
training and organizational development initiative is directly compromised by the
intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal consequences of stress. Initiatives like The
Learning Organization, Process Re-engineering, Diversity Training, Collaborative
Team Work, and The High Performance Organization are all impacted by the way
people are affected by stress. Workers in jobs with similar demands, but different
levels of control, exhibit very different psychological and physiological responses.
With the same demand level, workers in low control workplaces are significantly
more affected by their work.

Studies show that when people are under stress, their thought processes narrow. This
narrowing of attention, by definition, prevents divergent thinking, which is the
foundation of creativity. Divergent thinking is the ability to see connections between
very distantly related ideas and context. It is an important component of "thinking
outside the box." When people are stressed, they are able to perceive obvious
connections and associations between ideas. When people are in a positive emotional
state, their ability to make more distant, novel connections and associations is
increases. Thus, stress compromises, at the most fundamental neurological level, one
of the foundational skills of creativity and innovation. Research by Dr. James
Pennebaker of Southern Methodist University has demonstrated a very serious
consequence of uncontrollable stress on thought processes. In an experiment
performed by Dr. Pennebaker, subjects wrote about whatever was going on in their
mind - their "stream of consciousness."Ursin & Eriksen’s cognitive arousal theory of
stress states that a person’s feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and inability to cope

8
in stressful situations can trigger lower emotional health, which can potentially lead to
feelings of frustration, deprivation or discontentment (Ursin & Eriksen, 2002). For
example, if a person feels that he/she is not able to cope with stressful conditions this
may invoke his/her feelings of dissatisfaction with job. Researchers and practitioners
in the developed, industrialized world have examined the relationship of a number of
work stressors and various work outcomes and indicators of psychological and
physical for several decades. As organizations and business becomes increasingly
global, efforts to examine these relationships in developing countries is beginning to
emerge. In addition, some countries are emerging as new economic powers (Brazil,
Russia, Indonesia, China). We then need to know more about their business practices.
Work stressors have included workload, work-family and family-work conflict,
increasing work intensity, leadership styles, workplace conflict, organizational
downsizing and restructuring, and organizational mergers; outcomes have typically
considered job satisfaction, commitment, psychological health, work-family balance,
and withdrawal behaviors. Doing business across cultures presents unique challenges;
managerial behavior, expectations and values across cultures are likely to be different
(Javidan and House, 2001). In addition, each is likely to have their own cultural and
societal values that determine appropriate workplace behaviors and the place of work
and family in the broader society.

So in this case, we need to explore how occupational stress in organization

affects the employees’ performance. It is because after we have overview and study of
this topic, we can conclude that occupational stress that affects the employee
performance becomes an important issue that will occur in the organization.
Furthermore, some of the researcher that put effort in researching this area is not
covering all of the research for example, the positive and negative effect of
occupation stress in organization towards employee performance.

9
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) What is the relationship between overall occupational stress and employee

performance?

2) What is the relationship between behavioral stress and employee performance?

3) What is the relationship between cognitive stress and employee performance?

4) What is the relationship between somatic stress and employee performance?

10
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1) To determine the relationship between overall occupational stress and

employee performance.

2) To examine the relationship between behavioral stress and employee

performance.

3) To identify the relationship between cognitive stress and employee

performance.

4) To identify the relationship between somatic stress and employee

performance.

11
SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

Our choice of the university in Malaysia as the research setting was based not only on
practicality but also on empirical findings that suggest this setting to be a stressful
working condition (Oleske et al., 2004; Lottridge, 2004; Kumlin et al., 2001; Hanse &
Forsman, 2001; Karasek et al., 1981). There are two rationale of this study:

1. Data on the prevalence of self-perceived depression, anxiety, stress and quality

of life and their association with occupational stress workers could be used to plan an
intervention program to reduce worker’s stress, anxiety, and depression and improve
quality of life.

2. From this research also we want to understand the typical personality makeup of
a stress in order to understand what motivate such people to minimize their stress,
why this stress happen and what strategies that we can use to prevent this problem.
This research might help people to get better understanding about occupational stress.

12
LITERATURE REVIEW

Stress

A mainstream group of employees articulated that their organizations did not

care for its employees and sometimes employees do not like to work with their
organizations indicating high levels of stress among them and majority were between
the age brackets of 26-35 years. (Seley, 1980) is the first researcher to analyse stress
via scientific methods. Although he tried to conceptualise the definition of stress,
many later researchers held other views. (Ivancevich and Matteson, 1980)
summarised and sorted the definitions of stress into three categories: stimulus,
reaction and stimulus-reaction. According to Northwestern National Life One-fourth
of employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. Princeton
Survey Research Associates said that three-fourths of employees believe the worker
has more on-the-job stress than a generation ago. St. Paul Fire and Marine Innsuance
Co said problems at work are more strongly associated with health complaints than
are any other life stressor-more so than even financial problems or family
problems.        

Likewise, many researchers have had different perspectives on work stress,

most of them exploring it from the relationship between the work environment and
the worker. Stress refers to workers not being able to adapt to work. Stress refers to
the generalized, patterned, unconscious mobilization of the body’s natural ability.
Occupational stress defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that
occur when the requirement of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or
needs of the worker. From that definition, Occupational stress is chronic conditions
caused by situation in the workplace that mat negatively affect an individual’s job
performance and their overall wellbeing. In the study setting, a role is the set of task
and behaviors that others expect a person to perform while doing a job. It is because
role conflict occurs when a focal person responds with behavior that serves as inputs
to the role senders’ process. The role conflict occurs when a person perceives that
some of the job requirements are incompatible, resulting in greater anxiety, tension
and ultimately, low job performance.

13
 In addition, role ambiguity is experienced when the message that evaluators
send are not clear or they give incomplete information. Employees who are not clear
with their job are easy to get stress because they don’t understand what they need to
do actually. This means that the role of individual in the workplace can affect their
performance.Stress has many definitions it is a part of both social and concrete
sciences. However, stress is a universal experience in the life of each and every
employee, even executives and managers. According to (Bashir and Asad, 2007) this
study discloses the impact of stress on employees’ performance regardless of any
discrimination of male and female employees, kind of organization, and department.
Stress is basically is a mental strain from the internal or external stimulus that refrains
a person to respond towards its environment in a normal manner. While based on
(Khuwaja, Ali Khan et al, 2002), these stress levels can be internal or external for the
staff, from their personal lives or professional lives.

According to (Pearson et al., 1999), the phenomenon of increasing

occupational stress was formally identified in 1989, when the Commonwealth
Commission for the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation of Commonwealth
Employees initiated several research projects. During, the same period the percentage
increase in claims for work-related psychological injury has been greater than any
other injury. Stress, is the body’s physical and psychological response to anything
that’s perceived as irresistible. When challenge flips over into stress, it creates an
imbalance that can trigger a whole variety of negative health effects.

Meanwhile, stress at work, United States National Institute of Occupational

Safety and Health, Cincinnati, in 1999 found that job stress can be defined as the
harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job
do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to
poor health and even injury.

According to (Thompson, 2006) employees in the following ratios reported

that their job is source of large amount of stress they experienced, 33%, and 77%
articulated that they remain always or sometimes in stress during last 12 months, 23%
reported that rarely experienced stress during their job. Many workers express that
their job is prominent source of stress in their life but reduced workload, improve

14
management and supervision, better pay, benefits, and vacation times can reduce the
stress among employees. In other hand, (Bashir, 2007) said that stress is a universal
experience in the life of each and every employee even executives and managers. It is
estimated that about 100 million workdays are being lost due to stress and nearly 50%
to 75% disease are related to stress. Stress results in high portion of absence and loss
of employment. According to (Treven, 2002), the ratios of stress affects in
organization are increasing on alarming rate which affects both the employee
performance and goal achievement. Therefore, involves some biological and
psychological reaction. The reason might come from the work environment or that the
work does fit the worker’s ability.

Employees usually have to face a lot hurdles and one the most evident factor
which originates and impacts directly their personal and professional lives is stress.
There is a negative correlation between job stress and job performance. Those
subjects who had high level of job stress had low job performance. All the factors
affected males more than females, in case of certain situation. (Kazmi Rubina, 2007)
stated that the kind of stress towards which the employees are exposed to usually
result in such negative factor that places at the life of the innocents which they attend.
And such stresses increases the chances of fatal errors lowering job performance. (De
Cenzo and Robbins, 1999) stated that stress could be manifested both in negative and
positive way. It is said to be positive if it could deliver a maximum performance. But
if the stress hampered the performance, it is said as negative.

In an organizational context, (Abu Al Rub, 2004) and (Larson, 2004) stated

that occupational stress is also known as job stress and/or work stress. These terms are
often used interchangeably in organizations, but its meaning refers to the same thing.
It has two major dimensions; physiological stress and psychological stress.
Meanwhile, (Antoniou et al., 1998; Beehr et al., 2001; Critchley et al.,2004; and
Mansor et al., 2003) stated that physiological stress is often viewed as a physiological
reaction of the body (headache, migraine, abdominal pain, lethargic, backache, chest
pain, fatigue, heart palpitation, sleep disturbance and muscle ache, as well as changes
in eating, drinking, sleeping and smoking habits) to various stressful triggers at the
workplace. For example, psychological stress is often seen as an emotional reaction
(anxiety and depression burnout, job alienation, hostility, depression, tension, anger,

15
anxiety, nervousness, irritability and frustration) as a result of the stimuli at the
workplace that been sated by (Antoniou et al.,1998). Occupational stress inadvertently
consequences low organizational performance by (Elovainio et al. 2002). But there is
an argument from (Mimura e.t al. 2003) stated that job stress although has belittling
impact on any organization and individual’s performance but it can shape dire
consequences when related to health care.

(Meneze, 2005) stated that job stress is considered rising and has become
challenge for the employer and because high level stress is results in low productivity,
increased absenteeism and collection to other employee problems like alcoholism,
drug abuse, hypertension and host of cardiovascular problems.

According to (Michie and Williams, 2003), personality factors have shown

inclination towards stress, anxiety, and other occupational health outcomes in
different areas of organization, and these factors may contribute to feelings of job
dissatisfaction and stress. (Beehr and Bhaget, 1985) stated that the literature on
occupational stress has revealed many different classes of job related stressors and
related them to such issues as job satisfaction and worker productivity. One of the
major sources of occupational stress is whether the person is satisfied with the job or
not. Many researchers such as (Dunnettee, 1976; Ghosh and Ghorpade, 1981;
Mohanty, 1986) found that job related stress factors are related to variables like role
ambiguity, role conflict, employee performance and satisfaction, work overload, need
for achievement and organizational effectiveness.

Occupational stress

In addition, (Ahmad & Ahmad, 1992; Beehr & Newman, 1978; Sharma &
Sharma, 1984) stated occupational stress is becoming increasingly globalized and
affects all countries, all professions and all categories of workers, as well as families
and society in general. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
(CCOHS) also adds that stress can worsen when there are high demands placed on a
worker in a particular job, but the worker has little control over those demands. Some
of the early warning signs of job stress include: short temper, headache, shortness of
breath, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, upset stomach, apathy, and job

16
dissatisfaction. Over the long run, constant workplace stress can also lead to several
types of chronic health problems. Evidence from a growing body of research suggests
that certain individuals, in a variety of occupations, are increasingly exposed to
unacceptable levels of job-related stress, according to (Schultz & Schultz, 2002).

Other than that, (Malta, 2004) stated that occupational stress is any discomfort
which is felt and perceived at a personal level and triggered by instances, events or
situations that are too intense and frequent in nature so as to exceed a person's coping
capabilities and resources to handle them adequately. Occupational stress can be
defined as the "harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the
requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or need of the worker"
(Sauter and Murphy. 1999).

Each individual is exposed to a range of stressors both at work and in their

personal lives which ultimately affect his or her performance. Pressure at work can be
positive leading to increased productivity. However, when this pressure becomes
excessive it has a negative impact. The individuals perceive themselves as being
unable to cope and not to possess the necessary skills to combat their stress.

The occupational stressors can be categorized into four major groups. Firstly,
the working conditions, including shift and week-end work, inadequate remuneration,
hours of work, discrimination and safety at the work environment. Secondly, the
relationships at work which is including the quality of relationships with peers,
subordinates and supervisors. Thirdly, the role conflict and ambiguity including ill-
defined role, functions, expectations, and duties. Fourthly, organization structure and
climate which includes communication policy and practice, major changes in the
workplace, culture of the organization, and lack of participation in decision-making.

Another cause is career development including under utilization of skills or

failing to reach full potential. Another contributing factor is the nature of the job
which might amount to an immense amount of physical and emotional exhaustion
adds by (Parikh & Taukari, 2004).

17
Behavioral stress

According to (Mead, 2000) stress is acknowledged to be one of the main

causes of absence from work. Behavioral effects of stress showcases the way in which
a person acts and behaves when under the influence of stress. Continuous,
uncontrolled, stress can cause myriad behavioral effects on a person. Modern man has
a big disadvantage over our cave dwelling ancestors. They used to settle their scores
immediately whenever a problem arose; whether attack by a wild animal or by other
tribes. Thus the stress response reaction was immediately satiated and no further
damage was done. But modern man cannot slap his boss; the consequences would be
dire! Nor can he get out of the car and kick the hell out of the errant driver for
showing obscene gestures. Therefore, stress induced intense emotions remain pent up
inside without release. The continuous release of hormones and chemical mediators
keep the body in a highly tensed state for long. This leads to irritability, anger, worry
and anxiety. The resultant emotional conflict leads to altered behavioral responses to
people and events. A sense of resentment and hurt are the undercurrents of such
behavioral alterations. Behavioral effects of stress can be excessive smoking, nervous
tics, increased use of alcohol or drug(s), mannerisms like nail biting and hair puling,
increased or decreased eating, absent mindedness, accident-proneness and
aggressiveness on least provocation.

Cognitive stress

Cognition is the scientific term for "the process of thought". Usage of the term
varies in different disciplines; for example in psychology and cognitive science, it
usually refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological
functions. Other interpretations of the meaning of cognition link it to the development
of concepts; individual minds, groups, and organizations. Actually, it's called
cognitive distortion, says Edward Trieber. Cognitive (psychological) stress has also
been related to ST segment depression, rate-pressure product changes, and changes in
cardiac contractility. Cognitive distortion can cause people under undue stress to
discount positive events, seeing only the negative. They also might lose their long-
term perspective, focusing exclusively on the immediate fires they're called upon to
douse, or perceive even minor events as major catastrophes. As of late, Trieber's
company has been helping businesses cope with the stress and economic uncertainty.

18
According to the American Psychological Association, nearly half of Americans (47
percent) report that 2008 brought increased stress with money and the economy
topping worry lists while 30 percent say their stress is extreme.

Somatic stress

To support of this research (Ghaleb, Thuria, 2008) found that stress is a term
that refers to sum of physical mental emotional strains or tensions on a person or
feelings of stress which result from interactions between people and their environment
that are perceived as straining or exceeding their adaptive capacities and threatening
their well being, in addition stress has a wide psychological and physical effect as
cardiovascular, musculoskeletal systems, headache, gastrointestinal problems, sleep
disturbance and depression. Further researched that health sector has to face usually
large amount of stress. Meanwhile, the Encyclopedia of Occupational Safety and
Health Research say many studies show positive links between stress and these
conditions: cardiovascular diseases which is many related to lack of control in the
work process; musculoskeletal disorders which is particularly in the back and upper
limbs.

Performance

As for performance it is defined as the outcomes and accomplishments valued

by the organization or system that one works in. Campbell declaimed that job
performance can be easily defined as all behaviors in work. He further pointed out
that these behaviors should make some contribution to organizational goals.
Additionally, he divided performance into efficiency, production and effectiveness.

Efficiency can evaluate the outcome of an employee’s work behaviours.

Production is usually used to determine the cost of efficiency. Effectiveness stands for
the value of efficiency and production. Most researchers have not clearly defined the
relationship between stressor and job performance, usually making general
predictions. Before this, (Jex, 1998) proposed a basic model to present the process of
a stressor upon performance, which clearly defined their relationship. There are three
dimensions in this model which are stressor, antecedents of performance and
performance. (Jex, 1998) urged that most stressors could only negative, but also

19
makes a difference because of different personal abilities, thinking styles,
personalities and value systems that indirectly affect job performance through
antecedents of performance, which are influenced mainly by inner personal
motivation. The result of a stressor working on performance is not (Schuler, 1980)
believed that work stress places some negative influence, no matter if it is on the
person or organization. It can decease production, lower quality and undermine
creativity. Yet, if stress could be managed, a worker’s potential would be aroused,
thereby increasing job performance. However, (Hendrix et al, 1987) found no direct
relationship between work stress and job performance.

Many researchers studying work stress have developed various models so far.
Although some differences exist in theories, but most of these theories based on the
process of real work stress reaction and its outcomes. Prominent models include as
below.

Firstly, process model of work stress. (McGrath, 1976) constructed

organizational stress through a four phased, closed-cycle process. The first phase is
just like the objective circumstance in the social environment model. When an
individual encounters something happening, he/she will sense its existence by the
process of cognitive appraisal and then choose an adequate reaction by a process of
decision making. Once a reaction is decided upon, it is expressed by the process of
performance. Through individual behaviour, he/she may change from the original
state. Negative behaviour implies that stress is being experienced.

Secondly, demand-control model. According to (Karasek, 1979), the demand-

control model can effectively anticipate job performance. He proposed that when
individuals are under high work-demand and low work-control, some biological and
psychological problems will occur. When individuals are under high work-demand
and high work-control, they display more positive job performance levels.

Thirdly, person-environment fit model. The person-environment fit model is

based on the concept of interactive viewpoint, and emphasises the interaction between
person and environment, focusing on their fitness. According to the model, (Kristof,
1996) found work stress came from different values between the employee and the

20
organization. When one takes personal performance as he or she own value, and
group performance as the organizational value, it can evoke work stress

Occupation Stress relationship with employee performance

The importance of stress is highlighted nowadays by the employers to manage

and reduce stress through practical guidelines in public sector but not in private
organizations
stated by (Rolfe, 2005). Positive correlation has been shown by the literature between
incentives and performance as both are related with satisfaction of employees,
however every time the case is not same non monetary incentives like career
advancement, prestige, and public recognition can also increase performance because
low morale, high turnover, and interdepartmental struggle were baselines of many
cases added by (Giga and Hoel, 2003).

21
MODEL FRAMEWORK

Occupational stress
Employee
 Behavioral stress performance
 Cognitive stress
 Somatic stress

Figure 1: Research Framework of Relationship between Occupational

Stress and Employee Performance

Based on the framework that has been draw above, it clearly shows that there
are relationship between the occupational stress and employee performance. From the
framework above, we can build the hypothesis that:

H1: There is a relationship between the overall Occupational Stress and

Employee performance.

H2: There is a relationship between behavioral stress and employee

performance

H3: There is a relationship between cognitive stress and employee

performance

H4: There is a relationship between somatic stress and employee performance

22
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

i. Primary Data

To conduct this research, I have chosen questionnaires as my method to collect the

data from the staffs in the organization. It is because a questionnaire is a research
instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of
gathering information from respondents.

Other than that, questionnaires are an inexpensive way to gather data from a
potentially large number of respondents. Furthermore, they are the only feasible way
to reach a number of reviewers large enough to allow statistically analysis of the
results.

In the questionnaires, I would like to choose Likert scale module as the way to ask
the question to the respondent. When responding to a Likert questionnaire item, the
respondents have to specify their level of agreement to a statement.

On a survey or questionnaire, a typical Likert item usually takes the following format:

1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Uncertain
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree

It is important to note that the individual questions that take this format are
known as Likert items, while the Likert scale is the sum of several of these items.

23
 ii. Sampling

The non-probability sampling is the way that has be used to conduct this research.
In this research, I have chosen University 4 university or to be the sample of this
research.

Convinience sampling technique was applied for the selection of workers. In the
organization or industrial company, we can select few person for example 20 to 30
persons of employee or staff member to answer the questionnaires that will be given
and maybe give some of their opinion about the occupational stress and effects on
their performance in the organization. . 150 survey questionnaires were distributed
and 70 employees returned completed questionnaires with response rate of 46.7%.
The selection of the companies and respondents were based on convenience and
willingness to participate. Survey questionnaire consisted of the demographic
characteristics of the respondents and multiple-item (positively and negatively
worded) survey instruments.

I have chosen the educational organization to be the most suitable sample for this
research. This is because most of the organizations are established with the higher
employees and they also use the proper Human Resource practices in their
organizations.

24
 iii. Data analysis

In this research , I have use the data analysis in order to test the hypothesis of data
in inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of highlighting
useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision making. Most of
the statistics can be used either as a descriptive statistic, or in an inductive analysis.
Data analysis has been the multiple facets and approaches, encompassing diverse
techniques.

The data collection statistically analyze by SPSS (Statistical Package for Social
Sciences) for Windows software. The statistical methods included descriptive
statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression.If we perform a
formal hypothesis test on the scores, we are doing inductive rather than descriptive
analysis in rather than to supporting inferential statements about the population that
the data are thought to represent. Using with ANOVA, correlation and regression will
used to test the hypothesis in order to make a result. There are two scale for this
research which is Occupational Stress Scale (OSS) and Employee Performance Rating
Scale.

25
FINDINGS

(i) DISCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

The majority of the sample was UIAM (42.9%), followed by KIPSAS

(35.4%), and equal percentage by SHAHPUTRA and UMP which is (14.3). The
majority of the sample was middle management (51.4%), followed by non managerial
(30.0%), lower management employees (12.9%) and top management (5.7%). The
majority of respondents were male (51.4%). While the majority of respondents were
in the age group of 30 – 39 years old (57.1%), followed by age group of 20 – 29 years
old (20.0%), 40 – 49 years old (18.6%) and 50 years old and above (4.3%). An
overwhelming majority of the respondents belong to the group of 1 – 5 years of
working experience (57.1%). About 21.5% of the respondents had 6 – 10 years of
working experience and only (15.7%) of the respondents had 11-20 years of working
experience.

The distribution of respondents from 1 – 5 years length of service at current

job position is (70.0%), another (17.1%) for 6 – 10 years service at current job. Only
(1.4%) of respondents had served the current job for 11 – 20 years. Demographic data
were summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: Demographic Data

Items Frequency Percentage (%)

Position at the company:

 General Management 4 15.7
 Middle Management 36 32.9
 Lower Management 9 30.0
 Non managerial 21 21.4

26
Nationality
• Malaysian 69 98.6
• Permanent residence of 1 1.4
Malaysia

Gender:
 Male 36 51.4
 Female 34 48.6

Responsibility at the company:

 Overall management of the 3 4.3
company 9 12.9
 Human Resource 8 11.4
functions 12 17.1
 Other function not related to HR 3 4.3
 Research and development 1 1.4
 Engineering 3 4.3
 Marketing 31 44.3
 Finance or Accounting
 Others

Race:
 Malay 70 100.0

Age Group:
 50 years and above 3 4.3
 40 – 49 years 14 20.0
 30 – 39 years 40 57.1
 20-29 years 13 18.6
 Less than 20 years - -

Items Frequency Percentages (%)

27
 Number of years experience:
 10 years and above 16 22.8
 5 – 9 years 24 34.4
 Less than 5 years 30 42.9

Number of years present the job:

 1 – 3 years 38 54.3
 4 – 6 years 13 18.6
 7 years and above 19 27.2

(ii) RELIABILITY

Table 2: Cronbach’s Alpha, and Standard Deviation of all variables

In the table 2 below shows that the Cronbach Alpha for the variables is high with 0.8
and above as its value. The average value is 0.5 and above. Therefore we can
conclude that the variables are highly relevant with the topic that we research. For
behavioral stress is 0.878, cognitive stress is 0.829, somatic stress is 0.927 and for job
performance is 0.910. For standard deviation, behavioral stress is 8.189, cognitive
stress is 5.787, somatic stress is 6.315 and lastly, job performance with 7.103.

Variables  α SD

1 Behavioral Stress 0.878 8.189

2 Cognitive Stress 0.829 5.787

3 Somatic Stress 0.927 6.315

4 Job Performance 0.910 7.103

Table 2
(iii) CORRELATION

Correlations analysis was conducted to test relationship between occupational

stress and job performance. Table 6 shows these relationships. It shows behavioral

28
stress, cognitive stress and somatic stress were significantly related with job
performance. It also shows that overall satisfaction is significantly correlated to all
stress variables (behavioral stress, cognitive stress and somatic stress). Their
correlation coefficient (r) values are -0.484, -0.342, and -0.313 respectively, and they
were significant at p = 0.01 level using two tailed test. From the output, it has been
showed that the correlation coefficient between occupational stress and job
performance have negative values.
Table 3: Correlations of all variables

OccupationalStres Behavioral Cognitive Somatic Job

s Stress Stress Stress Performance
Occupational Pearson 1 .950 .908 .952 -.399
Stress Correlation

Sig. (2- .000 .000 .000 .001

tailed)  
N 70 70 70 70 70
Behavioral Pearson .950 1 .818 .859 -.484
Stress Correlation

Sig. (2- .000 .000 .000 .000

tailed)  
N 70 70 70 70 70
Cognitive Pearson .908 .818 1 .777 -.342
Stress Correlation

Sig. (2- .000 .000 .000 .004

tailed)  
N 70 70 70 70 70
Somatic Pearson .952 .859 .777 1 -.313
Stress Correlation

Sig. (2- .000 .000 .000 .008

tailed)  
N 70 70 70 70 70
Job Pearson -.399 -.484 -.342 -.313 1
Performance Correlation

Sig. (2- .001 .000 .004 .008

tailed)  
N 70 70 70 70 70

Table 3
(iv) REGRESSION

To further test hypotheses in this study, a stepwise regression analysis was conducted
as an additional purpose only. The purpose of stepwise regression is to select a small

29
subset of variables that account for most of the variation in the dependent or criterion
variable (Malhotra, 2010).

Table 4 shows the regression analysis result between occupational stress and
job performance. It was found that behavioral stress was significantly related with job
performance. Adjusted R2, the strength of association or the explanatory power of the
model in Model 1 is 0.244. The models are significant at 0.01 levels.

Table 4: Regression Analysis between Occupational Stress in Organization and

Its Effects to Employee Performance

Variables Entered/Removedb
Model Variables Variables
Entered Removed Method
1 Somatic Stress, . Enter

Cognitive
Stress,
Behavioral
Stressa

Model Summary
Model Std. Error
Adjusted R of the
R R Square Square Estimate
1 .526a .276 .244 .56159

30
 ANOVAb
Model Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 7.954 3 2.651 8.407 .000a
Residual 20.815 66 .315
Total 28.769 69
a. Predictors: (Constant), Somatic Stress, Cognitive Stress, Behavioral Stress
b. Dependent Variable: Job Performance

Coefficientsa
Model Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
1 (Constant) 3.686 .308 11.977 .000
Behavioral Stress -.684 .182 -.867 -3.746 .000
Cognitive Stress .070 .168 .078 .415 .679
Somatic Stress .228 .130 .372 1.756 .084
a. Dependent Variable: Job Performance
Results of hypotheses testing are summarized in table 8.

31
Table 5: Summary of Hypotheses Testing

No Hypotheses Findings

H1 Accepted
There is a relationship between the overall Occupational Stress
and Employee performance.

H2 Accepted
There is a relationship between behavioral stress and
employee performance

H3 Accepted
There is a relationship between cognitive stress and employee
performance

H4 Accepted
There is a relationship between somatic stress and employee
performance

32
DISCUSSION

The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship between occupational
stress and job performance. Literature on occupational stress predicted that,
occupational stress is significantly related to employee performance. This study found
that specific occupational stress (i.e. behavioral, cognitive and somatic stress) is
significantly related to specific component of employee satisfaction. The results that
were use are from correlation. As mention above, the regression is only and additional
analysis included in this research. Nevertheless, the result of the findings is priority
based on the correlation.

Behavioral stress shows a negative relationship with employee performance.

According to Goodman and Penning an important criterion related to employee
absence is employee satisfaction that is employee with high level of job satisfaction is
less likely to be absent. Employee are easily to absent from work when they are not
satisfy with some factor. Indeed, some interest in job performance or satisfaction is
focused primarily on its impact on employee commitment, absenteeism, intention to
quit, and actual turnover. It shows that job performance give negative effect if the
employee has low job performance. A significant negative correlation between
behavioral stress at T1 and GHQ scores at T2 was observed. Practically, for example,
the UK Health and Safety Executive’s Management Standards for Work-related Stress
provide guidance broad job characteristics that organizations should assess, and if
necessary, change, to prevent stress in the workplace (MacKay, Cousins, Kelly, Lee,
& Mc Caig, 2004). This guidance is based on a review of the evidence on
relationships between health and the kind of broad job features as those included in
the DCSM and JCM (Rick, Thomson, Briner, O’Regan, & Daniels, 2002).

Cognitive stress shows a negative relationship with employee job

performance. If the cognitive stress is high then the employee performance is low.
Even though the relationship is weak but there is still a relationship between these two
variables based on the correlation. Previous studies have examined the organizational

33
and individual outcomes of cognitive stress in the workplace. Actually, it's called
cognitive distortion, says Edward Trieber, a clinical psychologist, an attorney and the
managing director of Harris, Rothcnberg International LLC, which provides
integrated solutions, executive coaching, web development and more. Cognitive
distortion can cause people under undue stress to discount positive events, seeing only
the negative. They also might lose their long-term perspective, focusing exclusively
on the immediate fires they're called upon to douse, or perceive even minor events as
major catastrophes. As of late, Trieber's company has been helping businesses cope
with the stress and economic uncertainty. According to the American Psychological
Association, nearly half of Americans (47 percent) report that 2008 brought increased
stress with money and the economy topping worry lists, while 30 percent say their
stress is extreme. As well as the stress associated with particular jobs, there are
occupational stressors that are unique to job locations. Maureen at the University of
South Australia has been researching strains faced by rural workers. She has found
that isolation presents particular difficulties for professionals in rural areas, including
a lack of access to professional training, development and support. Therefore, in
Pahang location the cognitive stress is weak than other location because some of the
employee still can cope with the cognitive stress even has effect on their performance.
Maybe their environment are not hectic than urban places. Other than that, Individual
differences also affect how people cope with work stress. Two people doing the same
job can react in opposite ways to a shared occupational stressor. Dr Peter Cotton, a
specialist in workplace mental health with Comcare, the Commonwealth workers'
compensation authority, says individual personality factors impact on psychological
injuries (a preferred term for stress claims).

Somatic stress shows a negative relationship with employee job performance.

If the somatic stress is high then their job performance will become low. Although the
relationship is weak but somatic stress still have effects towards employee
performance. Previous studies have examined the organizational and individual
outcomes of somatic stress in the workplace. Peter (1998) says that people who are
high on conscientiousness are over represented in musculoskeletal and occupational
injuries. They are inclined to exhibit somatic symptoms and, because they experience
increased peripheral muscle tension, they are prone to more wear and tear from

34
repetitive movements, Peter (1998) says. "That's often why, for example, you can
have ten people doing the same job, but only one will get the overuse syndrome”. As
you can see, even there are relationship between somatic stress and employee
performance; the correlation show the relationship is weak. Other than that, in this
area the probability of getting somatic stress are maybe low and still can overcome
with it, therefore the effect on job performance is weak. As you can see, people who
can not control or overcome their stress get high probability in low performance.

LIMITATION

Every study, no matter how well it is conducted, has some limitations. This is

why it does not seem reasonable to use the words "proved" and "disprove" with
respect to research findings.  It is always possible that future research may cast doubt
on the validity of any hypothesis or the conclusions from a study.  Based on this study
there are few limitation that we need to face when we conduct this research. First, a
cross-sectional research design was used to gather data at one point within the period
of study. This may not be able to capture the developmental issues and/or causal
connections between variables of interest. Second, this study did not specify the
relationship between specific indicators for the independent variable, and dependent
variable. Third, the outcomes of stepwise regression analysis focused on the level of
performance variation explained by the regression equations (Tabachnick & Fidell,
2001), however, a number of unexplained factors need to be incorporated to identify
the causal relationship among variables and their relative explanatory power. Fourth,
the survey questionnaires relied heavily on the respondents’ self-responses that were
selected based on convenient sampling technique. Finally, the samples were taken
from one organizational sector that allowed the researchers to gather data via survey
questionnaires. These limitations may decrease the ability of generalizing the results
to other organizational settings. Future studies should be expanded to all public
service agencies in Malaysia. On that same note, the study can also be replicated in
the private sector to see if the findings hold in different contexts. The conceptual and
methodological limitations should be considered when designing future research.
Firstly, several organizational (e.g., type, ownership and size) and personal (e.g., age,
education and type of pay) characteristics should be further explored, this may
provide meaningful perspectives of how individual similarities and differences affect

35
pay systems within an organization. Secondly, other research designs (e.g.,
longitudinal studies) should be used to collect data and describe the patterns of change
and the direction and magnitude of causal relationships between variables of interest.
Thirdly, to fully understand the effect of occupational stress on job satisfaction, few
organizations need to be used in future studies. Fourthly, other theoretical constructs
of occupational stress, such as role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload need to
be considered because they have widely been recognized as an important link between
occupational stress and many aspects of employee attitudes and behaviors, such as
performance, emotional intelligence and health (AbulAlRub, 2004; Antoniou et al.,
2003; Guleryuz et al., 2008; Sy et al., 2006). Fifthly, other individual attitudes and
behaviours such as satisfaction, performance, commitment, health and social support
should be considered because they are given more attention in the workplace stress
research literature (AbulALRub, 2004; Sy et al., 2006; Wetzel et al., 2006; Zhong et
al., 2006). The importance of these issues needs to be further elaborated in future
study.

Limits to geographic precision, the survey were designed to gather a

statistically valid sample from the population. When the number of responses for a
defined area, like an individual ZIP code, is small then the results may not reflect that
entire area. For this reason, performing any analysis on small geographic areas should
be approached with caution. Besides that, there are some difficulties to find the right
journal. Lacks of resources bring difficulty to conduct the research. Sometimes, some
of respondent refuse to answer or accepted the questionnaires that make research it
hard to conduct. Other than that, the respondent did not answer the question
according their situation and experiences that make the result not come out
beautifully.

36
SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDY

Further development and agreement of the occupational stress construct is essential.

The following suggestions may help with this:
 Continue to explore how research on other topics may usefully add to existing
knowledge on occupational stress.
 Try and integrate the different frameworks that past research has used e.g.,
personality factors, organizational factors to help us more fully understand what
occupational stress are.

How much of a problem is occupational stress?

 Explore how stress is experienced differently by different groups of employees.

 Explore the impact of the organizational context on stress. For example, how do
organizational culture, size of business, and industry?

What are the effects of stress?

 Explore how stress affects the victim’s family and friends.

 Identify where in the stress process that the victim is most likely to experience ill
health.

37
RECOMMENDATIONS

Since existing research highlights the seriousness of occupational stress, action

needs to be taken by all parties concerned to ensure occupational stress is adequately
addressed in workplaces, policies and procedures, and by legislation. Until these
changes are made, occupational stress will continue to be a costly problem for
employers and employees. Research also shows it to be necessary to have stress
education in schools and universities as a proactive means of preventing occupational
stress.

Based on the major findings, the following recommendations are provided.

Since the stress from lack of communication and comfort with supervisor, job
description conflict and job related health concerns is highest for house officers,
hospital administration should pay attention to solve these issues. Lack of resources
includes inadequate staff, lack of equipment/machinery and medicines. So it must be
advocated by the head of the unit, not only for the benefit of house officers but their
patients as well.

Performance is hindered by job description conflict because with it the

individual faces either a lack of knowledge about the most effective behaviours to
engage in or an almost impossible situation for doing everything expected. Therefore,
increasing formal organizational communication with employees reduces the
uncertainty by lessening the role ambiguity and role conflict. Open Communication
has an advantage of resolving conflicts between supervisors and sub ordinates. Lack
of effective communication could cause unresolved conflicts that will increase the
stress level.

Support from the supervisor and colleagues are the major factor. The
supervisors need to recognize the good work and outstanding contributions of house
officers to keep them motivated to do their best. Promoting a culture of support will

38
set the example and it will make them realize that co-worker support is very
important.

Correct stress management should start from improved health and good
intrapersonal relationships. An individual needs to maintain good level of personal
health. The prevention and management of workplace stress requires organizational
level interventions, because it is the organization that creates the stress. A culture of
openness and understanding, rather than of criticism, is essential.

Conduct a staff survey, group discussions, confidential or anonymous

questionnaires, one to one discussion, follow up absenteeism, complaints and sick
leave (nb, Spurgeon (2003) notes that in terms of conducting a risk assessment on
bullying, quantitative data and methods may be most appropriate). Getting affected
members to work together with union representatives is the key in addressing
occupational stress. Documenting the problem is an important first step. This could
include worker surveys, hazard mapping, analyzing existing employer data such as
injury & illness logs or workers’ compensation data, or tracking staffing patterns.

Other than that, draw a formal policy. Include a definition of what stress is. This
should be drawn up with employees, and could include acceptable and unacceptable
behaviors, and/or a ‘code of ethics’ or code of conduct. Include a statement of
commitment and acknowledgement of the problem. This could include statements that
stress is not tolerated, that it may be treated as a disciplinary offence,
acknowledgment that stress can affects health and safety etc.

 Outline duties of managers

 Outline grievance and complaints procedure and disciplinary procedures

 Investigation and support procedures and provisions

 Monitoring of policy

39
 Maintenance of confidentiality and fair

Include Provision of information and training. The policy should be disseminated to

all staff, awareness campaigns could be implemented and terms could be included in
work contracts. Publicity of the policy could include short posters, leaflets, intranet
and email communication and the staff handbook.

Where management cooperation is viable, the union and affected members can
engage in a joint process to identify occupational stressors and develop interventions
that will reduce stress. This can be done through health and safety and
labor/management committees and training and education programs. Strategies may
include involving workers in job and workplace design, having input on shift
schedules, and/or developing a workplace violence prevention policy or program.

All staff should receive basic training to include details of the policy and
related procedures, what stress is and what the effects are (possibly using previous
victims). A working paper for the European Parliament on occupational stress at work
suggests that ‘general educational advertising’ is the most proven method for
prevention of stress. They suggest informing employees and employers about stress
through the following mediums: leaflets and posters, articles in internal magazines,
intranet, videos, lectures and discussions and at meetings where the entire
organization is present. The report notes that it is particularly useful to target
management. Compulsory discussions of the entire working group may be useful, as
is informing those in the wider social context about stress.

 Management could be trained in conflict resolution, the policy and related

procedures.

 Management should lead by example and create norms of behavior.

40
Secondary prevention

 Confidants, contact officers or bullying representatives should be appointed.

 Involvement of trade union representation.

Other, less specific, examples of prevention from the literature include:

 Where management is not cooperative, the union can conduct its own campaign
holding peer group meetings, filing mass grievances, or waging a public
awareness campaign.

 Social skills and conflict management training,

 work redesign,

 improving the organizational culture,

 Leadership training.

41
CONCLUSION

This study explores the relationship between occupational stress in

organization and its effect to employee performance. Overall, this study found that
occupational stress does affect employee performance. Those staffs that had high
level of occupational stress had low job performance. All the types affected male
staffs more than the female staffs.

In conclusion, this study has explored the literature detailing the relationship
between occupational stress in organization and its effect to employee performance. A
review of theoretical and empirical research appears to indicate that employee stress
can affect employee performance. Hence, an in depth understanding in the dynamic
relationship of occupational stress and job performance can give impact towards the
individuals and the organization itself to achieve their goals.

42
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