Description
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وزارة التعليم
الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University
College of Administrative and Financial Sciences
Assignment 1
Organizational Behaviour (MGT 301)
Due Date: 04/10/2025 @ 23:59
Course Name: Organizational Behaviour
Student’s Name:
Course Code: MGT301
Student’s ID Number:
Semester: 1st Term-Semester-1
CRN:
Academic Year:2025-26
For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name: Dr. XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Students’ Grade: 00 /10
Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low
General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
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The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via the
allocated folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks may be reduced
for poor presentation. This includes filling in your information on the cover page.
Students must mention the question number clearly in their answers.
Late submissions will NOT be accepted.
Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other
resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
All answers must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No
pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
Learning Outcomes:
CLO-Covered
1. Recognize the fundamental concepts, theories, and principles, and examine
challenges of organizational behaviour. (CLO1).
2. Describe management issues such as diversity, attitudes and job satisfaction,
personality, and values in organizational behaviour (CLO2).
Assignment 1
Reference Source:
Textbook:Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2021). Organizational behaviour:
Improving performance and commitment in the workplace (7th ed). Burr Ridge, IL:
McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Case Study: –
Case: GOLDMAN SACHS
Please read the case “Goldman Sachs” from Chapter 5 “STRESS ” Page: – 149 given in
your textbook – Organizational behaviour: Improving performance and commitment in the
workplace (7th ed). by Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2021) and Answer
the following Questions:
Assignment Question(s):
1. Identify and describe the types of demands that Goldman Sachs employees experience
in their jobs. Explain why these employees can be motivated and committed to the
company while also experiencing a great deal of stress. (02 Marks) (Min words 150-200)
2. Describe how Goldman Sachs’ resilience training might influence different parts of the
stress process as it is described in this chapter. (02 Marks) (Min words 150-200)
3. Identify and describe potential limitations of Goldman Sachs’ resilience training
program. How can these limitations be mitigated? (02 Marks) (Min words 200)
Part:-2
Discussion Questions: – Please read Chapters 3 & 4 “Organizational Commitment &
Job Satisfaction” carefully and then give your answers based on your understanding.
4. Which type of organizational commitment (affective, continuance, or normative) do
you think is most important to the majority of employees? Which do you think is most
important to you? (02 Marks) (Min words 150-200)
5. What steps can organizations take to improve promotion satisfaction, supervision
satisfaction, and coworker satisfaction? (02 Marks) (Min words 150-200)
Important Note: 1. Support your submission with course material concepts, principles, and theories from
the textbook and at least two scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles.
2. References required in the assignment. Use APA style for writing references.
Answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Answers
1. Answer2. Answer3. Answer-
5
Stress
ORGANIZATIONAL
MECHANISMS
Organizational
Culture
Organizational
Structure
GROUP
MECHANISMS
Leadership:
Styles &
Behaviors
Leadership:
Power &
Negotiation
Teams:
Processes &
Communication
Teams:
Characteristics &
Diversity
INDIVIDUAL
MECHANISMS
Job
Satisfaction
Stress
Job
Performance
Motivation
Trust, Justice,
& Ethics
Learning &
Decision Making
INDIVIDUAL
CHARACTERISTICS
Ability
Personality &
Cultural Values
LEARNING GOALS
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
122
INDIVIDUAL
OUTCOMES
What is stress, and how is it related to stressors and strains?
What are the four main types of stressors?
How do individuals cope with stress?
How does the Type A Behavior Pattern influence the stress process?
How does stress affect job performance and organizational commitment?
What steps can organizations take to manage employee stress?
Organizational
Commitment
GOLDMAN SACHS
I
n 1869, an immigrant from Bavaria named Marcus
Goldman started a business buying and selling promissory notes in New York. The company experienced success, and in 1882, the husband of Goldman’s youngest
daughter, Samual Sachs, was brought on as a partner. The
company, now called Goldman Sachs, expanded rapidly as
it continued to innovate in financial services and investment
banking. As an example, the company led Sears, Robuck
and Co.’s initial public offering in 1906. Although large
($25 billion in today’s dollars), it wasn’t the size of the deal
that was new. Rather, the company’s valuation was based
on its potential (growth in sales and productivity), rather
than on what the company was worth in terms of its tangible
assets. This innovation allowed capital to flow into promising companies so that sales and productivity could grow
fast enough to meet demand, and as it turned out, it served
to ignite the consumer-retail sector of the U.S. economy.
Today, Goldman Sachs is one of the largest investment
banking, securities, and investment management firms in the
world. Company employees are involved in efforts to serve
a wide variety of important clients. Examples include helping governments finance their operations and infrastructure
projects, advising companies on raising capital and buying
Jack Picone/Alamy
and selling businesses, and managing assets and investing for institutional as well as individual clients. From this
list of endeavors, it is easy to appreciate the stress faced
by Goldman Sachs’ employees. The workload is high, there
is pressure to perform for demanding clients who expect
results, decisions can involve colossal sums of money and
must be made where there is uncertainty and risk, and
employees know that poor decisions can have major consequences and give rise to public scrutiny. Indeed, it’s likely
that you may be familiar with Goldman Sachs because of
news stories describing the role the company played in the
U.S. financial crisis of 2007–2008.
Goldman Sachs provides a number of benefits intended
to help employees deal with the stress they experience.
As an example, the company offers counseling and referral services, and in some locations, onsite health centers,
to deal with stress related issues. As another example, the
company encourages a healthy and active lifestyle and
reimburses employees for fees paid for fitness club memberships. The company also helps employees cope with
nonwork demands with things like onsite child care in some
locations, and allows for flexible work arrangements, such
as working at home or in the office during alternative hours.
123
124
CHAPTER 5
Stress
STRESS
5.1
What is stress, and how is
it related to stressors and
strains?
Stress is an OB topic that’s probably quite familiar to you. Even if you don’t have a lot of work experience, consider how you feel toward the end of a semester when you have to cram for several final
exams and finish a term paper and other projects. At the same time, you might have also been looking
for a job or planning a trip with friends or family. Although some people might be able to deal with all
of these demands without becoming too frazzled, most people would say this type of scenario causes
them to feel “stressed out.” This stressed out feeling might even be accompanied by headaches, stomach upsets, backaches, or sleeping difficulties. Although you might believe your stress will diminish
once you graduate and settle down, high stress on the job is more prevalent than it’s ever been before.1
The federal government’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) summarized findings from several sources that indicated up to 40 percent of U.S. workers feel their jobs are
“very stressful” or “extremely stressful.”2 Unfortunately, high stress is even more prevalent in the types
of jobs that most of you are likely to have after you graduate. In fact, managers are approximately
21 percent more likely than the average worker to describe their jobs as stressful.3 Moreover, as we
described in the chapter opening, your level of stress may be even greater if you take a job in an organization, such Goldman Sachs, where employees have to cope a great deal of responsibility, workload
and time pressure. Table 5-1 provides a list of jobs and their rank in terms of how stressful they are.
TABLE 5-1
Jobs Rated from Least Stressful (1) to Most Stressful (200)
LEAST STRESSFUL JOBS
STRESS
LEVEL
1. Tenured University Professor
5.03
143. Elementary School Teacher
27.37
2. Audiologist
6.33
148. Management Consultant
28.24
3. Medical Records Technician
7.48
150. Air Traffic Controller
28.58
4. Jeweler
8.10
154. Surgeon
28.90
MOST STRESSFUL JOBS
STRESS
LEVEL
8. Librarian
10.61
163. Construction Foreman
30.92
14. Software Engineer
12.13
166. Lumberjack
32.00
18. Computer Service Technician
12.64
172. Attorney
36.40
24. Occupational Therapist
13.14
175. Sales Representative
36.95
29. Chiropractor
13.55
179. Real Estate Agent
38.57
30. Actuary
14.09
180. Social Media Manager
38.60
35. Multimedia Artist
14.40
183. Stockbroker
39.97
39. Hair Stylist
14.59
185. Advertising Account Executive
43.24
40. Meteorologist
14.65
189. Taxi Driver
46.18
42. Loan Officer
14.73
191. Senior Corporate Executive
47.55
47. Biologist
15.10
194. Event Coordinator
49.73
50. Optician
15.57
195. Police Officer
50.81
53. Veterinarian
15.83
196. Airline Pilot
59.12
63. Chemist
17.00
198. Newspaper Reporter
69.67
74. Sustainability Manager
18.50
199. Firefighter
71.64
84. Accountant
19.85
200. Enlisted Military Personnel
74.83
Note: The stress level score is calculated by summing points in 10 categories: deadlines, working in the public eye, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards, own life at risk, another’s life at risk, public encounters,
and employment change.
Source: Adapted from Krantz, L., and T. Lee. The Jobs Rated Almanac. Lake Geneva, WI: iFocus Books, 2015.
CHAPTER 5
Stress is defined as a psychological response to demands that possess certain stakes for the
person and that tax or exceed the person’s capacity or resources.4 The demands that cause people
to experience stress are called stressors. The negative consequences that occur when demands
tax or exceed a person’s capacity or resources are called strains. These definitions illustrate that
stress depends on both the nature of the demand and the person who confronts it. People differ
in terms of how they perceive and evaluate stressors and the way they cope with them. As a result,
different people may experience different levels of stress even when confronted with the exact
same situation.
WHY ARE SOME EMPLOYEES MORE
“ STRESSED” THAN OTHERS?
Stress in the workplace has been widely studied by scholars for over a century and there are many
different theories that outline causes and consequences of stress.5 However, to understand what it
means to feel “stressed,” it’s helpful to consider the transactional theory of stress. This theory
explains how stressors are perceived and appraised, as well as how people respond to those perceptions and appraisals.6 When people first encounter stressors, the process of primary appraisal
is triggered.7 As shown in Figure 5-1, primary appraisal occurs as people evaluate the significance
and the meaning of the stressor they’re confronting. Here, people first consider whether a demand
causes them to feel stressed, and if it does, they consider the implications of the stressor in terms
of their personal goals and overall well-being.8
As an example of a primary appraisal, consider the job of a cashier at a well-run convenience
store. In this store, cashiers engage in routine sales transactions with customers. Customers walk
in the store and select merchandise, and the cashiers on duty ring up the sale and collect the
money. Under normal day-to-day circumstances at this store, well-trained cashiers would not likely
feel that these transactions are overly taxing or exceed their capacity, so those cashiers would not
likely appraise these job demands as stressful. Job demands that tend not to be appraised as stressful are called benign job demands.
However, consider how convenience store cashiers would react in a different store in which the
cash register and credit card machine break down often and without warning. The cashiers who
FIGURE 5-1
Transactional Theory of Stress
Stressors
Work
Nonwork
Hindrance
Challenge
• Role conflict
• Role ambiguity
• Role overload
• Daily hassles
• Time pressure
• Work complexity
• Work responsibility
• Work–family
conflict
• Negative life
events
• Financial
uncertainty
• Family time
demands
• Personal
development
• Positive life events
STRESS
Primary Appraisal
Is this stressful?
Secondary Appraisal
How can I cope?
Stress
125
126
CHAPTER 5
Stress
work at this store would likely view their job as being more stressful. This is because they would
have to diagnose and fix problems with equipment while dealing with customers who are growing more and more impatient. Furthermore, the cashiers in this store might appraise the stressful
situation as one that unnecessarily prevents them from achieving their goal of being viewed as an
effective employee in the eyes of the customers and the store manager.
Finally, consider a third convenience store in which the cashiers’ workload is higher due to
additional responsibilities that include receiving merchandise from vendors, taking physical inventory, and training new employees. In this store, the cashiers may appraise their jobs as stressful
because of the higher workload and the need to balance different priorities. However, in contrast
to the cashiers in the previous example, cashiers in this store might appraise these demands as
providing an opportunity to learn and demonstrate the type of competence that often is rewarded
with satisfying promotions and pay raises.
5.2
What are the four main types
of stressors?
TYPES OF STRESSORS
In the previous two examples, the cashiers were confronted with demands that a primary appraisal
would label as “stressful.” However, the specific demands in the two examples have an important
difference. Having to deal with equipment breakdowns or unhappy customers is not likely to be
perceived by most employees as having implications that are personally beneficial; in fact, the
opposite is likely to be true. These kinds of stressors are called hindrance stressors, or stressful
demands that people tend to perceive as hindering their progress toward personal accomplishments or goal attainment.9 Hindrance stressors most often trigger negative emotions such as anxiety and anger.10
In contrast, having to deal with additional responsibilities is likely to be perceived by most
employees as having long-term benefits. These kinds of stressors are called challenge stressors, or
stressful demands that people tend to perceive as opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement.11 Although challenge stressors can be exhausting, they often trigger positive emotions such
as pride and enthusiasm. Figure 5-1 lists a number of hindrance and challenge stressors, some of
which are experienced at work and some of which are experienced outside of work.12
WORK HINDRANCE STRESSORS The various roles we fill at work are the source of different types of work-related hindrance stressors.13 One type of work-related hindrance stressor is
role conflict, which refers to conflicting expectations that other people may have of us.14 As an
example of role conflict that occurs from incompatible demands within a single role that a person
may hold, consider the job of a call center operator. People holding these jobs are expected to
communicate with as many people as possible over a given time period. The expectation is that
the call center operator will spend as little time as possible with the people on the other end of the
line. At the same time, however, operators are also expected to be responsive to the questions and
concerns raised by the people they talk with. Because effectiveness in this aspect of the job may
require a great deal of time, call center operators are put in a position in which they simply cannot
meet both types of expectations.
Role ambiguity refers to a lack of information about what needs to be done in a role, as well as
unpredictability regarding the consequences of performance in that role.15 Employees are sometimes asked to work on projects for which they’re given very few instructions or guidelines about
how things are supposed to be done. In these cases, employees may not know how much money
they can spend on the project, how long it’s supposed to take, or what exactly the finished product
is supposed to look like. Role ambiguity is often experienced among new employees who haven’t
been around long enough to receive instructions from supervisors or observe and model the role
behaviors of more senior colleagues. Students sometimes experience role ambiguity when professors remain vague about particular course requirements or how grading is going to be performed.
In such cases, the class becomes stressful because it’s not quite clear what it takes to get a good
grade.
Role overload occurs when the number of demanding roles a person holds is so high that the
person simply cannot perform some or all of the roles effectively.16 Role overload as a source of
stress is becoming very prevalent for employees in many different industries, and in fact, studies
CHAPTER 5
have shown that this source of
stress is more prevalent than
both role conflict and role
ambiguity.17 For example, the
workload for executives and
managers who work in investment banking, consulting, and
law is so high that 80-hour
workweeks are becoming the
norm.18 Although this trend
may not be surprising to some
of you, people holding these
jobs also indicate that they
would not be able to effectively
complete most of the work Terry Vine/Blend Images LLC
that’s required of them, even if
they worked twice as many hours.
One final type of work-related hindrance stressor, daily hassles, refers to the relatively minor dayto-day demands that get in the way of accomplishing the things that we really want to accomplish.19
Examples of hassles include having to deal with unnecessary paperwork, office equipment malfunctions, annoying interactions with abrasive coworkers, and useless communications. Although these
examples of daily hassles may seem relatively minor, taken together, they can be extremely timeconsuming and stressful. Indeed, according to one survey, 40 percent of executives spend somewhere
between a half-day and a full day each week on communications that are not useful or necessary.20
WORK CHALLENGE STRESSORS One type of work-related challenge stressor is time pressure—
a strong sense that the amount of time you have to do a task is not quite enough.21 Although most
people appraise situations with high time pressure as rather stressful, they also tend to appraise
these situations as more challenging than hindering. Time pressure demands tend to be viewed
as something worth striving for because success in meeting such demands can be intrinsically
satisfying. As an example of this positive effect of high time pressure, consider Michael Jones, an
architect at a top New York firm. His job involves overseeing multiple projects with tight deadlines, and as a result, he has to work at a hectic pace. Although Jones readily acknowledges that
his job is stressful, he also believes that the outcome of having all the stress is satisfying. Jones is
able to see the product of his labor over the Manhattan skyline, which makes him feel like he’s a
part of something.22
Work complexity refers to the degree to which the requirements of the work—in terms of
knowledge, skills, and abilities—tax or exceed the capabilities of the person who is responsible
for performing the work.23 As an example of work complexity, consider the nature of employee
development practices that organizations use to train future executives and organizational leaders. In many cases, these practices involve giving people jobs that require skills and knowledge
that the people do not yet possess. A successful marketing manager who is being groomed for an
executive-level position may, for example, be asked to manage a poorly performing production
facility with poor labor relations in a country halfway around the world. Although these types of
developmental experiences tend to be quite stressful, managers report that being stretched beyond
their capacity is well worth the associated discomfort.24
Work responsibility refers to the nature of the obligations that a person has toward others.25
Generally speaking, the level of responsibility in a job is higher when the number, scope, and importance of the obligations in that job are higher. As an example, the level of work responsibility for
an air traffic controller, who may be accountable for the lives of tens of thousands of people every
day, is very high.26 Controllers understand that if they make an error while directing an aircraft—
for example, saying “turn left” instead of “turn right”—hundreds of people can die in an instant.
Although controller errors that result in midair collisions and crashes are extremely rare, the
possibility weighs heavily on the minds of controllers, especially after they lose “the picture” (controller jargon for the mental representation of an assigned airspace and all the aircraft within it)
Stress
127
In addition to the role
conflict created in trying to
balance responsiveness
to customers with high
call volume, call center
operators also experience
daily hassles. They have to
deal with poor connections,
language difficulties,
r udeness, and questions
for which they are ill
prepared to answer.
128
CHAPTER 5
Stress
The job of an air traffic
controller is stressful
because of the challenging
demands. In particular,
air traffic controllers
know that during each
shift they work, they’ll be
responsible for ensuring
that thousands of people
arrive at their destinations
safely and on time.
Monty Rakusen/Cultura/Getty Images
due to extreme workloads, a loss of concentration, or equipment malfunctions. As with people’s
reactions to time pressure and work complexity, people tend to evaluate demands associated with
high responsibility as both stressful and potentially positive.
NONWORK HINDRANCE STRESSORS Although the majority of people in the United States
spend more time at the office than anywhere else,27 there are a number of stressful demands outside of work that have implications for managing behavior in organizations.28 In essence, stressors
experienced outside of work may have effects that “spill over” to affect the employee at work.29
One example of nonwork hindrance stressors is work–family conflict, a special form of role conflict in which the demands of a work role hinder the fulfillment of the demands of a family role (or
vice versa).30 More generally, work–family conflict can be thought of as something that upsets the
balance or our work and nonwork lives.31 We most often think of cases in which work demands
hinder effectiveness in the family context, termed “work to family conflict.” For example, a store
manager who has to deal with lots of hindrances at work may have trouble switching off the frustration after arriving home, and as a consequence, become irritable and impatient with family
and friends. However, work–family conflict can occur in the other direction as well. For example,
“family to work conflict” would occur if a salesperson experiencing the stress of marital conflict
comes to work harboring emotional pain and negative feelings, which makes it difficult to interact
with customers effectively. Although these examples illustrate how work–family conflict can have
negative consequences, it is also important to recognize that these negative consequences can,
in turn, create even more work–family conflict.32 For example, the store manager who becomes
impatient with family and friends due to hindrances at work may get into stressful conflicts at
home, which in turn, may makes it even more difficult to deal with hindrances at work the next
day. We should also note that although there are many benefits to having an active and wellrounded life, it’s important to recognize that both work to family conflict and family to work
conflict tend to be higher for employees who are strongly embedded in their work organizations
and their communities.33
Nonwork hindrance stressors also come in the form of negative life events.34 Research has
revealed that a number of life events are perceived as quite stressful, particularly when they result
in significant changes to a person’s life.35 Table 5-2 provides a listing of some commonly experienced life events, along with a score that estimates how stressful each event is perceived to be. As
the table reveals, many of the most stressful life events do not occur at work. Rather, they include
family events such as the death of a spouse or close family member, a divorce or marital separation, a jail term, or a personal illness. These events would be classified as hindrance stressors
because they hinder the ability to achieve life goals and are associated with negative emotions.
A third type of nonwork hindrance stressor is financial uncertainty. This type of stressor refers
to conditions that create uncertainties with regard to the loss of livelihood, savings, or the ability
CHAPTER 5
TABLE 5-2
Stress
129
Stressful Life Events
LIFE EVENT
STRESS
SCORE
LIFE EVENT
STRESS
SCORE
Death of a spouse
100
Trouble with in-laws
29
Divorce
73
Outstanding achievement
28
Marital separation
65
Begin or end school
26
Jail term
63
Change in living conditions
25
Death of close family member
63
Trouble with boss
23
Personal illness
53
Change in work hours
20
Marriage
50
Change in residence
20
Fired at work
47
Change in schools
20
Marital reconciliation
45
Change in social activities
18
Retirement
45
Change in sleeping habits
16
Pregnancy
40
Change in family get-togethers
15
Gain of new family member
39
Change in eating habits
15
Death of close friend
37
Vacations
13
Change in occupation
36
The holiday season
12
Child leaving home
29
Minor violations of the law
11
Source: Adapted from Holmes, T. H., and R. H. Rahe. “The Social Re-Adjustment Rating Scale.” Journal of Psychosomatic
Research 11 (1967): pp. 213–218.
to pay expenses. This type of stressor is highly relevant during recessions or economic downturns.
When people have concerns about losing their jobs, homes, and life savings because of economic
factors that are beyond their control, it’s understandable why nearly half of the respondents to a
recent survey indicated that stress was making it hard for them to do their jobs.36
NONWORK CHALLENGE STRESSORS Of course, the nonwork domain can be a source of
challenge stressors as well.37 Family time demands refer to the time that a person commits to
participate in an array of family activities and responsibilities. Specific examples of family time
demands include time spent involved in family pursuits such as traveling, attending social events
and organized activities, hosting parties, and planning and making home improvements. Examples
of personal development activities include participation in formal education programs, music lessons, sports-related training, hobby-related self-education, participation in local government, or
volunteer work. Finally, Table 5-2 includes some positive life events that are sources of nonwork
challenge stressors. For example, marriage, the addition of a new family member, and graduating
from school are stressful in their own way. However, each is associated with more positive, rather
than negative, emotions.
HOW DO PEOPLE COPE WITH STRESSORS?
According to the transactional theory of stress, after people appraise a stressful demand, they ask
themselves, “What should I do?” and “What can I do?” to deal with this situation. These questions,
which refer to the secondary appraisal shown in Figure 5-1, center on the issue of how people cope
with the various stressors they face.38 Coping refers to the behaviors and thoughts that people use
5.3
How do individuals cope with
stress?
130
CHAPTER 5
Stress
to manage both the stressful demands they face and the emotions associated with those stressful
demands.39 As Table 5-3 illustrates, coping can involve many different types of activities, and these
activities can be grouped into four broad categories based on two dimensions.40 The first dimension refers to the method of coping (behavioral versus cognitive), and the second dimension refers
to the focus of coping (problem solving versus regulation of emotions).
TABLE 5-3
Examples of Coping Strategies
PROBLEM-FOCUSED
EMOTION-FOCUSED
Behavioral
Methods
• Working harder
• Seeking assistance
• Acquiring additional
resources
• Engaging in alternative activities
• Seeking support
• Venting anger
Cognitive
Methods
• Strategizing
• Self-motivating
• Changing priorities
• Avoiding, distancing, and ignoring
• Looking for the positive in the negative
• Reappraising
Source: Adapted from Latack, J. C., and S. J. Havlovic. “Coping with Job Stress: A Conceptual Evaluation Framework for
Coping Measures.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 13 (1992): pp. 479–508.
The first part of our coping definition highlights the idea that methods of coping can be categorized on the basis of whether they involve behaviors or thoughts. Behavioral coping involves the set
of physical activities that are used to deal with a stressful situation.41 In one example of behavioral
coping, a person who is confronted with a lot of time pressure at work might choose to cope by
working faster. In another example, an employee who has several daily hassles might cope by
avoiding work—coming in late, leaving early, or even staying home. As a final example, employees
often cope with the stress of an international assignment by returning home from the assignment
prematurely. As our OB Internationally feature illustrates, international assignments are becoming increasingly prevalent, and the costs of these early returns to organizations can be significant.
In contrast to behavioral coping, cognitive coping refers to the thoughts that are involved in
trying to deal with a stressful situation.42 For example, the person who is confronted with an
increase in time pressure might cope by thinking about different ways of accomplishing the work
more efficiently. As another example of cognitive coping, employees who are confronted with
daily hassles might try to convince themselves that the hassles are not that bad after all, perhaps
by dwelling on less annoying aspects of the daily events.
Whereas the first part of our coping definition refers to the method of coping, the second part
refers to the focus of coping—that is, does the coping attempt to address the stressful demand
or the emotions triggered by the demand?43 Problem-focused coping refers to behaviors and cognitions intended to manage the stressful situation itself.44 To understand problem-focused coping, consider how the people in the previous paragraphs coped with time pressure. In the first
example, the person attempted to address the time pressure by working harder, whereas in the
second example, the person thought about a strategy for accomplishing the work more efficiently.
Although the specific coping methods differed, both of these people reacted to the time pressure
similarly, in that they focused their effort on meeting the demand rather than trying to avoid it.
In contrast to problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping refers to the various ways in
which people manage their own emotional reactions to stressful demands.45 The reactions to the
daily hassles that we described previously illustrate two types of emotion-focused coping. In the
first example, the employee used avoidance and distancing behaviors to reduce the emotional
distress caused by the stressful situation. In the second example, the employee reappraised the
demand to make it seem less stressful and threatening. Although people may be successful at
changing the way different situations are construed to avoid feeling unpleasant emotions, the
demand or problem that initially triggered the appraisal process remains.
CHAPTER 5
Stress
131
OB Internationally
The number of expatriates, or employees who are sent abroad to work for their organization,
has increased recently. In one survey, for example, 47 percent of the companies reported an
increase in the number of expatriate assignments over the previous year, and 54 percent projected increases in these assignments in the following year. This survey also indicated that more
than half of all employees sent abroad expected their assignment to last between one and three
years. Unfortunately, a significant number of expatriate assignments do not succeed because the
employee returns home earlier than planned. In fact, up to 40 percent of all American expatriates
return home early, and it has been estimated that each early return costs the host organization
approximately $100,000. Of course, a second way that international assignments fail is when the
expatriate performs at an unsatisfactory level.
One key factor that influences the commitment and effectiveness of expatriates is how they
handle the stress of being abroad. Expatriates who experience more stress as a result of cultural,
interpersonal, or job factors tend to be less satisfied with their assignment, more likely to think
about leaving their assignment early, and more likely to perform at subpar levels. One practice
that could prove useful in managing expatriate stress is cross-cultural training, which focuses on
helping people appreciate cultural differences and interacting more comfortably with the host-
country nationals. Unfortunately, this type of training isn’t offered as frequently as you might
think. Surveys suggest that many U.S. companies offer no formal cross-cultural training at all.
Even when training is offered, it tends to focus more on language skills than on cultural understanding and interaction skills. Given that the number of expatriate assignments is on the rise,
organizations might be well served if they increased emphasis on training in these types of skills so
that their expatriates are better able to cope with the stress from being abroad.
Sources: P. Bhaskar-Shrinivas, D.A. Harrison, M.A. Shaffer, and D.M. Luk, “Input-Based and Time-Based Models of
International Adjustment: Meta-Analytic Evidence and Theoretical Extensions,” Academy of Management Journal
48 (2005), pp. 257–81; J.S. Black, M. Mendenhall, and G Oddou, “Toward a Comprehensive Model of International
Adjustment: An Integration of Multiple Theoretical Perspectives,” Academy of Management Review 16 (1991), pp. 291–317;
M.E. Mendenhall, T.M. Kulmann, G.K. Stahl, and J.S. Osland, “Employee Development and Expatriate Assignments,”
Blackwell Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management, ed. M.J. Gannon and K.L. Newman (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002),
pp. 155–84; and Global Relocation Trends: 2005 Survey Report, Trends, GMAC Global Relocation Services, Woodridge,
IL, 2006,
Of course, the coping strategy that’s ultimately used has important implications for how effectively people can meet or adapt to the different stressors that they face. In the work context,
for example, a manager would most likely want subordinates to cope with the stress of a heavy
workload by using a problem-focused strategy—working harder—rather than an emotion-focused
strategy—leaving work several hours early to create distance from the stressor. Of course, there are
some situations in which emotion-focused coping may be functional for the person. As an example,
consider someone who repeatedly fails to make it
through the auditions for the TV show The Voice,
despite years of voice lessons and countless
hours of practice. At some point, if he did not
have the capability to cope emotionally—perhaps
by lowering his aspirations—his self-esteem could
be damaged, which could translate into reduced
effectiveness in other roles that he fills.
How do people choose a particular coping
strategy? One factor that influences this choice is
the set of beliefs that people have about how well
different coping strategies can address different Manchan/Getty Images
Although avoidance and
distancing behaviors may
reduce the emotional distress one feels, these strategies do not help manage
the demand that’s causing
the stress.
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demands. In essence, people are likely to choose the coping strategy they believe has the highest
likelihood of meeting the demand they face. For example, successful students may come to understand that the likelihood of effectively coping with demanding final exams is higher if they study
hard rather than trying to escape from the situation by going out until 3:00 a.m. The choice also
depends on the degree to which people believe that they have what it takes to execute the coping
strategy effectively. Returning to the previous example, if students have already failed the first two
exams in the course, despite trying hard, they may come to believe that a problem-focused coping
strategy won’t work. In this situation, because students may feel helpless to address the demand
directly, an emotion-focused coping strategy would be more likely.
A related factor that influences the choice of coping factors is the priority given to different
demands. In other words, people may choose to focus available energies on problem-focused coping with some demands, and emotional-focused coping with others, based on perceptions of how
immediate or important the demands are and how much focused attention is necessary to meet
them. This is easy to understand if you think of times when you have thrown yourself completely
into a demanding activity or task, while at the same time, avoided or ignored others for which you
might also be responsible. For an interesting example of how this may play out, see our OB on
Screen feature.
Another critical factor that determines coping strategy choice is the degree to which people
believe that a particular strategy gives them some degree of control over the stressor. If people
believe that a demand can be addressed with a problem-focused coping strategy and have confidence that they can use that problem-focused strategy effectively, then they will feel some control
over the situation and will likely use a problem-focused strategy. If people believe that a demand
cannot be addressed with a problem-focused strategy or do not believe they can effectively execute
that strategy, then they’ll feel a lack of control over the situation and will tend to use an emotionfocused coping strategy.
So what determines how people develop a sense of control? It appears that one important factor is the nature of the stressful demand itself. In particular, people are likely to feel less control
over a stressor when they appraise it as a hindrance rather than a challenge. Consider one of
the life events in Table 5-2: “Trouble with boss.” This event would most likely be appraised as a
hindrance stressor because it serves to thwart goal achievement and triggers negative emotions. If
you’re like most people, you would want to change the behavior of your boss so that the trouble
would stop and you could get on with your work. However, it’s also likely that you would feel like
you have little control over this situation because bosses are in a position of power, and complaining to your boss’s boss might not be an option for you. The anxiety and hopelessness triggered by
the situation would further erode any sense of control over the situation, likely leading to emotionfocused coping.46
THE EXPERIENCE OF STRAIN
Earlier in this chapter, we defined strain as the negative consequences associated with stress. But
how exactly does stress cause strain? Consider the case of Naomi Henderson, the CEO of RIVA,
a Rockville, Maryland–based market research firm. The job of CEO is quite demanding, and
Henderson found herself working 120 hours a week to cope with the heavy workload. One night
she woke up to go to the bathroom and found that she literally could not move—she was paralyzed.
After she was rushed to the emergency room, the doctor told Henderson and her husband that
her diagnosis was stress. The doctor recommended rest in bed for 14 hours a day for six weeks.47
Although this example may seem extreme to you, the demands of many managerial and executivelevel jobs are often excessive,48 and the negative health consequences that result are fairly predictable. In fact, if you’ve ever been in a situation in which you’ve experienced heavy stress for more
than a couple of days, you can probably appreciate the toll that stress can take on you. Although
people react to stress differently, you may have felt unusually exhausted, irritable, and achy. What
might be surprising to you is that the mechanism within your body that gives you the ability to
function effectively in the face of stressful demands is the same mechanism that ends up causing
you these problems. So what is this mechanism?
CHAPTER 5
OB On Screen
FIRST MAN
Neil, you’re bouncing off the atmosphere.
With those words, NASA ground control explains to test pilot Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling)
why his X-15 rocket plane is ascending into space rather than descending back to earth, in the
opening scene from the movie, First Man (Dir. Damien Chazelle, Universal Pictures, 2018).
The scene begins with Armstrong being violently hurled upward in the X-15 during a 1961 mission
to collect data for future space flight. At about 140,000 feet, the rocket engine shuts off, and
Armstrong basks in the silence at the edge of outer space. After a few moments, the X-15 begins
to descend back to earth; however, the craft cannot reach an altitude where the flight controls
become functional. Armstrong struggles to prevent catastrophe. He improvises using stabilizing
thrusters and eventually lands in the Mojave Desert.
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
The film centers on the heroism of Armstrong. In addition to saving himself and NASA’s
X-15 from floating off into space, the film also shows how he saves Gemini 8 from almost certain
disaster. Of course, he also becomes the first human to ever walk on the moon. However, the film
can also be viewed as a depiction of Armstrong’s reactions to extraordinarily stressful demands.
NASA places him in situations that stretch his abilities to the limit. In addition to the physical demands, workload, time pressure, and complexity, he feels a great deal of responsibility for
the success of his missions, which he believes are very important. Armstrong is also confronted
with family demands. His toddler daughter, Karen, goes through treatment for a brain tumor and
passes away. He also has two sons who are understandably concerned with his welfare.
At times in the film, Armstrong copes with the demands he faces in problem-focused ways.
When facing complications aboard the X-15 and the Gemini 8, he completely focuses his mental
and physical energies to resolve the situations. Similarly, when faced with his daughter’s illness, he
works intensely on research to find a cure. Other times in the film, however, Armstrong appears
to cope in emotion-focused ways, and this is particularly true with respect to nonwork demands.
Rather than dealing with things at home, he spends extra time at work, and he distances himself
from his family and friends. Compartmentalizing in this way may have allowed him to be successful in his job as a test pilot and astronaut; however, it is easy to see how such a strategy could be a
detriment to one’s life outside of work.
Stress
133
134
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FIGURE 5-2
Stress
Examples of Strain
Physiological
Strains
(illness, high blood pressure,
coronary artery disease,
headaches, back pain,
stomachaches)
STRESS
Psychological
Strains
(depression, anxiety,
irritability, forgetfulness,
inability to think clearly,
reduced confidence,
burnout)
Behavioral
Strains
(alcohol and drug use,
teeth grinding, compulsive
behaviors, overeating)
Source: Adapted from Kahn, R. L., and P. Byosiere. “Stress in Organizations.” Handbook of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, Vol. 4, edited by M. D. Dunnette, J. M. R. Hourgh, and H. C. Triandis. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists
Press, 1992, pp. 517–650.
Essentially, the body has a set of responses that allow it to adapt and function effectively in the
face of stressful demands, but if the stressful demands do not ramp down or the demands occur
too frequently, the body’s adaptive responses become toxic.49 More specifically, when people are
confronted with a stressor, their bodies secrete chemical compounds that increase their heart rate
and blood pressure, as blood is redirected away from vital organs, such as the spleen, to the brain
and skeletal muscles.50 Unfortunately, if the chemicals in the blood remain elevated because of
prolonged or repeated exposure to the stressor, the body begins to break down, and several negative consequences are set into motion. As shown in Figure 5-2, those negative consequences come
in three varieties: physiological strains, psychological strains, and behavioral strains.51
Physiological strains that result from stressors occur in at least four systems of the human body.
First, stressors can reduce the effectiveness of the body’s immune system, which makes it more
difficult for the body to ward off illness and infection. Have you ever noticed that you’re more
likely to catch a cold during or immediately after final exam week? Second, stressors can harm the
body’s cardiovascular system, cause the heart to race, increase blood pressure, and create coronary
artery disease. Third, stressors can cause problems in the body’s musculoskeletal system. Tension
headaches, tight shoulders, and back pain have all been linked to a variety of stressors. Fourth,
CHAPTER 5
stressors cause gastrointestinal
system problems. Symptoms
of this type of strain include
stomachaches,
indigestion,
diarrhea, and constipation.52
Although you might be
tempted to dismiss the importance of physiological strains
because the likelihood of serious illness and disease is low
for people in their 20s and 30s,
research shows that dismissal
may be a mistake. For example,
high-pressure work deadlines
increase the chance of heart G. Newman Lowrance/Associated Press
attack within the next 24 hours
by a factor of six.53 So even though your likelihood of suffering a heart attack may be low, who would
want to increase their risk by 600 percent? Furthermore, the negative physiological effects of stress
persist over time and may not show up until far into the future. One study showed that eye problems,
allergic complaints, and chronic diseases could be attributed to stress measured eight years earlier.54
Finally, researchers have found higher mortality rates (yes, the odds of dying) for employees in
stressful jobs where the demands are high and where there is very little discretion or control.55
Psychological strains that result from stressors include depression, anxiety, anger, hostility,
reduced self-confidence, irritability, inability to think clearly, forgetfulness, lack of creativity,
memory loss, and (not surprising, given the rest of this list) a loss of sense of humor.56 You might
be tempted to think of these problems as isolated incidents; however, they may reflect a more
general psychological condition known as burnout, which can be defined as the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that results from having to cope with stressful demands on an ongoing basis.57 There are many familiar examples of people who have experienced burnout, and the
majority of them illustrate how burnout can lead to a decision to quit a job or even change careers.
As an example, after playing for 17 seasons for the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre decided to
retire from professional football after leading his team to the NFC championship game in 2008.58
Favre explained to reporters that he was just tired of all the stress.59 The pressure of the challenge
of winning compelled him to spend an ever-increasing amount of time preparing for the next
game, and over time, this pressure built up and resulted in exhaustion and reduced commitment.
Of course, Favre would un-retire to play for the New York Jets in 2008, only to re-retire after the
season. Favre again un-retired in 2009 and joined the Minnesota Vikings. He re-retired, for the
final time, after the 2010 season. Such changes of heart are not unusual after someone retires from
an exciting job due to burnout. A break from stressors associated with the work not only gives
the person a chance to rest and recharge, but it also provides a lot of free time to think about the
excitement and challenge of performing again.
Finally, in addition to physiological and psychological strains, the stress process can result in
behavioral strains. Behavioral strains are unhealthy behaviors such as grinding one’s teeth at night,
being overly critical and bossy, excessive smoking, compulsive gum chewing, overuse of alcohol,
and compulsive eating.60 Although it’s unknown why exposure to stressors results in these specific
behaviors, it’s easy to see why these behaviors are undesirable both from personal and organizational standpoints.
ACCOUNTING FOR INDIVIDUALS IN THE STRESS PROCESS
So far in this chapter, we’ve discussed how the typical or average person reacts to different sorts of
stressors. However, we’ve yet to discuss how people differ in terms of how they react to demands.
One way that people differ in their reactions to stress depends on whether they exhibit the Type A
Behavior Pattern. “Type A” people have a strong sense of time urgency and tend to be impatient,
hard-driving, competitive, controlling, aggressive, and even hostile.61 If you walk, talk, and eat at
a quick pace, and if you find yourself constantly annoyed with people who do things too slowly,
Stress
135
Having started more than
300 games straight, Brett
Favre is well known among
sports fans for his durability as a NFL quarterback.
However, his durability
did not mean that he was
immune to the effects of
stress. He retired from football three times in the span
of three years, and burnout
played an important role in
these decisions.
5.4
How does the Type A
Behavior Pattern influence
the stress process?
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Stress
chances are that you’re a Type A person. With that said, one way to tell for sure is to fill out the
Type A questionnaire in our OB Assessments feature.
In the context of this chapter, the Type A Behavior Pattern is important because it can influence stressors, stress, and strains. First, the Type A Behavior Pattern may have a direct influence
on the level of stressors that a person confronts. To understand why this might be true, consider
OB Assessments
TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN
Do you think that you’re especially sensitive to stress? This assessment is designed to measure the
extent to which you’re a Type A person—someone who typically engages in hard-driving, competitive, and aggressive behavior. The items below refer to how you feel, think, and behave in different situations. Indicate your level of agreement with each item as honestly as possible using the
response scale provided. (Instructors: Assessments on challenge stressors, hindrance stressors,
and strain can be found in the PowerPoints in the Connect Library’s Instructor Resources and in
the Connect assignments for this chapter).
1
STRONGLY
DISAGREE
2
DISAGREE
3
SLIGHTLY
DISAGREE
4
NEUTRAL
5
SLIGHTLY
AGREE
6
AGREE
7
STRONGLY
AGREE
1. I hate to be late for appointments.
2. I’m a very competitive person.
3. I anticipate what others are going to say by nodding, and I sometimes
interrupt and finish for them.
4. I’m always rushed.
5. I’m impatient when waiting.
6. I go “all out” when trying to accomplish something.
7. I multitask and am always thinking about what I have to do next.
8. I’m expressive and often gesture when speaking.
9. I do most things, even eating and walking, in a hurry.
10. I’m a driven person—I work hard and I’m serious about accomplishing
my goals.
11. I often express feelings like frustration, irritation, and anger.
12. I’m very ambitious.
SCORING AND INTERPRETATION
Sum your answers for the 12 items. If your scores sum up to 60 or above, you might be a Type A person, which means that you may perceive higher stress levels in your life and be more sensitive to that
stress. If your scores sum up to 36 or below, chances are that you would be considered a Type B person.
This means that you sense less stress in your life and are less sensitive to the stress that’s experienced.
Source: Adapted from R.H. Friedman and R. H. Rosenman, “Association of Specific Overt Behavior Pattern with Blood
and Cardiovascular Findings,” Journal of the American Medical Association 169 (1959), pp. 1286–69.
CHAPTER 5
that Type A persons tend to be hard-driving and have a strong desire to achieve. Because the
behaviors that reflect these tendencies are valued by the organization, Type A individuals receive
“rewards” in the form of increases in the amount and level of work required. In addition, because
Type A people tend to be aggressive and competitive, they may be more prone to interpersonal
conflict. Most of you would agree that conflict with peers and coworkers is an important stressor.
Second, in addition to the effect on stressors, the Type A Behavior Pattern is important because
it influences the stress process itself.62 This effect of the Type A Behavior Pattern is easy to understand if you consider that hard-driving competitiveness makes people hypersensitive to demands
that could potentially affect their progress toward their goal attainment. In essence, Type A individuals are simply more likely to appraise demands as being stressful rather than being benign.
Third, and perhaps most important, the Type A Behavior Pattern has been directly linked to
coronary heart disease63 and other physiological, psychological, and behavioral strains.64 The size
of the relationship between the Type A Behavior Pattern and these strains is not so strong as to
suggest that if you’re a Type A person, you should immediately call 911. However, the linkage is
strong enough to suggest that the risk of these problems is significantly higher for people who
typically engage in Type A behaviors.
Recovery, which refers to the degree to which energies used for coping with work demands are
replenished from a period of rest or relief from work, is a second factor that influences the stress
process.65 As people cope with demands at work, their energies are depleted, and if this store of
energies is not restocked when they are away from work, the next day they may appraise demands as
being more stressful and have an even more difficult time coping with stressful demands, and more
strains can result. At a very basic level, this idea seems obvious—of course we need time away from
work to reenergize! The complication is that we have choices regarding what we do away from work,
and it turns out that these choices are not created equal with respect to their recovery value. In fact,
the research is pretty clear that leisure activities that promote relaxation-—things like getting together
with friends, reading a book, watching TV, going for a hike-—are significantly more effective at restoring energy than activities that require the expenditure of physical, cognitive or emotional effort, such
as household chores, grocery shopping, driving children to school, or prepping for work.66 It is also
important to know that sleep may be important to the recover process. In fact, researchers have shown
that the quantity and quality of sleep is negatively related to strains such as anxiety, depression, fatigue,
and positively related to motivation, job satisfaction, and various aspects of job performance.67
A third individual factor that affects the way people manage stress is the degree of social support
that they receive. Social support refers to the help that people receive when they’re confronted
with stressful demands, and there are at least two major types.68 One type of social support is
called instrumental support, which refers to the help people receive that can be used to address
the stressful demand directly. For example, if a person is overloaded with work, a coworker could
provide instrumental support by taking over some of the work or offering suggestions about how
to do the work more efficiently. A second type of social support is called emotional support. This
type of support refers to the help people receive in addressing the emotional distress that accompanies stressful demands.
As an example, the supervisor of the individual who is
overloaded with work might
provide emotional support by
showing interest in the employee’s situation and appearing to
be understanding and sympathetic. As alluded to in these
examples, social support may
come from coworkers as well
as from supervisors. However,
social support also may be provided by family members and
friends outside the context of
Ingram Publishing
the stressful demand.69
Stress
137
Social support from
friends, coworkers, and
family can be a big help
in managing stress, even
though it often occurs
outside the stress-causing
environment.
138
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Stress
Similar to the Type A Behavior Pattern, and recovery, social support has the potential to influence the stress process in several different ways. However, most research on social support focuses
on the ways that social support buffers the relationship between stressors and strains.70 For
example, a supervisor who engages in supportive behaviors may make the same level of stressful
demands seem more fair and less threatening.71 Subordinates of this supervisor, therefore, would
tend to experience less strain than subordinates of another supervisor who does not engage in supportive behaviors. Moreover, high levels of social support provide a person with instrumental or
emotional resources that are useful for coping with the stressor, which tends to reduce the harmful
consequences of the stressor to that individual. With low levels of social support, the person does
not have extra coping resources available, so the stressor tends to have effects that are more harmful. In essence, this perspective casts social support as a “moderator” of the relationship between
stressors and strains (recall that moderators are variables that affect the strength of the relationship between two other variables). In this particular case, the relationship between stressors and
strain tends to be weaker at higher levels of social support and stronger at lower levels of social
support. Although not every research study has found support for the buffering effect of social
support,72 the majority of research evidence has been supportive.73
SUMMARY: WHY ARE SOME EMPLOYEES MORE
“STRESSED” THAN OTHERS?
So what explains why some employees are more stressed than others? As shown in Figure 5-3,
answering that question requires paying attention to the particular stressors the employee is experiencing, including hindrance and challenge stressors originating in both the work and nonwork
FIGURE 5-3
Why Are Some Employees More “Stressed” Than Others?
Type A
Behavior Pattern
Physiological
Strains
Stressors
Hindrance Challenge
Work
Psychological
Strains
STRESS
Nonwork
Behavioral
Strains
Recovery
Social
Support
CHAPTER 5
Stress
139
domains. However, feeling stressed also depends on how those stressors are appraised and coped
with, and the degree to which physiological, psychological, and behavioral strains are experienced.
Finally, answering the question depends on whether the employee is Type A or Type B, whether
the employee has sufficient recovery, and whether the employee has a high or low amount of
social support. Understanding all of these factors can help explain why some people can shoulder
stressful circumstances for weeks at a time, whereas others seem to be “at the end of their rope”
when faced with even relatively minor job demands.
HOW IMPORTANT IS STRESS?
In the previous sections, we described how stressors and the stress process influence strains and,
ultimately, people’s health and well-being. Although these relationships are important to understand, you’re probably more curious about the impact that stressors have on job performance and
organizational commitment, the two outcomes in our integrative model of OB. Figure 5-4 summarizes the research evidence linking hindrance stressors to performance and commitment, and
Figure 5-5 summarizes the research evidence linking challenge stressors to performance and commitment. It is certainly true that there are important associations between nonwork stressors,
strains, and other important outcomes.74 However, we limit our discussion here to relationships
with work stressors rather than nonwork stressors, because this is where researchers have focused
the most attention.
FIGURE 5-4
5.5
How does stress affect
job performance and
rganizational commitment?
o
Effects of Hindrance Stressors on Performance and Commitment
Hindrance
Stressors
NEGATIVE
Job
Performance
Hindrance stressors have a weak negative relationship with job performance. People
who experience higher levels of hindrance stressors tend to have lower levels of task
performance. Not much is known about the impact of hindrance stressors on Citizenship
Behavior and Counterproductive Behavior.
Hindrance
Stressors
NEGATIVE
Organizational
Commitment
Hindrance stressors have a strong negative relationship with Organizational
Commitment. People who experience higher levels of hindrance stressors tend to have
lower levels of Affective Commitment and Normative Commitment. Relationships with
Continuance Commitment are weaker.
Represents a strong correlation (around .50 in magnitude).
Represents a moderate correlation (around .30 in magnitude).
Represents a weak correlation (around .10 in magnitude).
Sources: LePine, J. A., N. P. Podsakoff, and M. A. LePine. “A Meta-Analytic Test of the Challenge Stressor–Hindrance
Stressor Framework: An Explanation for Inconsistent Relationships Among Stressors and Performance.” Academy of
Management Journal 48 (2005): pp. 764–775; and N. P. Podsakoff, J. A. LePine, and M. A. LePine. “Differential Challenge
Stressor–Hindrance Stressor Relationships with Job Attitudes, Turnover Intentions, Turnover, and Withdrawal Behavior:
A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Applied Psychology 92 (2007): pp. 438–454.
140
CHAPTER 5
FIGURE 5-5
Stress
Effects of Challenge Stressors on Performance and Commitment
Challenge
Stressors
Job
Performance
Challenge stressors have a weak positive relationship with job performance. People
who experience higher levels of challenge stressors tend to have higher levels of task
performance. Not much is known about the impact of challenge stressors on Citizenship
Behavior and Counterproductive Behavior.
Challenge
Stressors
Organizational
Commitment
Challenge stressors have a moderate positive relationship with Organizational
Commitment. People who experience higher levels of challenge stressors tend to have
higher levels of Affective Commitment and Normative Commitment. Relationships with
Continuance Commitment are weaker.
Represents a strong correlation (around .50 in magnitude).
Represents a moderate correlation (around .30 in magnitude).
Represents a weak correlation (around .10 in magnitude).
Sources: LePine, J. A., N. P. Podsakoff, and M. A. LePine. “A Meta-Analytic Test of the Challenge Stressor–Hindrance
Stressor Framework: An Explanation for Inconsistent Relationships Among Stressors and Performance.” Academy
of Management Journal 48 (2005): pp. 764–775; and Podsakoff, N. P., J. A. LePine, and M. A. LePine. “Differential
Challenge Stressor–Hindrance Stressor Relationships with Job Attitudes, Turnover Intentions, Turnover, and Withdrawal
Behavior: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Applied Psychology 92 (2007): pp. 438–454.
Figure 5-4 reveals that hindrance stressors have a weak negative relationship with job performance.75 A general explanation for this negative relationship is that hindrance stressors result
in strains and negative emotions that reduce the overall level of physical, cognitive, and emotional energy that people could otherwise bring to their job duties.76 The detrimental effect that
strains have on job performance becomes quite easy to understand when you consider the nature
of the individual strains that we mentioned in the previous section. Certainly, you would agree
that physiological, psychological, and behavioral strains in the form of illnesses, exhaustion, and
drunkenness would detract from employee effectiveness in almost any job context. Additionally,
these strains may be associated with negative emotions and thoughts that trigger counterproductive work behavior.77
Figure 5-4 also reveals that hindrance stressors have a strong negative relationship with organizational commitment.78 Why might this be? Well, hindrance stressors evoke strains, which are
generally dissatisfying to people, and as we discussed in the previous chapter, satisfaction has a
strong impact on the degree to which people feel committed to their organization.79 People who
work at jobs that they know are causing them to feel constantly sick and exhausted will likely be
dissatisfied with their jobs and feel less desire to stay with the organization and more desire to
consider alternatives.
Turning now to challenge stressors, the story becomes somewhat different. As shown in
Figure 5-5, challenge stressors have a weak relationship with job performance and a moderate
relationship with organizational commitment. However, in contrast to the results for hindrance
stressors, the relationships are positive rather than negative.80 In other words, employees who
experience higher levels of challenge stressors also tend to have higher levels of job performance
CHAPTER 5
Stress
141
and organizational commitment. These relationships stand in sharp contrast with the lower levels
of job performance and organizational commitment that result when employees confront higher
levels of hindrance stressors. So what explains this difference? Although challenge stressors result
in strains, which detract from performance and commitment, they also tend to trigger the type of
positive emotions and problem-focused coping strategies that are characteristic of employees who
are highly engaged in their jobs.81 The net benefits of these positive emotions, problem-focused
coping strategies, and engagement outweigh the costs of the added strain, meaning that challenge
stressors tend to be beneficial to employee performance and commitment when both the positives and negatives are considered.82 These positive effects of challenge stressors have been demonstrated for executives,83 employees in lower-level jobs,84 and even students.85 It’s important to
point out, however, that high levels of challenge stressors may have negative consequences that
only become apparent over the long term. People whose jobs are filled with challenge stressors
experience strains that can result in illness, but because they tend to be more satisfied, committed,
and engaged with their jobs, they come to work anyway. This phenomenon, which is referred to as
presenteeism, can result in prolonged illness, as well as the spread of illness, and ultimately a downward spiral of impaired performance and employee health.86 In fact, it may surprise you to learn
that the reductions in productivity that result from presenteeism are even larger than reductions in
productivity that result from employee absenteeism.87
A P P LICATION: STRESS MANAGEMENT
Previously, we described how employee stress results in strains that cost organizations in terms of
reduced employee performance and commitment. However, there are other important costs to
consider that relate to employee health. Most organizations provide some sort of health care benefits for their employees,88 and all but the smallest organizations pay worker’s compensation insurance, the rates for which are determined, in part, by the nature of the job and the organization’s
history of work-related injuries and illnesses. So what role does stress play in these costs?
Well, it turns out that these health-related costs are driven to a great extent by employee stress.
Estimates are that between 60 and 90 percent of all doctor visits can be attributed to stress-related
causes,89 and the cost of providing health care to people who experience high levels of stress
appears to be approximately 50 percent higher than for those who experience lower levels of
stress.90 Statistics from jobs in different industries indicate that the frequency of worker’s compensation claims is dramatically higher when the level of stress on the job is high. As one example,
the frequency of claims was more than 800 percent higher for a copy machine distributor when
the level of stress at the job site was high.91 So what do all these costs mean to you as a student of
organizational behavior or as a manager?
For one thing, the relationship between stress and health care costs means that there may be
huge dividends for organizations that learn how to manage their employees’ stress more effectively. In fact, surveys indicate that the vast majority of companies in the United States provide
benefits, in one form or another, that are intended to help employees cope with stressful demands
and reduce the associated strains.92 As an example of the lengths some companies go to manage
their employees’ stress and strains, Google provides access to massage, yoga, meditation, and even
napping pods—reclining chairs with egg-shaped caps that fold down to cover the occupant’s head
and torso.93 Next, we describe some more general approaches that organizations use to manage
employee stress.
ASSESSMENT
The first step in managing stress is to assess the level and sources of stress in the workplace.
Although there are many ways to accomplish this type of evaluation, often referred to as a stress
audit, managers can begin by asking themselves questions about the nature of the jobs in their
organization to estimate whether high stress levels may be a problem.94 The first category of questions might involve the degree to which the organization is going through changes that would likely
5.6
What steps can organizations
take to manage employee
stress?
142
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Stress
The use of napping pods
is just one example of how
far companies go to help
manage employee stress
and strains.
National Geographic Creative/Alamy
increase uncertainty among employees. As an example, a merger between two companies might
increase employees’ uncertainty about their job security and possible career paths. As another
example, employees in an organization that has transitioned to team-based work might be concerned about how their individual performance contributions will be recognized and rewarded.
A second category of questions might center on the work itself. These questions typically focus
on the level and types of stressors experienced by the employees. The third category of questions
could involve the quality of relationships between not only employees but also employees and the
organization. Here, an important question to consider is whether organizational politics play a
large role in administrative decisions.
REDUCING STRESSORS
Once a stress audit reveals that stress may be a problem, the next step is to consider alternative
courses of action. One general course of action involves managing stressors, which may be accomplished in one of two ways. First, organizations could try to eliminate or significantly reduce
stressful demands. As an example, companies sometimes institute policies that try to limit the
demands faced by their employees. Xonex Relocation, a relocation services company located in
New Castle, Delaware, prohibits employees from working during lunch and eating at their desks,
and they structured workflow so that employees don’t leave the office in the evening with unfinished work hanging over their heads.95 This practice is consistent with research showing that
health care workers become much less likely to comply with rules regarding hand hygiene (washing their hands before interacting with a new patient) as demands build up over the course of a
long shift and that compliance rates with the same hand hygiene rules increase significantly when
longer breaks are given between shifts.96 As another example of this approach, 19 percent of organizations in one recent survey used job sharing to reduce role overload and work–family conflict.97
Job sharing doesn’t mean splitting one job into two but rather indicates that two people share the
responsibilities of a single job, as if the two people were a single performing unit. The assumption underlying the practice is that “although businesses are becoming 24–7, people don’t.”98 You
might be tempted to believe that job sharing would be most appropriate in lower-level jobs, where
responsibilities and tasks are limited in number and relatively easy to divide. In actuality, job
CHAPTER 5
sharing is being used even at the highest levels in organizations. At Boston–based Fleet Bank, for
example, two women shared the position of vice president for global markets and foreign exchange
for six years until their department was dissolved when Fleet was acquired by Bank of America.
During this time, they had one desk, one chair, one computer, one telephone, one voicemail
account, one set of goals, and one performance review. They each worked 20–25 hours a week and
performed the role effectively and seamlessly.99
Another example of how companies reduce stressors is employee sabbaticals. A sabbatical
gives employees the opportunity to take time off from work to engage in an alternative activity.
Estimates indicate that approximately 11 percent of large companies offer paid sabbaticals, and
almost one-third offer unpaid sabbaticals.100 American Express, for example, allows employees
who have 10 years’ tenure to apply for a paid sabbatical of up to six months. These employees
are encouraged to work for a nonprofit organization or school, but the institution cannot have
religious or political affiliations.101 PricewaterhouseCoopers also offers paid sabbaticals for up to
six months for personal growth reasons or for work in social services; this program is available to
employees with as little as two years’ experience.102 Relative to job sharing, sabbaticals allow for
a cleaner break from the stressful routine for a fairly lengthy period of time, so for the period of
the sabbatical, the employee’s stress may be quite low. In fact, some companies are experimenting
with discretionary vacations policies that allow employees to take time off whenever they feel they
need it (and for however long they feel they need it).103 However, because the level of stressors
never changes in the job itself, the employee is likely to experience the same level of stress upon
returning from the sabbatical or vacation.
PROVIDING RESOURCES
Although reducing stressors may reduce the overall level of stress that a person experiences,
this approach is likely to be most beneficial when the focus of the effort is on hindrance stressors rather than challenge stressors.104 Hindrance stressors such as role ambiguity, conflict, and
overload not only cause strain, but also decrease commitment and job performance. In contrast,
though challenge stressors such as time pressure and responsibility cause strain, they also tend to
be motivating and satisfying, and as a consequence, they generally are positively related to commitment and performance.
So as a supplement to reducing stressors, organizations can provide resources that help employees cope with stressful demands.105 One way that organizations provide resources to employees is
through training interventions aimed at increasing job-related competencies and skills. Employees
who possess more competencies and skills can handle more demands before they begin to appraise
these demands as overly taxing or exceeding their capacity. Training that increases employee competencies and skills is also beneficial to the extent that it promotes a sense that the demands are
more controllable, and as we discussed in a previous section, a sense of control promotes problemfocused coping strategies. As an example of the effectiveness of this type of practice, consider the
results of a study that examined the benefits of a 20-hour training program in which employees
developed skills in stress management, developing a supportive social network, conflict resolution, communication, and assertiveness. Seven months later, employees in 17 organizations who
went through the training program felt they possessed more resources to cope with stress and had
fewer symptoms of strain than employees who didn’t go through the training program.106
A second way that organizations provide resources to employees so that they can cope more
effectively is through supportive practices that help employees manage and balance the demands
that exist in the different roles they have.107 As an example, most organizations allow employees
to take occasional breaks so that they can rest and recharge their physical, cognitive, and emotional energies. In fact, researchers have found that breaks are better at restoring these energies if
employees are allowed to engage in an activity they prefer and if the break is given earlier in the
shift.108 Although we only have room in this chapter to describe a few more supportive practices,
Table 5-4 lists many examples, as well as the percentage of organizations that were found to use
them in a survey of almost 400 organizations.109
The first supportive practice example in this list is flextime, which was used by 56 percent
of the organizations in the survey. Organizations that use flextime give employees some degree
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TABLE 5-4
Supportive Practices Used by Organizations
% OF SMALL
ORGANIZATIONS
% OF MEDIUM
ORGANIZATIONS
% OF LARGE
ORGANIZATIONS
Flextime
57
56
56
Part-time telecommuting
36
33
43
Compressed workweek
27
30
41
Bring child to work if needed
43
25
18
Full-time telecommuting
14
18
24
Lactation program
8
20
28
Onsite child care
1
3
13
Company-supported child
care center
0
1
11
PRACTICE
Source: Adapted from Burke, M. E. “2005 Benefits Survey Report.” Society of Human Resource Management, 2005.
of latitude in terms of which hours they need to be present at the workplace. Flexible working hours give employees the ability to cope with demands away from work, so they don’t have
to worry about these demands while they’re at work. Researchers have found that while occasional use of flextime by employees is quite beneficial, chronic reliance on it may interfere with
the completion of work tasks, and perhaps increase stressful demands.110 As another example,
37 percent of the organizations in the survey allowed telecommuting on a part-time basis. By providing the opportunity to work at home or some other location with computer access, employees
are put in a better position to cope with demands that might be impossible to cope with otherwise.
Compressed workweeks, which is used by approximately one-third of all companies in the survey,
allows full-time employees to work additional hours on some days and have shorter days or time
off on others. As with flextime and telecommuting, compressed workweeks give employees the
ability to manage both work and nonwork role demands. We should also note that practices such
as flextime, telecommuting, and compressed workweeks not only facilitate stress management but
also appear to have other benefits. At companies such as Xerox, Corning, and UPS, implementing
these types of practices resulted in improvements in productivity, innovation, absenteeism, and
turnover.111 Moreover, although these practices have a range of benefits to employees who actually use them, there is also evidence that their availability alone may be beneficial with regard to
enhancing employee job attitudes and commitment.112
Despite their benefits, companies occasionally decide to end supportive practices during tough
times or transitions when the value of employee interaction is amplified. As an example, when
she was the newly appointed Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer banned the practice of telecommuting
to increase employee productivity and encourage richer face-to-face collaboration among employees.113 Finally, it’s important to note that managers sometimes attribute employees’ use of these
types of practices to low organizational commitment, and when this happens, employees are less
likely to receive pay raises and promotions.114 Perhaps this is why supportive practices are frequently underutilized by employees.115
REDUCING STRAINS
As an alternative to managing stressors, many organizations use practices that reduce strains.116
One type of strain-reducing practice involves training in relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation; meditation; and miscellaneous calming activities like taking walks, writing
CHAPTER 5
in a journal, and deep breathing.117 Although these relaxation techniques differ, the
basic idea is the same—they
teach people how to counteract the effects of stressors by
engaging in activities that slow
the heart rate, breathing rate,
and blood pressure.118 As an
example of a relatively simple
relaxation technique, consider the recommendation of
Herbert Benson, a physician
and president of the Mind/
Body Medical Institute in
Boston. He suggests that people under stress should repeat
a word, sound, prayer, phrase,
or motion for 10–20 minutes
once or twice a day and, during that time, try to completely
ignore other thoughts that may
come to mind.119 As another
example, recall the case of
Naomi Henderson, the market research firm CEO who
literally became paralyzed
by all the stress in her job.
Well, we’re happy to say that
Henderson got better, but she
was able to do so only after
being treated by a physician
minemero/Getty Images
who helped her learn how
to reduce her own strains by doing “mental aerobics.” Those exercises involved taking breaks
every hour to stretch and do deep breathing, taking short naps to replenish energy, and learning
how to say no politely to unreasonable demands.120 As a final example, BlueCross BlueShield of
Tennessee has trained approximately one-fifth of its 4,500 employees in the use of biofeedback
technology to reduce the stress associated with financial uncertainties stemming from the economic downturn.121 The training uses a heart monitor and software to help people learn how to
change their heart rhythms from an irregular pattern to a regular pattern by shifting from an anxious emotional state to a more positive one. Apparently, the training worked: A preliminary evaluation of the program revealed that those employees who received biofeedback training reported
being less exhausted and anxious than they were before the training.
A second general category of strain-reducing practices involves cognitive–behavioral techniques.
In general, these techniques attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a more
rational manner.122 To understand what these techniques involve, think of someone you know who
not only exaggerates the level and importance of stressful demands but also predicts doom and
disaster after quickly concluding that the demands simply cannot be met. If you know someone
like this, you might recommend cognitive–behavioral training that involves “self-talk,” a technique
in which people learn to say things about stressful demands that reflect rationality and optimism.
So, when confronted with a stressful demand, this person might be trained to say, “This demand
isn’t so tough; if I work hard I can accomplish it.” Cognitive–behavioral training also typically
involves instruction about tools that foster effective coping. So, in addition to the self-talk, the person might be trained on how to prioritize demands, manage time, communicate needs, and seek
Stress
145
People can learn how
to reduce strain using
iofeedback technology.
b
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Stress
support.123 As an example of this type of training, Austin, Texas–based Freescale Semiconductor
Inc. trains its 6,000 employees how to be “resilient” to stressful situations, such as those that
occur when employees have to interact with team members from other departments in the organization that do not share the same goals.124 The training teaches employees strategies, such as
planning for the stressful encounter and using social support, which give them the ability to use
a problem-focused approach to coping with their stress. See our OB at the Bookstore feature for
an example of how a cognitive–behavioral approach can be used to train people to become more
resilient to stress.
OB At the Bookstore
RESILIENT
by Rick Hanson (New York: Harmony Books, 2018).
We all have needs. If they’re not met, it’s natural to feel stressed,
worried, frustrated, and hurt, and to experience less well-being.
As you become more resilient, you’re more able to meet your needs
in the face of life’s challenges, and greater well-being is the result.*
With those words, author Rick Hanson outlines the foundation
for his solution to managing stress. He argues that we have three
basic needs—safety, satisfaction, and connection—which, if met,
result in a state of fulfillment and internal happiness that enables
us to thrive in the face of challenging demands that would otherwise
result in stress and associated strains. In other words, when we are
not fearful, when we have what we think we need, and when we have
positive relationships with others, we experience resilience and low
stress and can flourish regardless of whatever we’re confronted with.
©Roberts Publishing Services, Inc.
The author then suggests that there are four general means by which
these three needs can be met. We have to recognize what’s true, we
have to build internal resources, we have to regulate our thoughts, and we have to relate skillfully
to others.
The chapters in Hanson’s book primarily focus on the 12 more specific strengths that individuals can develop to satisfy the three needs. As an example, Hanson suggests that compassion for
oneself is a fundamental strength necessary for building resilience. He argues that being less selfcritical of who we truly are fosters self-acceptance and a sense of calmness and safety. When we
feel this way, we can deal with challenges more effectively and experience less stress. Examples of
other strengths mentioned by Hanson include mindfulness, confidence, calmness, and generosity.
Hanson offers short exercises that individuals can do to develop each of the 12 strengths
discussed in the book’s chapters. As an example, to practice building compassion for oneself,
Hanson suggests that one should take time to relax and bring to mind instances where one has
felt cared for by others and where one has felt compassion toward others, and to open up to and
bring forward the feelings experienced during these occasions. With practice, these feelings can
be evoked when demands are heavy, so that rather than feeling pressure and stress, a sense of
calmness takes over. Exercise like this might not be for everyone; in fact, some of you might think
they’re downright silly. However, the ideas and exercises are grounded in longstanding Buddhist
principles and seem to be gaining popularity in workplace wellness programs, so it just might be
worthwhile to give them a shot.
*Source: by Hanson, Rick. New York: Harmony Books, 2018.
CHAPTER 5
A third category of strain-reducing practices involves health and wellness programs. For example, almost three-quarters of the organizations in one survey reported having employee assistance
programs intended to help people with personal problems such as alcoholism and other addictions. More than 60 percent of organizations in this survey provided employees with wellness
programs and resources. The nature of these programs and resources varies a great deal from organization to organization, but in general, they’re comprehensive efforts that include health screening (blood pressure, cholesterol levels, pulmonary functioning) and health-related courses and
information. Other examples of health and wellness programs intended to reduce strain include
smoking cessation programs, onsite fitness centers or fitness center memberships, and weight
loss and nutrition programs.125 Today, health and wellness programs that encourage and support
exercise are a growing trend. As an example, Humana, a Fortune 100 health care administration
company, implemented a program that allows the 8,500 employees who work at their corporate
headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, to borrow bikes for free from kiosks located throughout the
city.126 As another example, consider how Grant Thornton, the Chicago–based tax, audit, and
advisory firm, encourages exercise: It spent more than $200,000 helping 230 of its employees
train and compete in a marathon. It also reimburses employees for participation in up to three
races or walks per year, and it even set up running clubs in each of its 50 offices.127 Investments in
exercise make sense because the effects of strains, such as burnout and depression, can be reduced
with physical activity. In particular, exercise can prevent a downward spiral where an employee
feels burned out, and this feeds into depression, which increases burnout, and so on. But, how
well do these efforts actually pay off?128 L.L.Bean initiated a comprehensive wellness program for
roughly 5,000 of its employees that included health assessments, health coaching, and onsite
f itness and nutrition programs, and found that the program had a positive return on investment
after the first year and reduced health care costs by almost $400 per employee.129
Takeaways
5.1 Stress refers to the psychological response to demands when there’s something at stake for
the individual and coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity
or resources. Stressors are the demands that cause the stress response, and strains are the
negative consequences of the stress response.
5.2 Stressors come in two general forms: challenge stressors, which are perceived as
opportunities for growth and achievement, and hindrance stressors, which are perceived as
hurdles to goal achievement. These two stressors can be found in both work and nonwork
domains.
5.3 Coping with stress involves thoughts and behaviors that address one of two goals:
addressing the stressful demand or decreasing the emotional discomfort associated with the
demand.
5.4 Individual differences in the Type A Behavior Pattern affect how people experience stress
in three ways. Type A people tend to experience more stressors, appraise more demands as
stressful, and are prone to experiencing more strains.
5.5 The effects of stress depend on the type of stressor. Hindrance stressors have a weak
negative relationship with job performance and a strong negative relationship with
organizational commitment. In contrast, challenge stressors have a weak positive
relationship with job performance and a moderate positive relationship with organizational
commitment.
5.6 Because of the high costs associated with employee stress, organizations assess and manage
stress using a number of different practices. In general, these practices focus on reducing or
eliminating stressors, providing resources that employees can use to cope with stressors, or
trying to reduce the strains.
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Key Terms
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stress
Stressors
Strains
Transactional theory of stress
Primary appraisal
Benign job demands
Hindrance stressors
Challenge stressors
Role conflict
Role ambiguity
Role overload
Daily hassles
Time pressure
Work complexity
Work responsibility
Work–family conflict
Negative life events
p. 125
p. 125
p. 125
p. 125
p. 125
p. 125
p. 126
p. 126
p. 126
p. 126
p. 126
p. 127
p. 127
p. 127
p. 127
p. 128
p. 128
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Financial uncertainty
Family time demands
Personal development
Positive life events
Secondary appraisal
Coping
Behavioral coping
Cognitive coping
Problem-focused coping
Emotion-focused coping
Burnout
Type A Behavior Pattern
Recovery
Social support
Instrumental support
Emotional support
p. 128
p. 129
p. 129
p. 129
p. 129
p. 129
p. 130
p. 130
p. 130
p. 130
p. 135
p. 135
p. 137
p. 137
p. 137
p. 137
Discussion Questions
5.1 Prior to reading this chapter, how did you define stress? Did your definition of stress reflect
stressors, the stress process, strains, or some combination?
5.2 Describe your dream job and then provide a list of the types of stressors that you would
expect to be present. How much of your salary, if any at all, would you give up to eliminate
the most important hindrance stressors? Why?
5.3 If you had several job offers after graduating, to what degree would the level of challenge
stressors in the different jobs influence your choice of which job to take? Why?
5.4 How would you assess your ability to handle stress? Given the information provided in this
chapter, what could you do to improve your effectiveness in this area?
5.5 If you managed people in an organization in which there were lots of hindrance stressors,
what actions would you take to help ensure that your employees coped with the stressors
using a problem-focused (as opposed to emotion-focused) strategy?
Case: Goldman Sachs
For junior-level employees who are trying to impress higher-ups and secure themselves a very
lucrative career in the investment banking and financial services industry, the demands and
stress levels can be especially intense. The responsibility, workload, and time pressure can lead
to all-nighters and the feeling of being overwhelmed, and, in some cases, the consequences
can be deadly. In fact, there have been well-publicized cases where junior-level employees have
committed suicide because they couldn’t cope with the demands of their jobs. As an example,
22-year-old Sarvshreshth Gupta, a Goldman Sachs analyst, killed himself by jumping from an
CHAPTER 5
apartment building into a parking lot due to stress. This occurred just after Gupta told his father
that “it is too much.”
In response to events such as this, and with knowledge of the negative impact of stress
on job performance and the increasing costs associated with stress-related mental health
disability leaves and other stress-related health claims, Goldman Sachs decided to make
significant changes to its employee wellness programs. One key part of this initiative included
a program that helps employees develop resilience. Whereas conventional wellness programs
help employees navigate and cope with the demands they are currently facing, the Goldman
Sachs resilience program is meant to be preventive. The idea is to foster energy and readiness
so that employees can take on highly demanding tasks and to adapt to unforeseen change with
confidence. By shifting the emphasis from helping employees deal with their stress so they can
cope, to helping employees develop resilience to stress so that they can perform optimally in
demanding work environments, the stigma of participation has been reduced. Driven investment
bankers might not care much for a program that reduces their cortisol levels and blood p
ressure,
but the idea of building a competency that allows them to perform at their peak is quite
appealing to them.
Goldman Sachs’ resilience program involves lectures and one-on-one coaching on an o
ngoing
basis and quarterly resilience training for managers. Every other year, a “Resilience Week” is
held in which resilience-related activities and presentations take place. A core e lement of the
resilience program involves mindfulness training. Workshops and other instruction is d
elivered to
help employees become more alert and aware of the present moment, and to be less judgmental.
The idea is that these capabilities allow people to think more clearly and to e xperience calmness
and happiness in highly demanding situations. Although some might be tempted to dismiss
training in resilience and mindfulness as fluffy managerial fads, employees believe that the
program has been beneficial and are more happy with the company.
5.1 Identify and describe the types of demands that Goldman Sachs’ employees experience in
their jobs. Explain why these employees can be motivated and committed to the company
while also experiencing a great deal of stress.
5.2 Describe how Goldman Sachs’ resilience training might influence different parts of the
stress process as it is described in this chapter.
5.3 Identify and describe potential limitations of Goldman Sachs’ resilience training program.
How can these limitations be mitigated?
Sources: Goldman Sachs, Corporate website. W.D. Cohan, “Wall
Street’s Grueling Pace,” The New York Times, October 3, 2015,
tragedies-draw-attention-to-wall-streets-grueling-pace.html; J. La Roche, “A 22-Year-Old Goldman Sachs Analyst’s Death
Has Been Ruled a Suicide,” Business Insider, June 10, 2015, and S. Lebowitz, “The Surprising Way Goldman Sachs Employees Maintain their ’Competitive
Edge,’” Business Insider, July 21, 2015,
Exercise: Managing Stress
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