Occupational stress and its effects on empolyees performance

Thisresearch is carried out with the objectives to identify the measurement scale ofemployees‟ performance, identify the occupational stress factors that impact onemployees‟ performance

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

Vietnam is a developing country and has the emerging market, so theemployees' performance in Vietnamese companies plays a significant role toincrease the competitive advantages However, so far the study for employees'performance in Vietnamese companies has not yet been thoroughly conducted Thisresearch is carried out with the objectives to identify the measurement scale ofemployees‟ performance, identify the occupational stress factors that impact onemployees‟ performance and measure the strength of relationship betweenoccupational stress and employees‟ performance in the Vietnamese companies

Survey and data analysis used to collect the answer for the survey on variousemployees in the South organizational factors Vietnam with the sample size of 250for data analysis

Number of statistical analysis techniques are used to analyze the data collectedvia SPSS program Factor analysis results in the identification of factors havingsignificant impact to employees' performance, and the extraction of five factorgroups named as Time Pressure, Work Colleges , Job Clarity, Support at Work andJob Security Analysis proved that three groups have statistically significantinfluence to the employees' performance in Vietnamese companies, which JobClarity has the highest impact

The research results can be used as a reference for the team leaders, managers,supervisors in Vietnamese companies to enhance and better the employees'performance in the future

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… ….i

ABSTRACT……… ….ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… …iii

LIST OF TABLE……….v

LIST OF FIGURES……… ….vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 2

1.3 Purpose of the study 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Operational definition of terms 3

1.6 Structure of the research……… ……3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Stress 5

2.1.1 The concept and phenomenon ……… 5

2.1.2 Definitions of stress……… …6

2.1.3 Occupational stress……… 7

2.1.4 Theories of Occupational stress……… 8

2.1.4.1 Interactional Theories ……….… 8

2.1.4.2 Transactional Theories……….… 9

2.1.5 Signs and symptoms of occupational stress……… 10

2.1.6 Cause of occupational stress……… 11

2.2 Performance……… ……… 14

2.2.1 Performance in organizational……… 14

2.2.2 Job performance……… 15

2.2.3 Measuring job performance……… 16

2.2.4 Options for measureing job performance objectively……… 17

2.2.5 Relationship between occupational stress and employee‟s performance……….… 18

2.2.6 Conclusion……… 19

2.3 Conceptual Model… ……… 20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 Research Process 22

3.2 Sample Size 24

3.3 Measure Scale 24

3.4 Data Analysis Method………… 26

3.4.1 Reliability measure ………… 27

3.4.2 Validity measure by EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) 27

3.4.3 Multiple regression analysis ……… 28

3.5 Summary………28

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF DATA 30

4.1 Brief description of subjects 30

4.2 Descriptive statistics……… 30

4.3 Patterns of data for each research question……… 31

4.3.1 Preliminary evaluation scale with Cronbach‟s Alpha…… .31

4.3.2 Scale testing by using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)……… 35

4.3.3 Regression analysis……… 39

4.4 Summary……… 43

CHAPTER 5 IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 44

5.1 Conclusions 44

5.2 Implications 44

5.3 Implications……… ….45

5.4 Limitations and recommend for further research 45

Reference……… 47

Appendix……… 52

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Measurement scale 25

Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics……… 31

Table 4.2: Reliability Statistic of Time Pressure 31

Table 4.3: Reliability Statistics of Relationship with Colleges 32

Table 4.4: Reliability Statistics of Job Clarity 33

Table 4.5: Reliability Statistics of Support at work 33

Table 4.6: Reliability Statistics of Job Security………… 34

Table 4.7: Reliability Statistics of Employee Performance 35

Table 4.8: Exploratory Factor Analysis for Independent variables 36

Table 4.9: Exploratory Factor Analysis for Dependent variables 38

Table 4.10: Regression analysis 39

Table 4.11: Hypothesis Result……….…… … 42

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Hunter‟s job performance scheme 17

Figure 2.2: Conceptual model 21

Figure 3.1: Research process 23

Figure 4.1: Result of refined research model 43

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, scope of the study and operational definition of the terms

1.1 Background to the study

Nowadays, stress has become a major problem for employers particularly in developing nations where the employer doesn‟t realize the impact of stress on employee performance which ultimately results in critical managerial dilemmas (Subha and Shakil, 2010) Giga & Hoel (2003) explain that high rates of mergers, acquisitions, increasing economic interdependence among countries due to globalization, technological development, and restructuring have changed the organizational work over the last few decades resulting in time pressure, excessive work demand, relationship with colleges, job clarity and job security which are causing stress

According to Malta (2004), occupational stress is defined as any discomfort which is felt and perceived at a personal level and triggered by instances, events or situations that are too intense and frequent in nature so as to exceed a person's coping capabilities and resources to handle them adequately

Occupational stress presents with various signs and symptoms which according to (HFRS, 2011) are categorized as physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms Physical symptoms include; skin irritation, pain and tightness, indigestion, frequen colds, flu or other infections, nausea, headaches, tiredness, and fainting Emotional symptoms include; swings in mood, feeling nervous, increased worrying, feelings of helplessness, loss of confidence, feeling tense, lack of self-esteem, lack of concentration while behavioural symptoms may include; being more accident prone, change in sleep pattern or difficulty in getting to sleep and waking

tired, poor work, increased dependence on drugs, not looking after yourself, overeating or loss of appetite, poor time management, and impaired speech

Each individual is exposed to a range of stressors at work which ultimately affect his or her performance On the other hand, employee performance is defined

as the outcomes and accomplishments expected of the employee which are valued

by the organization or system that he or she works in There are a variety of factors,

be personal, company-based or external that affect employee performance in an organization among which is stress or work pressure (Rebecca, 2010)

Stress sometimes known as pressure at work can be positive leading to increased productivity However, when this pressure becomes excessive it has a negative impact The individuals perceive themselves as being unable to cope and not to possess the necessary skills to combat their stress (Mead, 2000)

Occupational stress has consequences leading to low organizational performance (Elovainio et al, 2002), and has belittling impact on any organization and individual‟s performance even leading to health care problems Stress is acknowledged to be one of the main causes of absence from work (Mimura et al, 2003) Employees in high numbers report that their job is a source of large amount

of stress they experience throughout the year, which has a very bad and negative effect on their performance due to the symptoms and problems associated with occupational stress (Meneze, 2005)

Therefore, occupational stress is considered a challenge for the employers and because high level stress results in low productivity, and other employee problems

it is necessary that managers find a way of addressing the issue of occupational stress (Elovainio et al, 2002)

1.2 Statement of the problem

Today, stress has become an integral part of jobs in every sector Competition

is growing day by day thus increasing the levels of stress among employees Stress

in organizations is a wide-spread phenomenon with far-reaching practical and

economic consequences The financial crisis and recession of 2008 around the world further contributed in mounting higher levels of stress among employees The organizations, to make themselves efficient in utilization of resources, have gone through entire restructuring, layoffs, downsizing, and mergers This has resulted in unstable employee-employer relationship which has caused a great deal of stress among employees and it affects employee‟s job performance

1.3 Objectives of the study

+ To examine the factors of occupational stress that affect employee performance

1.4 Scope of the study

Vietnamese companies are numerous and of different types However due to the limitations of data availability, research funds and time, the scope of this research is therefore limited to all kinds of Vietnamese companies in the Southern Area of Vietnam

1.5 Operational definition of terms

Occupational stress: can be defined as the "harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or need of the worker"

Performance is defined as the outcomes and accomplishments valued by the organization or system that one works in

1.6 Structure of the research

The structure of the study consists five chapters:

To summarize concepts and theories relating to occupational stress and

employees‟ performance in previous studies which are linked to this research From suchreview, basic theories for studying will be synthesized to develop an initial researchmodel and hypotheses used for the research

Chapter 3: Methodology

Based on the research objectives and scopes, research methodology concerning inchapter 1, and literature review and empirical model presented in chapter 2, this chapterparticularly presents the research design, research methodology and reports the processes

of doing the research

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results

Chapter 4 presents the characteristics of research samples and presents the result

of the research after analyzing data Based on the results, the author will make deepanalysis about each factor that impact on job performance

Chapter 5: Implications and Conclusions

Chapter 5 presents main conclusions and implications based on the results of theprevious chapters, as well as the limitations of this study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This section presents what other scholars, authors, and researchers have talked about occupational stress and employee performance presented according to the study objectives

2.1 Stress

2.1.1 The Concept and Phenomenon

In the past two decades, interest in the concept of stress and research on stress has reached an all-time high (Goldberger & Breznitz, 1993) Originally, stress was seen primarily as a physical ordeal to which humans take action More lately, it has been linked to physical measures, as well as the assessment of actions, which is a cognitive occurrence (Jones et al., 2001)

HansSelye, a biologist, had been lively in the popularization of the stress idea One of his most significant modern theories of psychological stress was in print in

1956, in his book The Stress of Life The literature pursued on stress indicates that Selye was the first researcher to make use of the term“stress”to explain physical and psychological answer to respond to difficult conditions Selye explained the concept

of stress using the conditions distress (bad stress) and eustress (good stress) The degree of insist is basic in Seyle‟s clarification of distress (Le Fevre, et al., 2003) Distress is stand for by either too much or too little insist A moderate level of demand is eustress

Selye investigated the physiological reactions to stress, as a distracted response of the body to any insist made upon it He defined stressor as any incentive that reason a stress response If the stimulus does not decrease, a stress-response the supposed general-adaptation-syndrome results, which has three distinct, stages (Selye, 1956):

1 Alarm-reaction - an living being is exposed to a stimulus that it has not modified to It act in response by going into a stage dominated by a upset response that finally leads to another rejoinder in which the organism begins to offset the initial alarm reaction

2 Stage-of-resistance – the organism has made to order to the stressoror stimulus and any indication improve

3 Stage-of-tiredness – if the stressor has been particularly harsh and drawn-out the symptoms come back and the organism becomes tired

long-2.1.2 Definitions of stress

Stress is defined as “a state of worry that arises from an actual or apparent demand that calls for an change behavior” (Lazarus, 1999) Stress generally has been familiar as an disagreeable emotional condition, which is said to occur when there have been extended, increasing or new force that are significantly greater than the coping resources (Siegrist, 2001) The penalty of stress include health harms and reduction in work show success It pressure negatively on the organization and the individual‟s physical and mental system This could result in summary performance, absenteeism, accidents, unprincipled behavior, displeasure and sickness

Physiological responses to stress are referred to as the „fight or flight‟ response The fight response is the body reacting to the need to cope by reacting Continued high levels of stress can direct to serious health circumstances including hypertension cancer, and psychological illnesses such as sadness or collapse (Palmer, et al., 2003)

Two persons exposed to the similar situation could have dissimilar responses due to the purpose nature of the variables The reasons why individuals practice stress differently may include internal and external factors The interior factors may

be personality, age gender, and people past experiences External factors that may influence response to stress include atmosphere, diet, and drug Behavioral response

to stress also differs, as people choose behaviors that they think will help them grip stress (Zwickel, 1994)

2.1.3 Occupational Stress

Stress caused due to a person‟s work or employment is termed as occupational stress The occupational stress, or occupational stress is used interchangeably (Dollard, 2003) McGrath (1970) has provided one of the most widely accepted definitions of occupational stress: „apparent, substantial inequity between demand and response ability, under circumstances where failure to convene the demands has significant, apparent cost (p.20).” Occupational Stress is carefull to be a person psychological state, which has to do with the person‟s perception of the work environment and the moving practice of it (Cox, et al., 2000) In the past decade, effects of economic globalization and quick technical changes have resulted in increased workloads and a faster pace in the work place Up to date trends such as organizational downsizing, struggle for funding, and high insist jobs have led to rising occupational stress (Dollard, 2003)

Jones, et al., (2001) consider that the term work-related stress has in the past been used to contain a variety of environmental stimuli, stress response and other factors that influence the association between the two Unmanaged stress for employees can result in shorthand long term off-putting health effects including tiredness, bodily pain, depression, sleep turbulence, and even demise (Brock & Grady, 2002; Le Fevre, et al., 2003)

The basis and characteristics of occupational stress have been the subject of much research Sutherland & Cooper (2000, pp.3-23) developed five categories of possible sources of psychosocial and occupational stress Other factors that are potential stressors include live events that may cause stress such as home, family and demands, matrimonial troubles, and conflicts between job and family demands (Sutherland & Cooper, 2000)

The above definition highlights three important ideas, namely that (a) situational demands cause individuals to adapt; (b) individuals be probable to react

and adapt in different ways to stressors, and (c) that some form of responses will occur, be it physical and psychological Furthermore, it can also be incidental that there are two distinct types of stressors; those which are found within the individual, which include personal principles, attitudes and self-concepts, and those that kick off outside the individual, which include environmental and work-related stressors (Kinman & Jones, 2001)

The aforementioned definitions clearly reflect that the researchers have viewed the concept of occupational stress in numerous ways It is not just an environmental stimulus or response to environmental demands, but also a lively relational concept There is constant communication between the person and the environment, which is refereed by a complex set of ongoing cognitive processes

2.1.4 Theories of Occupational Stress

There are a variety of occupational stress theories These explanations of occupational stress differ according to the emphasis for the induction of stress and the different outcomes for the management of stress (LeFevre et al., 2003; Dollard, 2003) Theories of occupational stress have been categorized by as either interactional (Cox, Griffiths, & Rial-Gonzalez, 2000)

2.1.4.1 Interactional Theories

Interactional theories of stress focal point on the structural features of the person‟s interface with their work environment (Dollard, 2003) Early researchers used fundamental input-output or stimulus-response approaches, whereby the scale

to which major life events or features of work design predicted a negative outcome – be it, psychological, physiological or behavioral (Jones& Kinman, 2001) In the 1930s and 1940s, conversely, stimulus-based definitions of stress deem stress to be

an self-regulating variable (generally environmental) that causes an individual to respond Modern definitions of stress take into account both the individual and the environment

More recently, the specific conditions under which stressors lead to nervous tension have become the predominant focus of research This focus includes the way in which factors in the individual or the environmental interact to determine the level of negative effects practiced as strain (Jones & Kinman, 2001) In the occupational stress literature, the environmental-stimulus-individual response definition cause what is known as the stressors and strain approach The relationship between stressors and strain is consideration to be causal

Hence, much of the research focuses on sensing various occupational stressors and examining their relationship to diverse indices of nervous tension, including measuring individual and organizational factors that might restrain this relationship (Hart & Cooper, 2001)

Frese, (1999) believe social support as one variable that intercede the relationship between stressors and strain By providing emotional support in the form of loving; corroboration of the appropriateness of one‟s accounts; and instrumental support, coworkers and supervisors support one‟s sense of fit in the work group Moreover, such social support is thought to serve as a buffer-between occupational stressors and adverse effects on health Frese also offer data for the

„buffer hypothesis‟ He found that the relationship between occupational stressors and dysfunction changes as a purpose of difference in social support – when social support is lofty, the association is lesser

2.1.4.2 Transactional Theories

Transactional theories of stress focus on the person‟s touching response related to their surroundings The traditional causal model of stress has been prolonged from indirect conceptualization to a transactional explanation, whereby stress is “entrenched in an ongoing procedure that involves individuals handle with their environments, making appraisals of those encounters, and efforts to cope with the issues that arise” (Cooper, et al., 2001, p 12)

At the transactional analysis, strain occurs because of a perception that environmental demands go beyond personal possessions (Lazarus & Folkman,

1986) Moreover, causation can be mutual, whereby the level of nervous tension experienced by an individual may produce a tendency to meet stressors According

to Folkman and Lazarus (1991), assessment comprises the successive processes of primary appraisal continuous-monitoring of environmental-conditions with a center

on whether there are likely to be consequences for the individual‟s happiness, and secondary evaluation, what can be done should such cost occur, that is, the identification of a possible managing strategy Coping refers to any effortful attempt

to vary environmental circumstances or manage feeling regardless of outcome (Lazarus & Folkman, 1991)

Following to the operation of a coping plan, reappraisal of the situation, and of the final effects of the coping response, occurs The cognitive-nature of the appraisal process and the inevitability of its influence on the success of coping construct evaluation of coping outcomes largely one-sided and, therefore, very difficult to gauge (Hart & Cooper, 2001) The discussion on the interactional or transactional theories of occupational stress exposed that the researchers have conceptualized these theories in more than a few fundamentally dissimilar ways The central point of interactional-theories of stress is the structural appearance of the person‟s communication with their work environment, whereas, the transactional-theories of stress center on the person‟s moving reactions and cognitive development related to their environment

2.1.5 Signs and symptoms of occupational stress

Occupational stress has various symptoms from which it can be identified Signs and symptoms of stress vary from one individual to another but can be generalized and grouped in 3 types; namely physical, emotional, and behavioural signs/symptoms (HFRS, 2011)

The physical signs and symptoms of stress include; palpitations/throbbing heart, skin irritation or rashes, pain and tightness in the chest, fainting, indigestion, frequent colds, flu or other infections, breathlessness, recurrence of previous illnesses, nausea, constipation or diarrhoea, headaches, rapid weight gain or loss,

muscle twitches, tiredness, vague aches and pains, and alteration of the menstrual pattern in women (Schultz & Schultz, 2002)

Emotional Signs and symptoms include; swings in mood, feeling nervous, apprehensive, anxious, increased worrying, feelings of helplessness, irritability, loss

of confidence, feeling tense, lack of self-esteem, drained/no enthusiasm, lack of concentration, cynical, and withdrawal into daydreams (Malta, 2004)

Behavioural signs and symptoms also may include; more accident prone, change in sleep pattern or difficulty in getting to sleep and waking tired, poor work, loss of interest in sex, increased smoking, withdrawal from supportive relationships, increased consumption of alcohol, too busy to relax, increased dependence on drugs, not looking after yourself, overeating or loss of appetite, poor time management, and impaired speech (Mead, 2000)

2.1.6 Causes of occupational stress

It is generally believed that occupational stress is associated with the aversive

or unpleasant emotional states that people experience as a consequence of their work For example, Kyriacou & Sutcliffe (2001) defined occupational stress as the experience of unpleasant emotions, such as tension, frustration, anxiety, anger, and depression This definition has been used extensively in the occupational stress literature (e.g Newton, 2009), and is similar to definitions of psychological distress (Headey, & Wearing, 2002) Several influential theories have also reinforced this view by emphasizing the link between occupational stress and psychological strain (Beehr & Newman, 1978; French, Caplan, & Harrison, 1982; Cooper, 1998), but for the purposes of this study emphasis will be occupational stress

There are many reasons why your job can cause you stress, including the obvious (being just in the wrong type of job for your personality Being unable to cope with the day to day needs of your job can easily lead to acute stress levels building up Equally (and may be surprisingly) so can being bored with your occupation and finding it all too easy

Time pressure: Time pressure has been found to degrade performance across a

variety of cognitive domains The range of performance domain that have been found to suffer under time pressure include;: Judgment and decision making (Entin

& Serfaty, 1990; Raby & Wickens, 1990; Rothstein & Markowitz, 1982; Sperandio, 1971; Stokens, Kemper, & Marsh, 1992; Walton & Mckersie, 1965; Zakay & Wooler, (1984), visual search behavior, vigilance and attention processes (Streufert

& Streufert, 1981; Wickens, Stokes, Barnett, & Hyman, 1991; Weight, 1974), Memory recall strategies (Cambell & Austin, 2002), concession making and integrative agreements (Pruitt, 1981; Pruitt & Canrnevale, 1982; Rubin & Brown, 1975; Walton & McKersie, 1965), and subject„s self-rating of performance (Greenwood-Ericksen & Ganey,2002)

Relationship with Colleges: According to Sutherland and Cooper (2000), the

quality of interpersonal associations at work is important in that helpful relationships are less likely to create force associated with competition In addition, the relationship can be potentially stressful when the leadership style is demanding and acknowledgment and praise for effort are valuable for bosssubordinate association In combination with this, point to that in situation where the relationship between supervisor and subordinate is harmful, problems of emotional unsteadiness may occur (Cartwright & Cooper, 1997)

According to Michie (2002), working with people that you don't like and don't 'get on with' can be a huge source of occupational stress Giga & Hoel (2003) say that spending many hours each day with people you hate can be very bad for your long term health, especially if you get angry or resentful regularly and therefore trying to find ways of improving relationships with colleagues at work would do better in reducing this kind of stress

Job Security: The physical layout of the workspace, furniture, noise, lighting,

temperature, overall comfort, physical security, the quality of air, informal and formal meeting areas, quiet areas, privacy, personal storage, work areas, etc, all have effect on performance of employees A good workplace normally enhances employee‟s productivity, and vice versa Therefore, improving the working

environment can reduce complaints and absenteeism while increasing performance

of employees

“Quality of the physical workplace environment may have a strong influence

on a company‟s ability to recruit and retain talented people The behavioral factors

in workplace environment may be considered keys affecting employee‟s performance which may include engagement, productivity, morale, comfort level, etc It is accepted that better workplace environment motivates employees and produces better results People working under inconvenient conditions may end up with low performance and face occupational health diseases causing high absenteeism and turnover” (Demet Leblebici, 2012)

Malta (2004) writes that gone are the days of a 'job for life' The threat of losing a job makes life generally very stressful Workers also put up with more hassles just to keep a job According to Schultz & Schultz (2002), changing occupations is far more common now days - this can be one of the most stressful times in a person‟s life

Support at Work: Support from supervisors and colleagues helps to reduce stress at work place Without much support from the supervisors and peers, the workers feel alone and deserted and their pace of work and performance retards

Working in a harmony environment where employees are friendly, employers are supportive and treat everyone equally, and all members are ready to help and interact with each other, enthusiasm for other and sharing knowledge, experience, information to each other that definitely result in improving performance of each individual and the whole organization, and vice verse Haynes (2008, in Demet Leblebici, 2012) explains the behavioral components of the office environment that have the greatest impact on office productivity In all of the work patterns, it was found that interaction was perceived to be the component to have the most positive effect on productivity, and distraction was perceived to have the most negative In short, it is widely accepted that both physical and behavioral factors have great impact on employees‟ performance or productivity

Job Clarity: Stress is created where the employee lacks information regarding

his authorities, tasks to be performed, duties and powers

Classical role theory (Kahn et al., 1964) defined role ambiguity as the lack of information available to perform one‟s responsibilities effectively Individuals experiencing role ambiguity lack adequate information about what their responsibilities are and insufficient information about the process to accomplish these responsibilities First, the expectations need to be known, and secondly, knowledge of activities required to fulfil those expectations is also needed (Kahn et al., 1964) Role ambiguity can be understood in terms of the outcome expected from individuals and the clarity of the behavioural requirements that need to be fulfilled

to meet those outcomes, such as which behaviours are considered to be appropriate (Rizzo, House, & Lirtzman, 1970) Role ambiguity is a lack of clarity regarding the expectations for one's role, the methods for fulfilling those expectations, and the consequences for effective or ineffective performance (Biddle, 1979; Van Sell, Brief, & Schuler, 1981) More recently, researchers (Yun, Takeuchi, & Liu, 2007; Burney & Widner, 2007; Marginson, 2006) have found role ambiguity to be associated with a lack of information on goals, conditions in which the job is to be performed, responsibilities, and duties to perform one‟s job effectively

2.2 Performance

2.2.1 Performance in organizations

Performance in organizations can be separated in organizational performance and job performance (Otley, 1999) According to Otley, the performance of organizations is dependent upon the performance of employees (job performance) and other factors such as the environment of the organization The distinction between organizational and job performance is evident; an organization that is performing well is one that is successfully attaining its objectives, in other words: one that is effectively implementing an appropriate strategy (Otley, 1999) and job performance is the single result of an employee‟s work (Hunter, 1986) Since the aim of this thesis is to provide a link between motivating employees and their

performance, organizational performance lies outside the scope of this research and only job performance is addressed

2.2.2 Job performance

A good employee performance is necessary for the organization, since an organization‟s success is dependent upon the employee‟s creativity, innovation and commitment (Ramlall, 2008) Good job performances and productivity growth are also important in stabilizing our economy; by means of improved living standards, higher wages, an increase in goods available for consumption, etc (Griffin et al., 1981) Griffin et al also argue that therefore research of individual employee performance is important to society in general

Employee production and employee job performance seems to be related; e.g

in the U.S performance is in some cases measured as the number and value of goods produced However, in general productivity tends to be associated with production-oriented terms (e.g profit and turnover) and performance is linked to efficiency or perception-oriented terms (e.g supervisory ratings and goal accomplishments) (Pincus, 1986)

According to Hunter and Hunter (1984) crucial in a high job performance is the ability of the employee himself The employee must be able to deliver good results and have a high productivity Hunter and Hunter (1984) also argue that this

is something the organization can know at forehand; they can select employees with the required abilities or they can recruit those employees themselves Of course the latter is more time consuming, but can obtain better results in the end (Hunter, 1986)

Vroom‟s (1964), Hunter & Hunter‟s (1984), Hunter‟s (1986), etc results are evident Namely, Job performance can be divided in personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities Some researchers even argue that personality has a more specific role in job performance However, according to Bishop (1989) and others, job performance contains a problem; namely the measurement of performance

2.2.3 Measuring job performance

According to Kostiuk and Follmann (1989) in most organizations performance

is measured by supervisory ratings, however these data are not very useful since they are highly subjective

Bishop (1989) adds to this that in most jobs an objective measure of productivity does not exist Bishop (1989) also states that the consistency of worker performance is greatest when conditions of work are stable, but in practice work conditions never are stable This makes it even harder to measure performances objectively According to Perry and Porter (1982), the performance of many employees probably will be measured despite the lack of availability of generally accepted criteria

However, job performance is more than the ability of the employee alone Herzberg (1959) and Lindner (1998) refer to the managerial side of performance According to Herzberg (1959) performance is: let an employee do what I want him

to do This implies that the organization‟s hierarchy and task distribution are also critical for a good employee performance Lindner (1998) adds to this statement by arguing that employee performance can be perceived as “obtaining external funds” According to Vroom (1964) an employee‟s performance is based on individual factors, namely: personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities Many researchers agree that job performance is divided in those five factors (e.g Hunter

& Hunter, 1984) Some researchers even argue that a person‟s personality has a more specific role in job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991) However, according to various researchers, it is not what performance exactly means, but how

it is composed and how it is measured (Furnham, Forde & Ferrari, 1998; Barrick & Mount, 1991)

Perry and Porter (1982) and Bishop (1989) both argue the problem of objective measuring, however according to Bishop (1989) the problem even increases because most employers believe they can rate the productivity of their employees, and that it is done in an inefficient manner

However, Bishop (1989) states, it is not impossible, but only costly to obtain objective information about a worker‟s effort and productivity It is stated before that some researchers argue that a person‟s personality plays a more specific role in job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991) However, the effect personal characteristics and education have on performance is difficult to interpret, since those estimates are imprecise and the models who claimed that can interpret them are rejected as invalid (Kostiuk & Follmann,1989) However, Kostiuk and Follmann do argue that personality differences seem to be important in the relationship with performance

It can be stated that job performance contains a problem; the measurement of

it Job performances are commonly measured by supervisory ratings and those ratings are not perceived as objective However, it seems that there are alternative options to measure job performance; these are addresses in the next paragraph

2.2.4 Options for measuring job performance objectively

Breaugh (1981) states in his research that there are four different performance dimensions on which employees are measured, named: quality, quantity, dependability and job knowledge This theory combined with Vroom‟s (1964) theory results in the work of Hunter (1986) He designed the route in which most employers can rate their employee‟s productivity

Figure 2.1: Hunter‟s (1986) job performance scheme

According to Hunter (1986) learning the job is the key to job performance, and general cognitive ability predicts learning Therefore general cognitive ability is the key predictor of job performance General cognitive ability together with job knowledge indicates job performance and allows the employee‟s supervisor to rate performance According to Hunter this is a simplified but an effective and objective way to measure employee performance Kostiuk and Follmann (1989) add to the statement of Hunter (1986) that employees with good abilities in combination with sufficient experience are twice as productive after two years and therefore learning the job is indeed a key to performance Hunter (1986) argues that supervisory ratings based on ability provide more objective measurements

However, despite the higher objectivity in the theory of Hunter (1986) this type of measuring job performance is still based on supervisor ratings And supervisory ratings are commonly rejected as being objective (Bishop, 1989) Griffin et al (1981) concluded in their literature review that there are few true objective options to measure job performance; one alternative is used in the research of Umstot, Bell, & Mitchell, in 1976 Namely; take job performance as

“the average number of units produced per hour for one day; adjusted for set-up and called productivity”

Griffin et al (1981) argue that there are some other options to measure job performance objectively, but they have more to do with productivity; e.g job performance taken as “number of units produced divided by total time worked (i.e., items per minute)”

It seems that performance in organizations is commonly measured subjectively, but there exist few alternatives for objective ways However, the scope

of this thesis is not on designing an objective measurement for job performance Therefore, in this thesis, the measurement of job performance is taken as an entity

2.2.5 Relationship between occupational stress and employee’s performance

(Ivancevich& Donnelly, 1975) studied the link between anxiety stress with satisfaction and performance of employees, that lower anxiety stress improves performance of employee‟s which he studied in different managerial level of an organization (Beehr, Jex, Stacy & Murray, 2000) found the relationship between occupational stressors an the performance of employees of an organization as well

as it can affect the employees psychologically (Jamal, 1984) studied a association between job stress and job performance between managers and blue-collar employees Stress on job can be stated as the outcome of an individual due to the working environment from which he feels unsecured Numerous studies found that stress influences the employees‟ job satisfaction and their overall performance in their work Because most of the organizations now are more demanding for the better job outcomes In fact, modern times have been called as the “age of anxiety and stress” (Coleman, 1976).The stress itself will be affected by number of stressors

2.2.6 Conclusion

Performance in organizations can be divided in organizational performance and job performance A good employee performance is necessary for the organization, since an organization‟s success is dependent on employee‟s creativity, innovation and commitment (Ramlall, 2008) It is generally accepted that an employee‟s performance is based on individual factors, namely: personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities (Vroom, 1964)

Job performance also has its implications; the measurement of job performance is mostly not objective In most organizations employee‟s performances are measured by supervisory ratings

According to Perry and Porter (1982) one cause is that there are no generally accepted criteria for measurements Hunter (1986) argued in his theory that ability and job knowledge play the most important role in job performance and designed a framework for measuring job performance in a less subjective manner Although, it

seems that there exist alternatives for measuring job performance objectively but they are scarce

Occupational stress is a big threat to very many organizations because it affects the employees‟ performance as well as the performance of the whole organization If nothing is done to reduce it, it may lead to loss of productivity through sicknesses and absenteeism as well as organizational financial resources to compensate for its workers health

2.3 Conceptual Model

Following the theory of stress, causes of occupational stress and the relationship between stress at work and performance of employees, the model is set based on the main factors causing stress (Time pressure, Relationship with colleges, Support at work, Job clarity, Job security) and also its impact on the Employee performance

H1: There is a relationship between Time pressure and Employee performance

H2: There is a relationship between Work colleges and Employee performance

H3: There is a relationship between Job clarify and Employee performance H4: There is a relationship between Support at work and Employee

performance

H5: There is a relationship between Job security and Employee performance

Figure 2.2: Conceptual model

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter showed all steps of the research process, the minimum

sample size,measurement scale, main survey and data analysis method

3.1 Research Process

The research process was summarized as following steps

Step 1: Define the research problems, research questions and research

purposes

Step 2: Review the literature background from the previous research,

then a conceptual model was set up and hypotheses were proposed

Step 3: Made and revise the draft questionnaire.

Step 4: Conduct the main survey and collect data within 4 weeks.

Step 5: Edit, code and adjust missing data before testing reliable and validity

of data

In order to prepare the data to analysis, data were edited, coded and adjusted for missing data Next, reliability of measuring instrument was analyzed by calculation Cronbach‟s alpha which was required above 7 (Hair et al., 2010)

Step 6: Test the hypotheses of research and define relationship of factors

through the Multiple linear regression analysis

The Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to evaluate the relationship between five independent variables, including “Time Pressure”, “Relationship with Colleges”, “Job Clarity”, “Support at work” and “Job Security” and one dependent variable, namely “Employee's Performance”

All steps were illustrated by the following Figure 3.1

Figure 3.1: Research process

3.2 Sample size

The reliable and validity of variables were tested by using Cronbach‟s Alpha and EFA, after that the multiple regression was applied to test model and hypotheses

First of all, the sample size was required to have enough quantity for the analysis The minimum sample size was 100 and not less than five times of items (Hair et al 2010), thus:

n > 100 and n = 5k (where k is the number of items)

Thus, the minimum sample size was 5x22 = 110 samples

In addition, based on five independent factors of the conceptual model, the multiple regression analysis required sample size at least (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007):

50 + (8xm) = 50 + (80x5) = 90 samples

Where m: is the number of independent factors of the model

Consequently, the minimum sample size should be 200 Based on the actual collection data, the quantity of available respondents from the questionnaire survey estimated 250, so that samples met the requirements above

Timeframe to survey was from the middle of August, 2014 to at the end of September, 2014

There were 200 hand-delivered questionnaires and 300 email, only 267 respondents gave feedback, but quantity of available respondents was 250

3.3 Measurement Scale

In order to operate concepts, it was necessary to measure them in some manners, so different variables were required to choose an appropriate scale The independent variables were applied interval scale with five - point of Likert scale consisting of totally strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4) and strongly agree (5); beside, the dependent variable was applied the same measure consisting of strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4) and strongly agree (5)