1

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION, CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental

illness,” was once observed by Richard Carlson. This distinctly brings to

light the understated appalling truth flowing as an undercurrent all

through the economic circuits. Men ostensibly for making a living have

actually forgotten how to live. Each human today seems to be living in an

abysmally ignorant state, striding blindly towards making it big in life.

Every effort, every penny, every miniscule second of time is seen in

terms of investment and is very unsurprisingly weighed against the

returns it is likely to yield before all else. Any minute “wasted” is

corroborated with money lost. An individual’s personal life, relations,

leisure pursuits and all the like seem to have taken a backseat while the

mad rush towards a bigger brighter future is in the fore. All this has

resulted in money rich-time poor individuals. This in the long run is a

penny wise pound foolish situation, because the riches and the accolades

actually come at the cost of the individual’s physical and psychological

well-being, as is, ironically, also vouched by the common phrase ‘there

are no free lunches in the corporate world’.

2

Today, corporate world is no more a ‘nine to five’ scene. It has

registered radical transformations over the past years accredited to

globalization, liberalization, greater freedom to private sector,

technological revolution especially extensive use of computers and

enormous ‘gadgetization’ in general. Product of the aforesaid is increased

and erratic work hours, heightened expectations from workforce, rigid

deadlines and work targets, pressing work environments, constant

demands so on and so forth. This, in turn, takes a toll on the executives

and as a result ‘This job is killing me’ has become a common phrase at

workplace. Sadly so, this is not just an expression, citing data from the

World Health Organization; heart disease is projected to account for 35%

of deaths among India’s working age population between 2000 and 2030

as compared to about 12% in the United States, 22% in China and 25% in

Russia. A growing body of evidence also suggests that job stress is

associated with a wide variety of physical ailments, including

cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders and psychological

illness. ‘We live longer than our forefathers; but we suffer more from a

thousand artificial anxieties and cares. They fatigued only the muscles,

we exhaust the finer strength of the nerves’, wise saying by Edward

George Bulwer-Lytton, every bit of which is true to the core.

3

Job stress, undoubtedly, is a key driver of health care costs but, the

true price tag is far greater. Employee productivity and well-being is

compromised by stress in numerous ways: absenteeism; litigation in

workers compensation system and employer-employee relations;

grievances; accidents due to narrowing of attention and preoccupation;

errors of judgment and action due to concern about troublesome issues;

conflict and interpersonal problems arising from diverse work-force and

increased use of teams in our increasingly service-based economy;

violence caused by interpersonal challenges and conflicts, combined with

the fact that many people are operating just below their “boiling point”

creates a potentially volatile situation; resistance to change as humans are

intrinsically “hardwired” to revert to familiar routines and behaviour

patterns when stressed; loss of intellectual capital, i.e., lack of

appreciation of combined knowledge, know-how, proprietary expertise,

and wisdom of a work-force due to executives merely trying to survive in

stressful situations and not caring about excellence and innovation; and

categorically customer service problems. Having stressed-out and

depleted employees, serve the public, virtually guarantees alienated

customers. This can have very serious implications in the service

industry, especially in an essentially customer-oriented field such as

banking.

4

Competitive edge in the 21st century economy can be attained

essentially depending upon the human capital in an organization.

Corporate survival in the present knowledge and information age is fail-

safe largely if there is periodic measurement of real value and assessment

of total performance of human capital, followed by bona fide efforts to

retain and maintain quality human capital. Work-force needs to be

qualified, seasoned, sound mentally and physically, should take initiative,

bear a team spirit, etc. But, most importantly it is the attitude and the

enthusiasm that counts, i.e., employee morale takes the center stage.

Executives high on morale will continue to work with an ardent zeal

towards organizational goal attainment, will infuse a positive vibe into

the organization, will be co-operative and willing to work in teams, will

positively contribute to the organization’s competence and knowledge

pool and would be bliss for the customers. Roots go deeper still; the level

of morale borne by an employee will further depend upon various

tangible and intangible factors associated with one’s job. Therefore, it

assumes utmost importance that definite tickers for executives’

motivation and morale are known with certainty. This would facilitate

reaching a pragmatic equation between employer and employee ensuring

win-win situation for both wherein organizations get to possess

competent work-force and employees too feel well provided for and

cherished, bear a high morale, have a sense of belongingness and

involvement.

5

Job involvement, indeed, has earned colossal worth thanks to its

associated by-products such as improved performance levels, elevated

productivity levels, greater profitability, advanced customer-focus, safety,

lower absenteeism, higher retention levels and overall furtherance of

organization's interests, to name a few. The extent to which an executive

is involved or alienated from one’s job has serious consequences not just

for the individual himself but for the whole organization in entirety.

Unquestionably, the aforementioned highlights the relevance of job

involvement especially in the consumer centered domain such as banking.

This, consequently, evokes the interest of organizations, executives and

behavioural scientists alike.

In a customer sovereign economy such as ours, organizations have

begun to realize that the stakes being high an effective way to affect the

firm's stock price is by making use of leverage of intellectual assets

especially human resource. Job stress among executives has virtually

achieved the status of epidemic and has begun to be viewed as an

antecedent for all bad that happens in the organization. It more often than

not has an influence on employees’ morale and other psychological

aspects, job involvement being one. All the three variables, viz. job stress,

employee morale and job involvement have been discussed further one

after another.

6

JOB STRESS

Job stress is the strain, anxiety or the pressures that an individual

faces at workplace while coping with the incessant and numerous

demands or expectations put before him. Situation worsens when the

capabilities fall short of the expectations or demands. Job stress is the

product of mismatch between potential of an individual and the job

demands made upon him; it is manifested in the form of harmful physical

and mental reaction. It could also be a result of poor match between

resources and requirements of an individual at work. Job stress results

from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of work. Each

employee will react differently to a given job condition depending upon

one’s personality and coping skills. Although the importance of

individual differences cannot be ignored but certain working conditions

are stressful to most people, viz. increase in work intensity, working at

high speeds, working against tight deadlines, working very long hours,

layoffs, harassment, a person's status in the workplace and finally greater

competition and higher expectations from employees emanating from the

productivity boon attributable to computer and communications

revolutions.

Job stress is widely prevalent, omnipresent and a costly issue.

Every third executive at workplace reports a high level of stress and every

fourth employee views his job as the principal cause of stress in his life.

7

Job stress is also a costly problem in today's workplace as evidence

suggests that stress is the major cause of turnover in organizations. Job

stress is omnipresent because it is very much a reality for those who have

very little influence to those who make major decisions for the

organization.

Job stress-associated disorders cover an extensive range of

conditions, ranging from psychological disorders; depression, anxiety,

etc. emotional strain; dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension, etc. maladaptive

behaviours; aggression, substance abuse, etc. and cognitive impairment;

concentration and memory problems. In turn, these conditions may bring

about poor work performance, injury and various biological reactions that

may lead ultimately to compromised health or in extreme cases death.

However, primary prevention strategy would include focusing on workers

and job redesign.

Good Stress Vs. Bad Stress

Stress has time and again been misconstrued to be just negative,

while rarely so its positive significance and utility comes to the fore.

Given that total avoidance of stress is practically impossible, telling apart

good from bad stress gets all the more important if one wishes to shun the

bad (together with all its associated physical and psychological issues)

and capitalize on the good (for the better it does).

8

Stress can actually be of four types, viz. eustress, distress,

hyperstress and hypostress. These have been discussed as follows:

(i) Eustress

This is a positive form of stress, which gets an employee ready

mentally and physically to deal with the forthcoming challenges and

gives the employee an opportunity for attaining inspiration and courage.

(ii) Distress

This is a negative form of stress. This occurs when an employee

fails, mentally and physically, to deal with a change and normally occurs

when things do not go as planned. This may be acute, i.e., intense but

short lived or chronic, i.e., persisting over a longer time span.

(iii) Hyperstress

This is another negative form of stress. This happens due to an

employee’s inability to deal with workload. Example: An employee

finding it difficult to handle long duration of work hours. This type of

stress suffered by an employee usually projects itself by way of sudden

emotional outbreaks over trivial issues.

(iv) Hypostress

This is also a negative form of stress. This arises when a person

finds nothing worthwhile of doing and constantly feels bored and

9

uninterested. Like other two negative forms of stress hypostress should

also be discouraged to avoid productivity and alertness losses, instead job

rotation and other innovative methods should be deployed for making

mundane jobs interesting.

EMPLOYEE MORALE

Employee morale is the degree of willingness or enthusiasm with

which an individual is ready to strive towards attainment of the

organizational goals. Employee morale is a measure of an individual’s

attitude towards his work, the organization and the work fraternity.

Employee morale is representative of an individual’s zeal towards

organizational goal attainment. Morale is a state of mind, it is a depiction

of an employee’s resolution, courage and hope. It is also the confidence

and loyalty with which an employee works and contributes in an

organization.

Positive or high employee morale is a connotation of prevalence of

decent human resource policies in an organization. Employee morale is

also indicative of the degree of satisfaction an individual is drawing from

one’s job and the nature of the organizational image borne by an

employee. The kind of equation an employee shares with others in the

organization, especially the higher ups, is also projected in the employee

morale. Employee morale is also a reflection of the expected career

10

progression in the organization and the extent to which an employee’s

psychological and material needs are validated.

Employee morale is determined by a number of factors and job

satisfaction is one with prime significance. Job satisfaction measures the

contentment degree an employee attains from one’s job. Some

researchers are of the opinion that employee morale is the same as job

satisfaction, while others feel that job satisfaction is a sub-set of

employee morale. Latter approach has been used for the purpose of this

study wherein job satisfaction is considered as a vital indicator of

employee morale.

JOB INVOLVEMENT

Job involvement is the extent to which an individual identifies with

one’s job, i.e., the extent to which an employee thinks of one’s job as an

important part of one’s self-concept. How significant the job is in

defining who the employee is. How well a job projects one’s self-image.

The amount of time one is willing to consecrate towards one’s job,

towards its betterment and growth. It is the dedication with which one

absorbs oneself in the job.

Usually, there prevails a certain obscurity about the three terms:

job involvement, job engagement and workaholism. However, these

11

terms have been discussed here to have their clear understanding. Job

involvement in point of fact is different and in many ways superior than

job engagement and workaholism. While job engagement is merely

concerned with execution of an assigned job, job involvement depicts the

dedication and sincerity with which an assigned job will be done.

Workaholism is an addiction or obsession for work where the executives

feel an innate compulsion to do it, but despite logging in an extraordinary

amount of hours and sacrificing their health and loved ones for their jobs,

workaholics are normally ineffective on their jobs. On the other hand, a

job involved person exhibits devotion and loyalty towards the job and a

keenness for efficient job completion. A job involved person wilfully

spends considerable time on the job but accompanied with perseverance

for precision.

Job involvement is discernible by improved performance,

productivity and profitability. It is also marked by readiness to take up

extra work and devote additional time to it. Other perquisites attributable

to job involvement include superior customer attention, security, better

attendance and presence, improved retention, and by and large betterment

of organization's welfare.

12

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Although it is difficult to define the three terms exactly, best effort

has been made to draw some conclusions on the basis of views given by

several credible authors. Various authors and dictionaries have given the

meanings of these variables in their own way which have been discussed

as follows.

Job Stress

Broad-spectrum perceptible idea about job stress is the strain

associated with one’s work and workplace. Even so, our thorough

understanding of the concept of job stress is of immense significance as it

underlies all studies and theories regarding its behaviour. Different

behavioural scientists have approached the problem of defining job stress

in different ways.

The word ‘stress’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary

(www.oxforddictionaries.com, 2011) as ‘a state of mental or emotional

strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances’. A

condition or circumstance (not always adverse), which can disturb the

normal physiological and psychological functioning of an individual. In

medical parlance ‘stress’ is defined as a perturbation of the body`s

homeostasis. This demand on mind-body occurs when it tries to cope

with incessant changes in life. A ‘stress’ condition seems ‘relative’ in

13

nature. Extreme stress conditions, psychologists say, are detrimental to

human health but in moderation stress is normal and, in many cases,

proves useful. Stress, nonetheless, is synonymous with negative

conditions.

As was given by NIOSH (1999), “Workplace stress is the harmful

physical and emotional response that occurs when there is a poor match

between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the

worker”.

Causes of Job Stress

An approach was adopted by Caplan and Jones (1975) where

identification was done of four different types of role conflict: 1. Intra-

sender role conflict; 2. Inter-sender role conflict; 3. Person-role conflict;

and 4. Role overload. The use of role concepts suggests that job related

stress is associated with individual, interpersonal, and structural variables.

The presence of supportive peer groups and supportive relationships with

supervisors are negatively correlated with role conflict.

Beehr and Newman (1978) defined occupational stress as “a

condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and

characterized by changes within people that force them to deviate from

their normal functioning.”

14

It was reported by Sreelatha (1991) that qualitative changes in the

job create adjustment problem among employees. The interpersonal

relationships within the department and between the departments create

qualitative difficulties within the organization to a great extent.

According to Van Sell et al. (1976), “Stress is often developed

when an individual is assigned a major responsibility without proper

authority and delegation of power. Interpersonal factors such as group

cohesiveness, functional dependence, communication frequency, relative

authority and organizational distance between the role sender and the

focal persons are important topics in organizational behavior.”

While Beehr and Newman and Van Sell et al. underscore the

importance of people’s interaction and interpersonal relationships in job

stress, Pestonjee (1992) opined that “the responsibility load creates severe

stress among workers and managers.” If the individual manager cannot

cope with the increased responsibilities it may lead to several physical

and psychological disorders among them.

As was given by Caplan and Jones (1975), “Lack of participation

in the decision-making process, lack of effective consultation and

communication, unjustified restrictions on behaviour, office politics and

no sense of belonging are identified as potential sources of stressors. Lack

of participation in work activity is associated with negative psychological

15

mood and behavioral responses, including escapist drinking and heavy

smoking.”

According to French and Caplan (1972), “Pressure of both

qualitative and quantitative overload can result in the need to work

excessive hours, which is an additional source of stress.” Having to work

under time pressure in order to meet deadlines is an independent source

of stress. Studies show that stress levels increase as difficult deadlines

draw near.

Another report said common causes of excessive workplace stress are:

a) Fear of layoffs

b) Increased demands for overtime due to staff cutbacks

c) Pressure to perform to meet rising expectations but with no

increase in job satisfaction

d) Pressure to work at optimum levels – all the time!

(www.helpguide.org, 2010).

As per one report it was stated that job stress might be caused by a

complex set of reasons. Some of the most visible causes of workplace

stress are:

a) Job insecurity

b) Reorganizations, takeovers, mergers, downsizing and other

changes have become major stressors for employees.

c) High demand for performance

16

d) Unrealistic expectations, especially in the time of corporate

reorganizations, which, sometimes, puts unhealthy and

unreasonable pressures on the employee, can be a tremendous

source of stress and suffering.

e) The expansion of technology—computers, pagers, cell phones, fax

machines and the Internet—has resulted in heightened expectations

for productivity, speed and efficiency, increasing pressure on the

individual worker to constantly operate at peak performance levels.

f) Adjusting to the workplace culture, whether in a new company or

not, can be intensely stressful.

“Stress develops when an individual feels he is not competent to

undertake the role assigned to him effectively. The individual feels that

he lacks knowledge, skill and training on performing the role. Personal or

family problems are also stress augmenters. Employees going through

personal or family problems tend to carry their worries and anxieties to

the workplace. When one is in a depressed mood, his unfocused attention

or lack of motivation affects his ability to carry out job responsibilities”

(www.lifepositive.com, 2005).

Symptoms of Job Stress

The signs of job stress vary from person to person, depending on the

particular situation, how long the individual has been subjected to the

17

stressors, and the intensity of the stress itself. Typical symptoms of job

stress can be:

a) Insomnia

b) Loss of mental concentration

c) Anxiety, stress

d) Absenteeism

e) Depression,

f) Substance abuse,

g) Extreme anger and frustration,

h) Family conflict

i) Physical illnesses such as heart disease, migraine, headaches,

stomach problems and back problems (www.lifepositive.com,

2005).

Implications of Job Stress

According to Brief and Aldag (1976), “There is evidence that role

incumbents with high levels of role ambiguity also respond to their

situation with anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, a sense of futility

or lower self-esteem, lower levels of job involvement and organizational

commitment, and perceptions of lower performance on the part of the

organization, of supervisors, and of themselves.”

18

Ivancevich et al. (1982) stated, “Occupational stress is an

increasingly important occupational health problem and a significant

cause of economic loss. Occupational stress may produce both overt

psychological and physiologic disabilities. However, it may also cause

subtle manifestation of morbidity that can affect personal well-being and

productivity”.

According to Katz and Kahn (1978), “A job stressed individual is

likely to have greater job dissatisfaction, increased absenteeism, increased

frequency of drinking and smoking, increase in negative psychological

symptoms and reduced aspirations and self-esteem. The use of role

concepts suggests that occupational stress is associated with individual,

interpersonal and structural variables.”

Studies on burnout found that, it is related to exhaustion and work

over load factors in various organizations, as was given by Chermiss

(1980). Stress on the job is costly for employers, reflected in lower

productivity, reduced motivation and job skills, and increased accidents.

Women and Job Stress

“Women may suffer from mental and physical harassment at

workplaces, apart from the common job stress. Sexual harassment in

workplace has been a major source of worry for women since long.

Women may suffer from tremendous stress such as ‘hostile work

19

environment harassment’, which is defined in legal terms as ‘offensive or

intimidating behaviour in the workplace’. This can consist of unwelcome

verbal or physical conduct. These can be a constant source of tension for

women in job sectors. Also, subtle discriminations at workplaces, family

pressure and societal demands add to these stress factors”

(www.lifepositive.com, 2005).

It is clear from the above that job stress is an individual’s physical

and mental reaction to demands made upon him which supersede his

capacity to oblige. In a nutshell, the main elements of job stress are as

follows:

• It is a state of affair involving demand on physical or mental

energy, which can disturb the normal physiological and

psychological functioning of an individual.

• It is associated with individual, interpersonal, and structural

variables.

• It is also associated with authority-responsibility issues and

personal and family issues.

• Lack of participation in the decision-making, lack of consultation

and communication, unjustified restrictions are augmenters of job

stress.

20

• Quantitative and qualitative work overload, job insecurity,

unrealistic expectations and pressures, unfavourable work culture

and reorganization are all job stressors.

• It manifests itself normally in the form of depression, anxiety,

absenteeism, lack of concentration, insomnia, substance abuse,

family conflict, extreme anger, frustration and physical illnesses.

• Its implications include compromised performance and

productivity, increased accidents, lack of motivation and low

organizational commitment.

• It also leads to employee burnout, i.e., total emotional,

psychological or physical exhaustion of executives.

• It adds to the health costs and so is a significant cause of economic

loss for both individual and the organization.

• Women bear the brunt of it in the form mental and physical

harassment; sexual harassment, hostile work environment

harassment, offensive or intimidating behaviour in the workplace,

unwelcome verbal or physical conduct, subtle discriminations,

family pressure and societal demands.

Employee Morale

Employee morale portrays an employee’s intrinsic enthusiasm

about and drive to accomplish work. Each individual being unique

21

responds distinctively to offered stimuli. Hence, boosting an employee’s

morale would by and large entail permutation and combination of various

factors; some universal ones include fulfilling the employee's needs and

expectations from work and workplace. Deeper and broader

understanding of the concept of employee morale was facilitated by

meanings of the variable given by various authors, which have been

discussed in the following part of the study.

Allport (1944), the famous psychologist, provided a basic

understanding of morale. He recognized that “morale like health and

sanity has to do with the background condition in living. It is found on

the fringe rather than in the focus of consciousness. It has to do with the

individual effort in a group endeavor.”

Flippo (1961) described morale as “a mental condition or attitude

of individuals and groups which determines their willingness to co-

operate. Good morale is evidenced by employer enthusiasm, voluntary

conformance with regulations and orders, and a willingness to co-operate

with others in the accomplishment of an organization’s objectives. Poor

morale is evidenced by surliness, insubordination, a feeling of

discouragement and dislike of the job, company and associates’.

However, Dale (1972) considered morale as “a feeling, somewhat

related to esprit the corps, enthusiasm or zeal.”

22

In their article, examining the importance of employee-

management relationship closeness, McKnight et al. (2001) defined

morale in the context of workplace as “the degree to which an employee

feels good about his or her work and work environment.” The authors

say morale serves as a broad term that encompasses smaller concepts

including intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, experienced work

meaningfulness, organizational commitment, and pride in one’s work.

Spriegel and Lansburgh (1957) said that morale is depressed by:

a) A too fine division of authority and responsibility.

b) Too many supervisors.

c) An improper selection of personnel for new expanded duties.

d) Too much reliance on organizational charts.

Roach (1958) reaffirmed the concept of workers’ perception towards

the satisfactory or unsatisfactory nature of existing factors. He listed

twelve factors; general bias or “halo” factor, general attitude toward

supervision, pride in company, intrinsic job satisfaction, and satisfaction

with each of the following eight conditions – setting up and enforcing job

standards, supervisory consideration, work load and pressure, interest in

and treatment of the individual, administration of salaries,

communications, development and progress, and co-workers, that

influence the level of morale. The more favourable these were perceived

the higher was the morale.

23

Applewhite (1965) reduced the number of factors to five. He states

that the components of morale are: the image of the company in the

employee’s mind, the general quality of supervision received by the

employee, the financial rewards or the material satisfaction granted to the

workers and the friendliness of fellow employees and their ability to work

together without friction; and the level of intrinsic job satisfaction.

As per McFarland (1978), various factors can have a bearing on

morale. Some of the important ones are:

a) The attitudes of the executives and managers towards their

subordinates;

b) Working conditions, including pay, hours of work and safety rules;

c) Effective leadership and an intelligent distribution of authority and

responsibility on the organization;

d) The design of the organization’s structure which facilitates the flow

of work; and

e) The size of the organization.

McFarland believed that high morale exists when employer attitudes are

favourable to the total situation of a group and to the attainment of its

objectives. Low morale exists when attitudes inhibit the willingness and

ability of an organization to attain its objectives.

In another report, it was emphasized that in order to improve

employee productivity and morale, it is important for managers to allow

24

employees to help set department or organizational goals. Employees will

work harder to reach goals if they're involved in setting them (Library

Personnel News, 1998).

Tschohl (1999) insisted that employees need to seek out as much

training as possible to be happy and successful in their work. In addition,

he suggested employees improve their work environment by developing a

sense of humour, setting goals, developing a healthy self-image and

empowering themselves.

In her article on reviving staff spirit, Scott (2001) referred to

another type of management style that is usually thought of negatively by

employees – micro-managing. Scott argues that micro-managing is the

“surest way to kill staff spirit and commitment.” Managers need to

clarify the goals and ground rules, and then get out of their employee's

way. A work environment should be given where management supports

professional growth and makes employees feel that the company is

committed to them. Scott claims that employees are less focused on the

immediate paycheck if they feel they work in an organization that

encourages growth and provides opportunities for training and education

and skill improvement. The researcher urges managers not to follow the

current trend of many companies drastically reducing their education

budget and creating a workplace that produces overworked employees

who have no time for learning and reflection.

25

According to Messmer (2001), employees resent being left out of

the loop, especially when changes are going on, which can cause them to

be cynical about future endeavours, their supervisors, and the company.

If kept uninformed, they may also assume the worst – that their jobs are

at risk. Managers need to stress both positive and negative aspects of

change and be honest about the company’s future. Open communication

should especially be a priority when introducing any new initiatives.

In his article on the effects of restructuring and downsizing on

hospital staff, Burke (2002) stated this concept in a nutshell: “The degree

to which a facility supports its employees during transition directly

affects staff satisfaction and well-being”.

Fuimano (2005) indicated that employee retention shows

significant improvement when managers express value of their staff.

When managers recognize an employee’s hard work and dedication, the

job suddenly has a greater sense of meaning. Employees want an

opportunity to give their best and often when employees keep filtering

through jobs to find better pay, the true driving force really lies in a lack

of appreciation from management. To further promote excellent

employees, managers should focus upon good traits and spread them

around to others. If others see an employee getting rewards, they will

want to follow the lead and may feel more a part of the team. Fuimano

26

adds that a lot of successful management coaching focuses on the

individual employee rather than on his or her performance.

For Lubans (2000), morale matters because low morale affects

process. In libraries, the process usually involves clients and staff.

Because of the strong service tradition, with many points of service,

librarians are especially vulnerable to the impact of low morale.

McManus (2005) found that the best performing companies

consider their internal customer survey a key tool for identifying

improvement needs and a key indicator of performance challenges and

opportunities. They believe that higher levels of employee satisfaction

lead to higher levels of quality, customer service, and performance.

On the basis of views expressed above by various authors, it can be

said that employee morale is an amalgamation of a whole matrix of

factors that make an employee either enthusiastic or apathetic towards the

job. The apparent characteristics of employee morale from above have

been condensed as follows:

• It is an individual’s willingness or enthusiasm to co-operate or

contribute to a group effort towards organizational goal attainment.

• It is somewhat related to ‘esprit de corps’, i.e., team spirit.

27

• It is reflective of an employee’s intrinsic motivation, job

satisfaction, experienced work meaningfulness, organizational

commitment, and pride in one’s work and work environment.

• It is dampened by rigidity of rules and too fine a division of

authority and responsibility and also by micro management and

derogatory address of employees by higher ups.

• It is associated with general bias, relation with supervisors and

fellow workers and also overall satisfaction with one’s work and

work environment.

• It is dependent on the material and psychological rewards such as

appreciation granted to the employees, level of participation of

employees allowed in decision-making, employees’ self-image and

opportunity for learning and growth.

• It is boosted by open communication and support during transition.

• It when perceived positively leads to better retention, focus,

process, quality, customer service and performance.

Job Involvement

In a broad context, job involvement is the extent to which an

employee’s job occupies his central life interest, i.e., the limit to which an

employee is willing to dedicate oneself to one’s job. Job involvement

28

would also be defined by the significance attached to one’s job by an

employee, i.e., in his ideology how crucial is his job in meeting all his

vital needs in life. Various authors have probed into this variable and

have illuminated dimensions to it as discussed ahead.

Gurin et al. (1960) described job involvement as the extent to

which individuals seek some expression and actualization of the self in

their work. Their concept of job involvement was further illustrated by

Lodahl and Kejner (1965) who defined job involvement in terms of the

degree to which people are identified psychologically with their work and

the importance of work in the individual's self-image.

Rabinowitz and Hall (1977) also concluded from their evaluation

of research on job involvement that the data is consistent with this

“psychological identification with work” definition of job involvement

provided by Lodahl and Kejner.

Mckelvey and Sekaran (1977) aptly defined job involvement as

“the merging of a person's ego identity with his or her job.” It, thus,

concerns the degree to which employees take their identity from their job.

Mckelvey and Sekaran’s concept of job involvement has been the

mainspring energizing the symbiotic relationship between job

involvement, performance, and the quality of working life, because

individuals who have their ego development tied into the jobs have a

29

higher stake in performing well and there is often a strong desire to

satisfy the need for ego identity and development in their jobs.

Elankumaran (2004) approached job involvement by saying that

job involvement as an attitude is an important variable that helps in

maximizing organizational effectiveness. The higher the degree of job

involvement of the members of an organization, the greater its

effectiveness. In order to improve the degree of job involvement, one

must have a realistic view of what determines it. Among the various

views on job involvement, the most realistic one would be that it is a

function of personality and organizational climate. To identify the

personality types, an inventory was developed based on the Indian theory

of psychological forces—the guna dynamics. Based on the analysis of the

data collected, the concluding observation of the study was: “the less

‘tamasic’ a person, the more will he be involved in his job”.

Findings by Carmeli (2005) indicate that both situational and

personal-related factors predict job involvement. It has been shown that

the relationship between perceived external prestige and job involvement

is mediated by affective commitment, and that the relationship between

protestant work ethic and job involvement is mediated by normative

commitment.

According to Kanungo (1979), all behaviour, including behaviour

in work situations, springs from need states of the individual and is

30

directed towards obtaining outcomes for the satisfaction of salient needs.

Thus, the degree of job involvement will depend upon the extent to which

an individual perceives his salient needs as capable of being met on the

job. The author, therefore, operationally defined job involvement as, “a

generalized cognitive state of psychological identification with work, in

so far as work is perceived to be instrumental in satisfying one's salient

needs and expectations”.

Brown (1996) suggested that job involvement is influenced by

personality and situational variables and that it is strongly related to job

and work attitudes but not to role perceptions, behavioural work

outcomes, negative “side effects” or demographic variables.

Importance of job involvement was supported by the findings of

Parks et al. (2007) who stated that the employee involvement is used

successfully by management and has enabled frontline staff to contribute

their knowledge to their work.

It can be concluded from the above that job involvement is an effect of

personal and situational variables and it leads to more positive attitude

and behaviour such as increased organizational commitment. In totality,

we arrive at the following conclusions regarding job involvement:

• It is the degree to which an employee seeks expression and

actualization of oneself in his work.

31

• It is also the extent of psychological identification with one’s work

and the importance of work in the employee’s self-image.

• It is also expressed in terms of merger of a person's ego identity

with one’s job, i.e., the extent to which an individual draws one’s

identity from one’s job.

• It is a function of an employee’s personality and organizational

climate, i.e., personal and situational factors predict job

involvement.

• Its positivity ensures better organizational effectiveness and greater

contribution of knowledge by an employee to his/her work.

• It is dependent upon an individual’s perception about the likelihood

of his salient needs being met.

• It is strongly related to job and work attitudes.

An employee’s attitude cannot be isolated from his physical and

psychological state. This implies in the event of an employee

experiencing high job stress level is most certain to have its bearing on

his attitudinal exposition as well. Therefore, employees’ morale level and

the extent of their job involvement come into the closest proximity of

being influenced by adverse job stress endured by an employee. This

study is an attempt to find a definite relationship between psychological

32

variables such as job stress and attitudinal variables such as employee

morale and job involvement which intuitively and empirically are known

perpetrators of behavioural outcomes of employees such as productivity,

proficiency, co-operation, contribution towards organizational goals,

absenteeism, turnover intent, organizational commitment, organizational

effectiveness, etc. Knowledge of a precise equation between the three

variables; job stress, employee morale and job involvement, would go a

long way in the growth and profitability of an organization.

33

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The review of related available studies in variables job stress,

employee morale and job involvement was done with a view to delve and

obtain some guidelines for the present research work. A number of

studies were available individually on the three variables taken up in this

study, and a few studies were also available where only two variables

have been taken up together. The purpose of this segment of the study is

to have a peep into the former researches in the field, to analyze and

critically examine them, and to connect the present knowledge with the

earlier studies in order to decide about the general framework of this

study. The literature on the variables in question has been reviewed below

systematically.

Studies on Job Stress

Job stress has more often than not been taken to be just negative,

while rarely so it’s positive significance and utility comes to the fore.

Having acknowledged the importance of positive job stress in the

beginning of the chapter, for the purpose of this study job stress has been

taken as negative.

As per Cherry’s (1978) study in a “community cohort” of 1415,

twenty-six year old men in mixed occupations, “nervous strain” (a self-

34

report single item) was predicted by occupational status but not by social

class of origin. After accounting for occupational status, and neuroticism,

five work tasks made a significant contribution to nervous strain. These

were supervision, teaching, driving, skilled machine operation and people

contact. It was also found that both neuroticism and specific work

stressors separately contributed to a “nervous strain variable”. There was

neither evidence of an interaction between these variables, nor was there

evidence that stressful jobs were held particularly by anxiety-prone

subjects.

A study by Jackson and Maslach (1982), of 142 police couples is

reported, illustrating the effects of job stress on family life. In a survey

study, police officers and their wives described family interactions.

Officers, who were experiencing stress, as measured by the Maslach

Burnout Inventory, were more likely to display anger, spend time off

away from the family, be uninvolved in family matters, and to have

unsatisfactory marriages. An examination of the coping patterns used to

deal with the stress of police work highlights differences between coping

strategies used by husbands versus wives.

A model of job stress that focused on organizational and job-

related stress was presented by Parker and DeCotiis (1983). Job stress

was conceived of as a first-level outcome of the organization and job; it is

a feeling of discomfort that is separate and distinct from second-level

35

outcomes or consequences of job stress. The second-level outcomes may

include varying levels of satisfaction, organizational commitment,

motivation, and performance. A partial test of the model examines

relationships between hypothesized stressors and experienced job stress.

Survey data obtained from 367 managers of a large restaurant chain was

used with the results generally supporting the model. Factor analysis

supported the concept that job stress is multidimensional. Two distinct

dimensions of job stress were identified: time stress and anxiety. Both job

stress dimensions were significantly related to each of the model's five

organizational stressor categories, but not all of the independent variables

within the categories were significantly related to job stress. Moreover,

the specific stressors associated with each dimension of job stress proved

to be substantially different.

Similarly, as per Brenner et al. (1985), “Teaching ‘stressful

students’ early in the school year predicted poor mental health in the

latter part of the year in another sample.”

A more detailed study by Jackson et al. (1986), of the relation of

work stress variables to the “burnout” subscales (in another teacher

sample), found “role conflict” alone predicted “emotional exhaustion,”

only two “support variables” predicted “poor accomplishment”, while

there were no predictors of “depersonalization.”

36

In a combined study, done by Aro and Hasan (1987), of 900 blue-

and white-collar industrial workers studied over 5 and 10 years, stressors

at work predicted mental stress symptoms, poor perceived health and

absenteeism; mental stress symptoms in turn predicted smoking, drinking,

and absenteeism.

According to Taylor and Cooper (1989) variables such as

personality are also crucial; their effects may be complex and are often

poorly assessed. Personality firstly seems to be an independent risk factor

for both depression and burnout, irrespective of exposure to work

stressors.

Another study by Kawakarmi et al. (1990) revealed that in factory

and blue-collar workers studied over 3 years, in Japan (N = 468), “lack of

control overwork,” “unsuitable jobs” and “poor workplace relations”

predicted depression (Zung scale). Furthermore, the latter two work

variables also predicted depressive disorder diagnosed clinically by a

psychiatrist in a nested cohort of this sample; these relationships were

significant even after controlling covariates and initial depressive

symptoms.

In a study by Phelan et al. (1991), the effect of stressors of different

‘origins’ (those at work and those outside it) had also been assessed. Both

work stress and domestic stress predicted depression both in married

professionals even after controlling potential confounders.

37

Glickman et al. (1991) stated that the pathways linking work

stressors and depression may not be direct since in a study of blue-collar

workers neither initial life events nor “work strain” (economic

difficulties, work overload) directly predicted later depression: they did,

however, predict subsequent life events and work strain, both of which

correlated with depression at that time. This study also revealed a

reciprocal relationship; initial depression also predicted subsequent life

events and work strain.

Revicki et al. (1993) stated that in relation to medical specialties

for instance, work-related stress and specifically, “low task–role clarity”

predicted later depression in emergency medicine residents.

A model to look at various job components that affect individual

well-being and health was developed by Carayon (1993) drawing from

the job design and job stress literature. Briefly stated, the model proposed

job control to be a primary causal determinant of the stress outcomes. The

effects of perceived demands, job content and career/future concerns

were hypothesized to influence the stress outcomes only to the extent of

their influence on job control. This was tested in a population of

government office employees in various clerical, professional, and

managerial jobs all of which involve the use of computers. Results

indicated that job control was not a crucial determinant of the stress

outcomes, that job demands and career/future concerns were consistent

38

determinants of the stress outcomes, and that job content, demands, and

career/future concerns did not influence the stress outcomes through job

control as described by the proposed model. The differentiation of job

control levels to define specific relationships with stress outcomes and

other job elements were shown to be useful because different levels of job

control were associated with different stress outcomes and job elements.

Fenwick and Tausig (1994) tested a model that conceptually links

research on macroeconomic causes of stress with research on job

structure causes of stress among employed workers. Overall, results

suggest that macroeconomic changes, such as recessions, can affect

individual stress because they lead to changes in routine job structures

that represent increased and continued exposure to stressful conditions.

Noor (1995), in her study, revealed that in working women, while

work overload predicted psychological disorder, surprisingly perhaps

their family role stressors did not: high occupational status furthermore

diminished the impact of work overload on psychological disorder.

In more experienced teachers (Burke and Greenglass, 1995),

burnout was predicted by both “work setting” and specific “work stress.”

However, the effect of these variables was not direct, but operated by

influencing both the work setting and work stress at the subsequent

assessment. Specific work variables predicting burnout were poor social

39

support outside the organization, personal characteristics, and “red tape”

and “disruptive students”.

In a 4-year Finnish study by Romanov et al. (1996) (N=15530),

records linkage was used to access psychiatric morbidity data (suicides,

hospitalization, prescription of psychotropic drugs). Interpersonal conflict

at work predicted “physician-diagnosed” psychiatric morbidity (relative

risk=2.18) even after controlling social class, prior health and prior

“mental instability/stress” (i.e., neuroticism, hostility, life stress, low self-

assurance).

As per Rout et al. (1996), in “General Practitioners’ routine work

administration, job demands, interference with family and interruptions

with work, predicted their negative mental well-being.”

In a well-designed albeit, cross-sectional study, by Prosser et al.

(1997), of mental healthcare workers involving principal components

analysis of work stress, some 28% of variance in “depression” and 42%

in burnout were explained by work stress factors, in particular; poor

staffing resources, work overload and career dissatisfaction were related

to depression.

According to Heinisch and Jex (1997) in managerial employees

(N=442), two of the four work-related stressors that were assessed (work

load and role ambiguity) predicted depressive symptoms. This association

40

furthermore was potentiated by “negative affectivity,” but only in

females.

Briner (1997) and Cooper & Cartwright (1997), in their studies,

reviewed stress interventions in the workplace and emphasized the need

to distinguish primary interventions (organization/structural change),

secondary interventions (stress management/coping strategies) and

tertiary interventions (interventions targeted for those actually stressed).

Secondary and tertiary interventions appear to have short-term effects

only (in the order of 3 months), and indeed these interventions may be

treating morbidity due to non-occupational stressors (Reynolds, 1997).

Improvement may be seen in a range of psychological outcomes

including psychological symptoms, self-esteem and perceptions of work

stress. Primary intervention studies report inconsistent findings. While

job satisfaction may improve with ‘intervention’, mental health may not

and absenteeism or staff turnover can indeed increase (Gordery et al.,

1991).

As per the study by Mills and Huebner (1998), in school

psychologists all burnout subscales were predicted by personality

(neuroticism), but only “emotional exhaustion” and poor

“accomplishment” were predicted by self-reported “work stressors.” The

relation between work stressors and burnout was furthermore found to be

41

reciprocal, and when initial burnout was controlled, work stressors did

not predict subsequent burnout.

Watson (1998), in his annual survey of integrated disability

management programmes, found that incidents of disability are

increasingly related to slowly developing, chronic conditions and work-

induced stress. In this survey, musculoskeletal problems such as carpal

tunnel syndrome and repetitive motion complaints (50 per cent) exceeded

injuries (44 per cent) as the most common condition triggering an

occupational disability expense. The survey also found that mental

health-related disabilities are on the rise. As many as 45 per cent and 58

per cent of employers respectively, expressed growing concern about

mental illness as a source of occupational disabilities and non-

occupational disabilities. Moreover, one-third of survey respondents

characterized the management of mental illness in the workplace as very

difficult.

Similarly, Taris (1999), in his study, demonstrated a reciprocal

relation between “job resources” (autonomy, variety, skill utilization) and

mental health. It is argued that multi-panel prospective studies with

“objective” work stressor indices, preferably using structural equation

approaches, can best address this issue (Zapf et al., 1996).

In a five-year prospective study by Borg et al. (2000), of 5000

employees drawn from a Danish population register, changes in repetitive

42

work, job insecurity, high demands and low support all predicted a single

“self-rated” health item.

In a study by Weinberg and Creed (2000), both work and non-work

stressors, on being assessed using a life events interview, contributed to

depression in medical personnel. Even when vulnerability factors and

non-work stressors were controlled, work stress still contributed towards

depression.

According to a study by Schaufeli and Peeters (2000), it appeared

that the most notable stressors for correctional officers are role problems,

work overload, demanding social contacts (with prisoners, colleagues,

and supervisors), and poor social status. It is concluded that particularly

improving human resources management, professionalization of the CO's

job, and improvement of the social work environment seem to be a

promising avenue for reducing job stress and burnout in correctional

institutions.

A recent report from Health Canada (2002) suggested that

employees who experience work stress (caused by interpersonal, job

control and management problems) are six times more likely than others

to be absent from work for six or more days.

Another study by Larson (2004) used the Ivancevich and Matteson

Stress Diagnostic Survey to gather data concerning job stress for a large

national sample of internal auditors in the USA. Survey respondents

43

indicated that the organizational job stressors in their work environment

were more a source of stress than the so-called individual job factors.

Specifically, respondents would like to be paid more and participate more

in the decision-making processes relating to their jobs. Company politics

and lack of training and development opportunities were other major

sources of stress. Implications for the profession are clear. Internal audit

managers should be aware of the job stress inherent in the nature of the

work of an internal auditor and take appropriate steps to reduce

organizational job stressors rather than face the risk of increased staff job

turnover.

Gyllensten and Palmer (2005) took up a review with the aim to

evaluate research relating to the role of gender in the level of workplace

stress. The stressors having particular relevance to working women were

reviewed. These stressors included, multiple roles, lack of career progress

and discrimination, and stereotyping. Major databases were searched in

order to identify studies investigating gender and workplace stress. A

range of research designs were included and no restrictions were made on

the basis of occupations of the participants. Much of the research

indicated that women reported higher levels of stress compared to men.

However, several studies reported no difference between the genders.

Furthermore, the evidence for the adverse effects of multiple roles, lack of

career progress and discrimination, and stereotyping was inconsistent.

44

The current review concluded that the evidence regarding the role of

gender in workplace stress and stressors was inconsistent.

Landsbergis and Vaughan (2006), in their study, evaluated the

impact of an intervention which was based on organizational

development, action research and Karasek's job strain model. Employee

committees conducted problem diagnosis, action planning, and action

taking in two departments in a public agency. Waiting list control

departments and pre- post- and follow-up assessment were utilized.

Results indicated a mixed impact of the intervention in one department,

but a negligible or negative impact in the other. Obstacles to the effective

implementation of the intervention strategy are discussed. These included

a limited focus for the committees (department-wide rather than agency-

wide), the negative impact of major agency reorganization, and the lack

of a more formal management and labour commitment to maintaining the

stress reduction and organizational change process.

Feilder et al. (2008) revealed that work-related stress is a major

concern for employers, and the UK Health and Safety Executive has

introduced Management Standards for employers to support them in

managing stress in the workplace. Managers have a key role to play in

minimizing stress-related risks for their staff. Management behaviour has

a direct impact on staff well-being – managers can prevent or cause stress

in those they manage. Managers also act as “gatekeepers” to their

45

employees' exposure to stressful working conditions and are vital to the

identification and tackling of stress in the workplace. This means that

managers need to understand what behaviours they should show in order

to manage their employees in a way that minimizes work-related stress.

The behaviours identified were grouped into themes to create a

framework of 19 management “competencies” for preventing and

reducing stress at work.

Studies on Employee Morale

Employee morale is the result of various personal and

organizational factors. It is determined by the individual’s perception

about various facets associated with one’s job and the workplace. As

mentioned earlier, job satisfaction is a sub-set of employee morale and is

considered as its vital indicator, therefore, has also been included in this

review. Quite a few studies have been noticed wherein employee morale

has been studied individually or along with other factors.

Mayo (1947) carried out Hawthorne experiments between 1927 to

1932 which consisted of introducing purposefully such psychological

differences as rest pauses, snacks, reduction of hours of work and others

on six girls engaged in assembling relays. Strict records were kept of their

behaviour, conversation, health, social habits, etc. The girls were also

46

consulted and informed about the changes to be introduced in accordance

with the research plan. The atmosphere, thus, created was so free that the

workers lost the apprehension of authority. Their behaviour was normal

but their morale was high. Throughout these changes both positive and

negative output went up constantly and finally in the last period of the

experiment, all improvements were suppressed. Output was expected to

be at its lowest, but it reached its highest.

The study undertaken by Ansbacher (1950) showed that slave

labour groups in World War-II displayed low personal happiness and

high achievement levels.

While some researchers were optimistic and felt that there is

enough evidence to link morale as a factor in improving employee

performance others like Brayfield and Crockett (1953) concluded that

there is little, if any, relationship between employee morale and

performance.

Bose (1958) stated that more the subordinates participate in the

planning of change in their work; greater is the production after the

change is made. The workers in higher production units display greater

skills in group interaction have greater group pride and loyalty, and more

often use group decision to deal with work related problems.

47

Studies by Ganguli (1961), Chatterjee (1961), Sinha & Nair (1965)

and studies at SITRA are some of the works where a positive link

between job satisfaction or morale and productivity has been found.

In the Indian setting, Bose (1965) studied the relationship between

morale and supervision. His study shows that a high pride and morale of

the work group leads to greater productivity.

Choudhry and Pal (1968) also attempted to study the effect of

technology on morale. Two textile mills are compared; one which

frequently alters the type of cloth produced and has a more elaborate

system of management and the other with the same kind of production

plan for a long period. The study provided that the worker satisfaction

was higher in the second mill because it has a less elaborate organization

and reporting structure.

In India, some relevant studies have been carried out by the Central

Labour Institute (1970). These studies have revealed that high worker

morale may not lead to high productivity.

An interesting socio-metric study called ‘Social Relations and

Morale in Small Groups” was carried out by Gardner and Thompson

(1972) from the Syraouse University. Scales which measure each

individual’s estimate of his associate’s potentialities for satisfying several

social needs in groups of not more than eight were developed. It was

found that groups high on this scale had a high morale level and also a

48

high achievement level. However, this may not be true of groups which

are not voluntary in nature.

According to Harris (1976), one of the more evasive and

controversial topics concerning worker behaviour is that of worker

morale. There has been no universal position taken concerning the effects

of morale on worker performance, nor has there been even a complete

comprehensive definition of what it is. A helpful approach to the analysis

of morale is to view it as the workers’ perception of the existing state of

their well-being. Morale is said to be high when conditions or

circumstances appear favourable and low when unfavourable.

In a study by Rusbult and Farrell (1983), it was stated that greater

job satisfaction resulted from high job rewards and low job costs;

whereas strong job commitment was produced by high rewards, low

costs, poor alternative quality, and large investment size. Impact of job

rewards on satisfaction and commitment remained relatively constant.

Iaffaldano and Muchinsky (1985), in their study on job

satisfaction-job performance showed that (1) the best estimate of the true

population correlation between satisfaction and performance was

relatively low (.17); (2) much of the variability in results obtained in

previously research was due to the use of small sample sizes, while

unreliable measurement of the satisfaction and performance constructs

has contributed relatively little to this observed variability in correlations;

49

and (3) the nine variables coded (composite vs. one-dimensional criteria,

longitudinal vs. cross-sectional measurement of performance relative to

satisfaction, the nature of the performance measure, self-reports vs. other

sources, use of specific performance measures, subjectivity or objectivity

of measures, specific-facet satisfaction vs. global satisfaction, well-

documented vs. researcher-developed measurement, and white-collar vs.

blue-collar) were only modestly related to the magnitude of the

satisfaction-performance correlation.

Agho (1993), in his study, found that the degree to which

employees like their job is influenced by a combination of characteristics

of the environment (opportunity), the job (routinization and distributive

justice), and personality variables (positive affectivity and work

motivation).

In a study that explored the relationship between employee self-

esteem and different types of management styles – referred to here as

“supervisor powers” – Fedor et al. (2001) examined the uses of reverent

power (power based upon the manager’s attractive characteristics), expert

power (power based upon the manager’s expertise and knowledge), and

coercive power (power based on the manager’s ability to inflict aversive

outcomes or punishments). While the hypothesis of the study that the use

of coercive power negatively affects employee morale proved

inconclusive, the researchers were able to conclude that when supervisors

50

exercised expert or referent power, both of which require effective

communication to be successful, the impact on employee self-esteem was

positive.

In a study on employer/employee commitment, Bragg (2002)

explored how commitment on the part of both employees and employers

can contribute to a supportive work environment and high morale. Bragg

described four types of commitment exhibited by both employees and

employers: want to, have to, ought to, and uncommitted. The type of

commitment that both sides should strive for is “want to” commitment,

where the employees want to work for the company and give it their all,

and the company values its employees and shows it by investing in their

growth and training.

In his study, the author reiterates the arguments found in much of the

literature that managers can boost employee morale by encouraging

employee involvement and communication, keeping employees informed

of major business decisions, offering extensive training, and encouraging

a balance between work and home life. Bragg also agrees that employees

should be just as responsible for their own morale and shouldn’t rely

solely on management to provide the supportive work environment they

seek. Finally, he insists that in order to provide a positive work

environment that maintains high morale, both employees and

management must follow a common set of rules, including:

51

a) Do what you say you will do

b) Be consistent

c) Maintain confidence

d) Be a role model of the behaviour you want others to display.

As per Linz et al. (2006) among the workers participating in their

study, expectation of receiving a desired reward contributes to high

morale, with expected monetary rewards having a higher influence that

expected non-monetary rewards, but praise for a job well done and a

feeling of accomplishment also contribute positively to employee morale.

There was a significant correlation between positive attitudes toward

work and morale, and a positive correlation between performance

assessment and morale. Demographic characteristics (age and gender)

have no discernible influence on morale when controls are included for

work experience.

Studies on Job Involvement

Job involvement, i.e. the importance associated by an employee to

one’s job and degree to which he/she is willing to put in one’s time and

energy to it, is crucial in improving quantity and quality of work and in

enrichment of the organization and further bears implications for the

employee as well. The studies on this aspect have mainly been in the

foreign scene and only a few touching an Indian prospect.

52

Rabinowitz et al. (1977), in their study, examined the relative

importance of job scope and individual differences in explaining job

involvement. The researchers further examined whether these variables

have independent or interactive effects. Results indicate that job scope

and the individual difference measures all have about equal importance in

explaining the variance in job involvement.

Results of a recent study of over 200 middle and senior level

managers by Misra and Kalro (1981) supported the notion that the

attitude of job involvement is a function of the level of satisfaction of

one's salient needs, be they intrinsic or extrinsic. Job Involvement was

higher for those whose salient needs were met as compared to those

whose salient needs were not met.

According to Pathak’s (1983) findings, job involvement concerns

the degree to which employees identify with their job. It may be

influenced by the level of satisfaction of one's needs, be they intrinsic or

extrinsic. Utilizing a sample of 150 bank officers from four major public

sector banks in India, the present study investigated this stipulated

relationship between job involvement and need satisfaction, but did not

find any strong relationship. The important finding that emerged was that

the bank officers, regardless of their job involvement, wanted more

“decision making authority”, “opportunity for personal growth and

development”, and “recognition for good work done”. One factor of

53

importance for job involvement appeared to be satisfaction vis-a-vis

“recognition for good work done”. Recommendations based on the

findings include adequate feedback and incentives for good work,

widening the area of responsibility, larger delegation of authority, and

tangible as well as symbolic modes of recognition for raising need

satisfaction and job involvement.

A study by Ron and Graham (1987) of employee involvement in

the management and ownership of NVC Australia Pty Ltd. indicated high

levels of work satisfaction, job security, decision influence, productivity,

communication, commitment and involvement. Although only one

organization has been analyzed, it is clear that employee ownership and

participation provide interesting alternatives for organizations to face the

challenges of the present social and economic situations.

Another study by Gomez-Mejia (1990) suggested that while gender

differences in work values exist (as measured by task-oriented, contextual

and job involvement scales), the magnitude and significance of the

observed differences between men and women decrease as occupation

and length of socialization are partialled out.

The relationships among a cluster of attitudes toward work and job

were investigated by Knoop (1995) using a sample of 171 nurses. The

hypothesis was that involvement in work and job, commitment to the

employing organization, and satisfaction with the job (over all, and with

54

specific facets of the job) would be significantly correlated. The results

showed that involvement was not related to overall satisfaction but only

to two specific facets, satisfaction with work and promotion

opportunities. In contrast, the degree of relationship between overall and

various facets of satisfaction and commitment and between involvement

and commitment was moderately high.

In a study of hospital nurses (N=154), Jernigan et al. (2002)

examined the influence of dimensions of work satisfaction on types of

organizational commitment. Significant results were found for the two

affective commitment types tested but not for the instrumental type

evaluated. The results indicate that satisfaction with professional status

was a significant predictor of moral commitment. Dissatisfaction with

organizational policies, autonomy, and professional status were

significant predictors of alienative commitment. None of the dimensions

of work satisfaction were predictors of calculative commitment. The

results of this study suggest that understanding how various factors

impact the nature and the form of an individual’s organizational

commitment is worth the effort. If managers do not know what causes an

attitude to take on a particular form, they cannot accurately predict what

behaviour might follow.

A study by Freund and Carmeli (2003) examined the relationships

between five work commitments: protestant work ethic, career

55

commitment, job involvement, continuance commitment and affective

commitment. Based on Morrow's concept of five universal forms of

commitment, their inter-relationships were tested in regard to a

population of lawyers either employed by, or partners in law firms. The

results presented a reconstructed model. The following findings were

unique to this reconstructed model: job involvement and career

commitment appeared as mediating variables, although, unlike previous

models, job involvement was found to be directly related to affective

commitment.

In a U.S. invested enterprise in China, the receptivity of Chinese

employees to a participative work environment was examined by Scott et

al. (2003). Structural equation analysis indicated support for a model in

which job satisfaction mediates the relationships between elements of a

participative work environment (i.e., tasks performed, the relationships

individuals had with their work groups and the nature of the decision-

making processes) and employee willingness to co-operate with co-

workers and intention to quit. Task interdependence also had a direct

relationship with willingness to co-operate.

The relationship between the big five of personality and work

involvement was investigated by Bozionelos (2004) in a questionnaire

study with a sample of 279 white-collar workers, who were employed on

a full-time basis in clerical, administrative and managerial positions.

56

Hypotheses were tested by means of hierarchical regressions that

controlled for the effects of demographics and human capital. Overall, the

findings suggest the existence of an, albeit not strong or extensive,

relationship between the big five of personality and work involvement.

A study by Mudrack (2004) was designed specifically to elaborate

upon and to explore the proposal that workaholism may result from a

combination of high job involvement with an obsessive-compulsive

personality. Both obsessive-compulsive personality and workaholism,

however, seem to be multidimensional rather than one-dimensional

variables and their multidimensional nature needed clarification before

the study could proceed. Obsessive-compulsive personality consisted of

six distinct traits: obstinacy, orderliness, parsimony, perseverance,

rigidity, and superego. Workaholism was operationalized as having two

behavioural components: tendencies both to engage in non-required work

activities, and to intrude actively on the work of others. This study

predicted specifically that high job involvement coupled with high scores

on the obstinacy, orderliness, rigidity, and superego traits would lead to

high scores on tendencies to engage in non-required work. These four

predictions received some support in data emerging from a sample of 278

employed persons, although support was strongest for the obstinacy and

superego traits. These results add to understanding of the work attitude of

job involvement given its associations with some obsessive-compulsive

57

traits, suggest the relevance of obsessive-compulsive personality in non-

clinical settings, and add to understanding of the phenomenon of

workaholism as behavioural tendencies.

Results of a study done by Cortis and Cassar (2005) indicated no

differences between job involvement and work-based self-esteem of male

and female managers. On the other hand, both male employees and

students seem to hold more stereotypical attitudes towards women in

management than their female counterparts.

A study by Rotenberry and Moberg (2007) attempted to provide

another test of job involvement's association with performance. Its

findings state that the employees’ self-reported job involvement

significantly predicted certain supervisor performance ratings above and

beyond work centrality.

The job involvement of customer contact personnel was

significantly correlated with customer satisfaction, profit and productivity

in Emery and Barker (2007) study. There was a significant difference

between the team and non-team structures for job involvement, but not

for the organizational commitment of customer contact personnel.

The purpose of the paper by Boon et al. (2007) was to examine the

perceptions of individual employees on the influence of eight elements of

HRM/TQM (i.e., leadership, training and development, employee

participation, reward and recognition, customer focus, empowerment,

58

teamwork, and communication) on employees’ job involvement in six

major Malaysian semiconductor contract manufacturing organizations.

The results of the study revealed that teamwork, empowerment, customer

focus, reward and recognition and communication are positively

associated with employees’ job involvement. Where empowerment was

found to be a dominant practice, strong associations with employees’ job

involvement existed.

Yet another paper (HRM International Digest, 2008) described the

importance of work-life balance. The findings indicate that flexible

working helps to keep the staff motivated. The policy has also enhanced

the company's reputation with both clients and employees.

Kuruuzum et al. (2009), in their paper, aimed to determine the

structural relationships between job involvement, job satisfaction, and

three dimensions of organizational commitment (i.e., affective

commitment, normative commitment, and continuance commitment) in

the Turkish hospitality industry. The findings stated that the research

model, which was structured by taking related literature as the base, was

revised and a new path model was gathered as a result of this study.

Results showed that job involvement, affective commitment, and

normative commitment increase job satisfaction; and job involvement

affects affective and normative commitment.

59

Studies on Job Stress and Employee Morale

While studying job stress it’s important to take into consideration

its relationship with employee morale since an employee’s morale cannot

be isolated from the stress the employee experiences in one’s job. Review

of literature shows that these two variables (job stress and employee

morale) are of great interest in industrial psychology. A few authors have

studied these two variables together.

Ganster and Schaubroeck (1991) reviewed and summarized the

literature on work stress with particular emphasis on those studies that

examined the effects of work characteristics on employee health.

Although there is not convincing evidence that job stressors cause health

effects, the indirect evidence is strongly suggestive of a work stress effect.

This evidence comes from occupational studies that show differences in

health and mortality that are not easily explained by other factors and

within-subject studies that demonstrate a causal effect of work

experiences on physiological and emotional responses.

According to Poulin and Walter (1993), in social workers, change

in burnout over time was independently predicted by job stress, poor

supervisor support, low satisfaction with clients and poor self-esteem;

together however they accounted for only 28% of the variance.

60

In middle-aged medical graduates, generally, the effects of

psychological job demands, patient demands, physician resources and

work control were studied by Johnson et al. (1995); high job demands

were associated with both “work dissatisfaction” and psychological

disorder (GHQ) in univariate analyses. Regression analysis showed that

lack of control over work was independently associated with both

dissatisfaction and psychological disorder.

In a study by Schonfeld (1996), three self-reported work stress

indices predicted post-employment depression (CESD scale) and job

dissatisfaction, even when initial depression and personality were

controlled.

Relationships between work stressors and work climate, and job

morale and functioning were examined by Schaefer and Moos (1996).

Initial and 8-month follow-up data was obtained from 405 staff in 14

long-term care facilities. Relationship and workload stressors were

related to less job satisfaction and intent to stay in the job, and more job-

related distress, depression, and physical symptoms. Patient care task

stressors were associated with better outcomes. More positive work

climates were linked to higher job morale. Initial work stressors predicted

poorer functioning, and coworker cohesion predicted more intent to stay

in the job at follow-up.

61

A paper by Chen and Miller (1997) summarized research on both

organizational and individual characteristics positively correlated to

teacher stress. Organizational characteristics are time constraints,

workload, job demands, role conflict, role ambiguity, income, resources,

class size, administrative bureaucracy, autonomy/participation in

decision-making, collegiality, student discipline and interaction, reward

and recognition, and career advancement. Individual characteristics are

age, marital status, and gender. Teachers found stress increased by time

factors, workloads, role conflict and ambiguity, inadequate income and

resources, low autonomy, and issues related to the classroom

environment. Individual characteristics contributing to stress included

age, experience, gender, and marital status. Recommendations for

administrators and teachers include: wider knowledge of the

organizational and individual characteristics to help school systems and

administrators develop systemic interventions to alleviate teacher stress;

and greater teacher awareness of stress factors, which will lead teachers

to have greater compassion for themselves, resulting in enhanced coping

effectiveness.

Hotopf and Wessely (1997) revealed that the implications of work-

related stress include the effects on worker satisfaction and productivity,

their mental and physical health, absenteeism and its economic cost, the

wider impact on family function and finally, the potential for employer

62

liability. While depression is the most likely adverse psychological

outcome, the range of other possible “psychological” problems include

“burnout”, alcohol abuse, unexplained physical symptoms,

“absenteeism”, chronic fatigue and accidents, sick building syndrome and

repetitive strain injury.

In a national survey of physicians done by Kaplan et al. (1999),

comparison was made of physician morale, job stress, perceived time

pressures, practice volume and sense of autonomy over practice, to the

quality of physicians' communication with patients. It was found that the

impact of current pressures on physicians to increase productivity may

come at some cost to the morale of the physician workforce and may in

turn have undesirable consequences for the quality of interpersonal care

they provide. Other research has documented the relationship of quality

of interpersonal care to patients' health outcomes.

In another study, Bliese and Britt (2001) examined the degree to

which individuals' reactions to stressors were influenced by the quality of

their shared social environments. Based on social support theory, they

proposed that individuals in positive social environments would show

lower levels of strain when exposed to stressors than would individuals in

negative social environments. The quality of the shared social

environment was assessed by measuring the degree of consensus among

group members about an issue of importance to the group, namely, about

63

the group leadership. Social influence theory provides compelling reasons

to believe that this measure of consensus should be a strong indicator of

the quality of the social environment within the groups. In multilevel

analyses using a sample of 1923 soldiers who were members of 52

Companies deployed in Haiti, they found that the quality of the social

environment moderated relationships between (a) work stressors and

morale; and (b) work stressors and depression.

The findings by Redfern et al. (2002) revealed a staff group with a

fairly high level of job dissatisfaction and stress, who were, nevertheless,

very committed to the nursing home. The morale of the residents was

good although the residents rated the home atmosphere lower than the

staff did. Significant correlations emerged in the expected direction,

between satisfaction, commitment, stress and quality of care perceived by

staff. The correlations between home atmosphere perceived by residents,

and their morale and mental health were low; further investigation is

needed with a larger sample.

According to Lewandowski (2003), “inadequate communication

and unrealistic expectations result in staff overload and feelings of

isolation”. When employees feel isolated and that they lack power,

frustration emerges. Employees may sink into a work depression.

Supervisors and managers need to connect with employees by inviting

64

conversation and suggested improvements that could help reduce

workplace frustration.

A leading organizational psychologist argues poor organizational

culture, workplace morale and leadership are much more likely to result

in employee stress claims than specific stressful events or excessive

workloads. Programmes that deal with organizational health and morale -

rather than ones that try to eliminate specific stressors - will consequently

be far more effective in reducing an organization’s stress claims said

Cotton (2003).

In yet another study by Dale (2004) it was found that when army

leaders fail to control battlefield stress, they lose as many soldiers to

combat stress as they do to enemy bullets. Even when they are well

trained, these soldiers are more likely to collapse in the face of great

stress. Units with high morale and esprit de corps, however, lose only

10% as many troops to stress. The training and preparation are important,

but the high sense of teamwork makes all the difference.

In their study, Calsyn and Roades (2006) tested the following

hypotheses: (1) Stress has more of a negative impact on the life

satisfaction of those under age 75 than those over age 75; (2) social

support has more of a positive effect on life satisfaction in those under

age 75 than those over age 75; and (3) the buffering effect of social

65

support is stronger in the under age 75 group than the over age 75 group.

None of the three hypotheses was supported, contrary to prior research.

Studies on Job Stress and Job Involvement

It was observed that there was hardly any study that exhibited

direct relationship between these two variables. However, directions for

further research on the given variables were available in some of the

studies.

One element of the work-non-work interface is the conflict a

person may experience between the work role and other life roles. Kahn

et al. (1964) identified such interrole conflict as a significant source of

strain for nearly one-third of the men in their national sample.

The literature concerning dual-career family stress and coping was

reviewed by Skinner (1980). Although acknowledging stressful aspects of

dual-career living, it was found that most participants defined their life-

style positively. Achieving a balance between the advantages and

disadvantages of the life-style appears to be the overriding concern of

most dual-career couples.

An examination by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) of the literature

on conflict between work and family roles suggests that work-family

conflict exists when: (a) time devoted to the requirements of one role

66

makes it difficult to fulfil requirements of another; (b) strain from

participation in one role makes it difficult to fulfil requirements of

another; and (c) specific behaviours required by one role make it difficult

to fulfil the requirements of another.

This “spillover” effect of work stressors on mood at home was

found to be greater than the “spillover” effect of stressors at home on

mood at work in a study conducted by Leiter and Durup (1996).

Studies on Job Stress, Employee Morale and Job Involvement

There has been hardly any study showing a direct relationship

among these three variables. However, scope for future research in some

of the works hinted at having such a study on the subject.

Organizational and individual changes resulting from severe

environmental stress in three research and development organizations

were studied by Hall and Mansfield (1971) at the beginning and the end

of a 20-month period. The changes were examined with both longitudinal

and independent sample data. The greatest changes occurred in the way

researchers perceived their jobs and their organizations rather than their

self-perceptions or attitudes toward their work. Despite the greatly

decreased satisfactions experienced by the researchers, their job

involvement and aspiration levels did not change greatly, and their

67

intrinsic motivation decreased in one of the two samples studied. It was

concluded that this lack of expected individual coping behaviour must be

associated with high levels of internal strain for the researchers, although

some strain was probably reduced by becoming alienated from the

organization.

The results of a study by Billingsley and Cross (1992) suggested

that work related variables, such as leadership support, role conflict, role

ambiguity, and stress are better predictors of commitment and job

satisfaction than are demographic variables. Generally, the findings were

similar for general and special educators.

In a community-based study by Frone et al. (1995), of 795

employed adults, work pressure, lack of autonomy and role ambiguity

predicted subsequent depression but job involvement did not. Besides,

there was only limited support for job involvement having any stress

moderating influence on the relationships between role ambiguity and

both physical health and alcohol use. There was no evidence for a

moderating effect on depression. In two earlier studies, one in nurses

(Firth and Britton, 1989) found some moderating effect, while another in

supermarket managers (Batlis, 1980) did not.

Results of a study by Babin and Boles (1996) suggested that

employee perceptions of co-worker involvement and supervisory support

can reduce stress and increase job satisfaction. Other results indicated a

68

positive relationship between role conflict and job performance, a

positive relationship between job performance and job satisfaction, and

that job performance mediates effects of role stress on satisfaction.

In a study by Shadur et al. (1999) data was collected using a survey

of 269 employees of an information technology company. The authors

argued that employee involvement is composed of three essential

variables, namely, participation in decision-making, teamwork, and

communications. Three hierarchical regression analyses were carried out

with each of the employee perception of involvement variables as

dependent variables. Employee demographic data, employee affective

attitudes (job satisfaction, commitment, and stress), and three dimensions

of organizational climate (bureaucracy, innovation, and support) were

entered into the regression analyses. The results showed that supportive

climates and commitment significantly predicted each of the employee

involvement variables.

In a study by Burke (2000) on “workaholism”, job involvement did

not correlate with measures of psychological distress/well-being. In

relation to employee factors and the impact on psychological health, that

of the three components of “workaholism” studied (job involvement,

personal drive and lack of enjoyment), only the latter two variables

correlated with poor health indices in MBA graduates as per Burke’s

study.

69

The study carried out by Chiu et al. (2005) provided the results that

global job satisfaction influences turnover intentions, and organizational

commitment is more for internals than externals. The individuals who

believe they are in control are called internals, and people who believe

external forces (luck, fate or powerful others) are in control are called

externals. Organizational commitment influences turnover intentions

similarly for both internals and externals. Furthermore, the influence of

perceived job stress on job satisfaction and organizational commitment

was stronger for externals than internals. Finally, leadership support

influences job satisfaction more for internals than externals.

The purpose of a study by Burke et al. (2006) was to examine

potential consequences of workaholism among 98 women business

graduates in early careers. The findings indicated that workaholism

components generally had significant relationships with the validating job

behaviours, work outcomes and indicators of psychological well-being

but not with extra work satisfactions.

Another research by Abdel-Halim (2007) examined the moderating

or buffering effects of two social support variables - support from the

work group and from the supervisor - on the relationships of role conflict

and ambiguity to intrinsic job satisfaction, job involvement and job

anxiety. Data was collected from a sample of 89 middle-lower managerial

personnel in a large, heavy equipment manufacturing firm in the

70

Midwest. The moderated regression technique was used in data analysis.

Significant interactions were obtained between the role variables and both

social support variables. The results were in the predicted direction for

positive work outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction and involvement) and

contrary to prediction for negative work outcome (i.e., job anxiety).

From the aforementioned review of literature, it is clear that many

authors have undertaken the three variables, viz. job stress, employee

morale and job involvement in their studies separately, while certain

studies have been conducted taking two variables together, and still some

of the researchers have even studied all the three variables collectively.

However, it is also evident that the banking sector has not been explored

fully in this regard. Hence, there exists enough scope for more research in

the field.

NEED FOR THE STUDY

In the light of dearth of empirical literature, the present research

work gains greater importance to fill the gap in the study of the three

variables, viz. job stress, employee morale and job involvement

especially in the Indian banking sector. The studies already conducted in

this field provide only a partial understanding of the subject. In a high-

stress, disempowering environment quality of human resource is bound to

devalue. The downward spiral of high stress, weakened performance, and

negative consequences creates more stress. Consequently, it results in a

71

gradual erosion of an organization's intellectual assets especially human

resource. Employees bear the brunt of job stress, paying with their

physiological and psychological health. This is then most commonly

exhibited by way of low employee morale and is most likely to have its

effect on other personality and situation governed variables such as job

involvement. Investing in conditions that are conducive to fostering

appropriate levels of job stress among employees can be an effective

strategy to improve employee morale and job involvement. Employees

working under apt pressure, positive employee morale and considerable

job involvement are a sure formula for extracting greater contribution

from employees, enhanced organizational effectiveness and therefore,

growth and profitability of the organization.

Majority of the former studies discussed the casual cause and effect

of the three variables chiefly focusing on health aspects, productivity,

efficiency, absenteeism and turnover concerns evading the psychological

facet of the same. Most of our knowledge about the psychological side of

these variables especially in relation to each other is derived from our

day-to-day experiences and hearsay rather than a comparative, systematic

scientific analysis. This study, therefore, attempts an objective view of

job stress, employee morale and job involvement, and a comprehensive

study of their relationship especially in perspective of the Indian banking

sector.

72

Banking sector in India is one of the key constituents of service

sector which thrives on serving the customers well. For beating

competition banks require high morale bearing employees to deal with

customers positively, amicably and effectively. Also, for bank’s

efficiency, dedicated and job involved employees would prove to be an

asset bearing in mind the present scenario of rising costs, falling budgets

and employee shortages. However, over a period the sector has had to

deal with immense stress in coming to terms with the whirlwind of

change associated to policy amendments, globalization and liberalization,

ingress of private and MNC competitors, rapid technological advances

especially computerization, changed work patterns, downsizing, rigid

target completion schedules, enormous work overload, heightened

performance expectations, etc. The mayhem of increased stress has

resulted in serious repercussions on the social, economical and

psychological domains of the bank employees and their relations, most

probable ones including employee morale and job involvement issues.

Somehow, this sector has not been tapped much in terms of job stress,

employee morale and job involvement studies despite it providing an

enormous scope for an explicit analysis of the kind of impact job stress

has on employee morale and job involvement. It also provides the

divergence for study across three sectors of banks along with aiding in a

gender based comparison of bank executives on the basis of selected

variables.

73

Today, women are scaling new heights in all spheres of life;

personal and professional. Feathers of pleasing adjectives are endlessly

being added to their caps; multi-tasking, role juggling, multi-managing to

name a few. But along comes a corresponding package of associated job

stress and other personality and situation related issues like employee

morale and job involvement. However, literature review suggests that

women studies on these variables have been rather few, if not totally

absent. This study therefore, also attempts to draw a gender based

comparison in the banking sector on the basis of job stress, employee

morale and job involvement so as to have a better insight into the

prevalent position.

In sum, India being the second largest human resource bank in the

world needs to manage and eradicate stress and related issues so as to

save the worst nightmare that the future can become for all sectors

including banks. This study, thus, is beneficial for human resource in

general and the banking sector employees in particular as benefits could

be reaped from the study’s findings to eradicate detrimental human

resource policies and to further incorporate policies leading to optimum

level of job stress, higher level of employee morale and appropriate level

of job involvement leading to more productive and efficient workforce.

Findings from this study could also act as secondary data for further

research.

References

Abdel-Halim, Ahmed A. (2007) Affective Responses to Job S Behavior, Vol. 3, No. Agho, Augustine O. (1993) An Empirical Test of a Causal Model”, No. 8, pp. 1007-1027. Allport, Gordon W. (1944) for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Boston, p. 22. Ansbacher, H.L. (1950), “Testing Management & Workers Reactions in Germany during World Vol. 5, pp. 38-49. Applewhite, Phillip B. (1965) Cliffs Prentice-Hall, Inc., N. Aro, S.; and Hasan J. (1987) and Morbidity”, Annual Clinical Research 68. Babin, Barry J.; and Boles Co-worker Involvement Role Stress, Performance and Job S Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 57 Batlis, N.C. (1980), “Job Invol Moderators of Role-perception/Individual Psychology Report, 46, pp. 111Beehr, T.A.; and Newman, J.E. Organizational Effectiveness: A Facet Analysis, Model and Literature Review”, Person Billingsley, Bonnie S.; and Commitment, Job Satisfaction, and Intent to Stay in Tea Comparison of General and Special Educators”, Special Education, Vol.

74

(2007), “Social Support and Managerial Responses to Job Stress”, Journal of Organizational

No. 4, pp. 281-295.

(1993), “Determinants of Employee Job Satisfaction: Empirical Test of a Causal Model”, Human Relations, Vol.

1027.

(1944), Civilian Morale: II Year Book of the Society Psychological Study of Social Issues, Houghton Mifflin Co.

22.

“Testing Management & Workers Reactions in Germany during World War-II”, American Psychological Review

(1965), Organizational Behavior, Englewood Hall, Inc., N. Jersey, p.25.

(1987), “Occupational Class, Psychosocial Snnual Clinical Research, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 62

8.

Boles, James S. (1996), “The Effects of Perceived worker Involvement and Supervisor Support on Service P

Stress, Performance and Job Satisfaction”, Journal of Retailing, pp. 57-75.

“Job Involvement and Locus of Control as perception/Individual-outcome Relationships”, 46, pp. 111-119.

Newman, J.E. (1978), "Job Stress, Employee Health and Organizational Effectiveness: A Facet Analysis, Model and

Personnel Psychology, Vol. 31, pp. 665

, Bonnie S.; and Cross, Lawrence H. (1992), “Predictors of Job Satisfaction, and Intent to Stay in Teaching: A General and Special Educators”, The Journal of

, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 453-471.

anagerial Journal of Organizational

atisfaction: , Vol. 46,

Civilian Morale: II Year Book of the Society , Houghton Mifflin Co.,

22.

“Testing Management & Workers Reactions in American Psychological Review,

, Englewood

, “Occupational Class, Psychosocial Stress , pp. 62-

8.

erceived and Supervisor Support on Service Provider

Journal of Retailing,

elationships”,

Health and

665-669.

(1992), “Predictors of ching: A

The Journal of

75

Bliese, Paul D.; and Britt, Thomas W. (2001), “Social Support, Group Consensus and Stressor-Strain Relationships: Social Context Matters”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 425-436. Boon, Ooi Keng; Arumugam, Veeri; Safa, Mohammad Samaun; and Bakar, Nooh Abu (2007), “HRM and TQM: Association with Job Involvement”, Personnel Review, Vol. 36, No. 6, pp. 939-962. Borg, V.; Kristensen, T.S.; and Burr H. (2000), “Work Environment and Changes in Self-rated Health: A Five-year follow up Study”, Stress Medicine, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 37-47. Bose, S.K. (1958), “A Psychological Approach to the Productivity Movement”, Indian Journal of Psychology, No.2, pp. 195-204. Bose, S.K. (1965), “Employee Morale & Supervision”, Indian Journal of Psychology, No. 30, pp.117-125. Bozionelos, Nikos (2004), “The Big Five of Personality and Work Involvement”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 69-81. Bragg, Terry (2002), “Improving Employer/Employee Commitment”, Occupational Health & Safety, Vol. 71, No. 1, pp. 14-16. Brayfield, Arthur; and Crockett, Walter (1953), “Employer Attitude and Employee Performance”, Psychological Bulletin, Sept., p. 22. Brenner, S.O.; Soerbom, D.; and Wallius, E. (1985), “The Stress Chain: A Longitudinal Confirmatory Study of Teacher Stress, Coping and Social Support”, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 58, No.1, pp. 1-13. Brief, A.P.; and Aldag, R.J. (1976), “Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity: Integration of the Literature and Directions for Future Research”, Journal of Human Relations, Vol.34, No.1, pp. 43-66. Briner, R.B. (1997), “Improving Stress Assessment: Toward an Evidence-based Approach to Organizational Stress Interventions”, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 61-71.

76

Brown, Steven P. (1996), “A Meta-analysis and Review of Organizational Research on Job Involvement”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 120, No. 2, pp. 235-255. Burke, R.J. (2000), “Workaholism in Organizations: Psychological and Physical Well-being Consequences”, Stress Medicine, Vol. 16, No.1, pp. 11-16. Burke, R.J.; and Greenglass, E.R. (1995), “A Longitudinal Study of Psychological Burnout in Teachers”, Human Relations, Vol. 48, No.2, pp. 187-202. Burke, Ronald J.; Burgess, Zena; and Fallon, Barry (2006), “Workaholism among Australian Female Managers and Professionals: Job Behaviors, Satisfactions and Psychological Health”, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 200- 213. Burke, Ronald J. (2002), “The Ripple Effect”, Nursing Management, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 41-42. Calsyn, Robert J.; and Roades, Laurie A. (2006), “Stress, Social Support,

and Morale: Failure to Replicate Age Effects”, Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 373-377.

Caplan, R.D.; and Jones, K.W. (1975), "Effects of Work Load, Role Ambiguity, and Type A personality on Anxiety, Depression, and Heart Rate", Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 60, pp. 713-719. Carayon, Pascale (1993), “Job Design and Job Stress in Office Workers”, Ergonomics, Volume 36, No. 5, pp. 463-477. Carmeli, Abraham (2005), “Exploring Determinants of Job Involvement:

An Empirical Test Among Senior Executives”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 457-472.

Central Labour Institute (1970), Yearly Report Industrial Psychology Division, Bombay. Chatterjee, A. (1961), Satisfaction and Productivity, Ph.D. Thesis, Submitted to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

77

Chen, Margaret; and Miller, Geri (1997), “Teacher Stress: A Review of the International Literature”, http://eric.ed.gov, Retrieved on 12 May, 2009. Chermiss, C. (1980), Staff Burnout: Job Stress in Human Service, Sage, Beverly Hills, pp. 254-260. Cherry, N. (1978), “Stress, Anxiety and Work: A Longitudinal Study”, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 5, No.3, pp. 259-70. Chiu, Chou-Kang; Chien, Chi-Sheng; Lin, Chieh-Peng; and Hsiao, Ching Yun (2005), “Understanding Hospital Employee Job Stress and Turnover Intentions in a Practical Setting: The Moderating Role of Locus of Control”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 24, No.10, pp. 837-855. Choudhry, K.; and Pal, A.K. (1968), “Production Planning and Organizational Morale”, in A.H. Rubenstein and C.J. Habertroh (eds.), Some Theories of Organization, Homewood III, Richard D. Irwin, pp. 185-196. Cooper, C.L.; and Cartwright, S. (1997), “An Intervention Strategy for Workplace Stress”, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 43, No.1, pp. 7-16. Cortis, Rachelle; and Cassar, Vincent (2005), “Perceptions of and about Women as Managers: Investigating Job Involvement, Self-esteem and Attitudes”, Women in Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 149-164. Cotton, Peter (2003), “Poor Leadership and Morale Responsible For Employee Stress”, www.actu.asn.au, Retrieved on 6 June, 2009. Dale, Collie (2004), “Control Stress with High Morale”, www.ambafrance-do.org, Retrieved on 14 October, 2009. Dale, Yodder (1972), Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, Prentice-Hall of India, N. Delhi, p. 527. Elankumaran, S. (2004), “Personality, Organizational Climate and Job Involvement: An Empirical Study”, Journal of Human Values, Vol. 10, No.2, pp. 117-130.

78

Emery, Charles R.; and Barker, Katherine J. (2007), “Effect of Commitment, Job Involvement and Teams on Customer Satisfaction and Profit”, Team Performance Management, Vol. 13, No. 3 / 4, pp. 90-101. Fedor, Donald B.; John, M. Maslyn; Walter, D. Davis; and Kieran, Mathieson (2001), “Performance Improvement Efforts in response to Negative Feedback: The Roles of Source Power and Recipient Self- esteem”, Journal of Management, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 79-96. Feilder, Emma Donaldson; Yarker, Jo; and Lewis, Rachel (2008), “Line Management Competence: The Key to Preventing and Reducing Stress at Work”, Journal of Strategic HR Review, Vol. 7, No.2, pp. 11-16. Fenwick, Rudy; and Tausig, Mark (1994), “The Macroeconomic Context of Job Stress”, Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, Vol. 35, pp. 266-282. Firth, H.; and Britton, P. (1989), ‘‘Burnout, Absence and Turnover Amongst British Nursing Staff”, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 62, No.1, pp. 55-59. Flippo, E.B. (1961), Principles of Personnel Management, McGraw- Hill, N. York, pp. 416-417. French, P.Jr.; and Caplan, R.D. (1972), “Organizational Stress and Individual Strain”,The Failure of Success, AMACOM, New York. Freund, Anat; and Carmeli, Abraham (2003), “An Empirical Assessment: Reconstructed Model for Five Universal Forms of Work Commitment”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 7, pp. 708-725. Frone, M.R.; Russell, M.; and Cooper, M.L. (1995), “Job Stressors, Job Involvement and Employee Health: A Test of Identity Theory”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 1-11. Fuimano, Julie (2005), "Harness the Power of Praise", Nursing Management, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 8-9.

79

Ganguli, H.C. (1961), Industrial Productivity and Motivation, Asia Publishing House, Bombay. Ganster, Daniel C.; and Schaubroeck, John (1991), “Work Stress and Employee Health”, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No.2, pp. 235-271. Gardner, E.F.; and Thompson, G.G. (1972), Social Relations and Morale in Small Groups, Syraouse University, Appleton Century Crofts Inc. Glickman, L.; Tanaka, J.S.; and Chan, E. (1991), “Life Events, Chronic Strain and Psychological Distress: Longitudinal Causal Models”, Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 283-305. Gomez-Mejia, Luis R. (1990), “Women's Adaptation to Male-dominated Occupations”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 11-16. Gordery, J.L.; Mueller, W.S.; and Smith, L.M. (1991), “Attitudinal and Behavioural Effects of Autonomous Group Working: A Longitudinal Study”, Academy Management Journal, Vol. 34, pp. 464-76. Greenhaus, Jeffrey H.; and Beutell, Nicholas J. (1985), “Sources of Conflict Between Work and Family Roles”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, No.1, pp. 76-88. Gurin, G.; Veroff, J.; and Feld, S. (1960), Americans View their Mental Health, Basic Books, New York. Gyllensten, Kristina; and Palmer, Stephen (2005), “The Role of Gender in Workplace Stress: A Critical Literature Review”, Health Education Journal, Vol. 64, No.3, pp. 271-288. Hall, Douglas T.; and Mansfield, Roger (1971), “Organizational and Individual Response to External Stress”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 16, No.4, pp. 533-547. Harris, O.J. (1976), Managing People at Work, John Wiley and Sons, N. York, pp. 237-38. Health Canada (2002), Report on Mental Illness in Canada, October.

80

Heinisch, D.A.; and Jex, S.M. (1997), “Negative Affectivity and Gender as Moderators of the Relationship between Work-related Stressors and Depressed Mood at Work”, Work Stress, Vol.11, No.1, pp. 46- 57. Hotopf, M.; and Wessely, S. (1997), “Stress in the Workplace: Unfinished Business”, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 43, No.1, pp. 1-6. HRM International Digest (2008), “Happy Employees have a Good Work-Life Balance: Staff Trusted to Balance Personal Needs with Employment Responsibilities”, Vol. 16, No. 6, pp. 27-28. Iaffaldano, Michelle T.; and Muchinsky, Paul M. (1985), “Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: A Meta-analysis”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 97, No.2, pp. 251-273. Ivancevich, J.M.; Matteson, M.T.; and Preston, C. (1982), "Occupational Stress: Type A Behaviour and Physical Well-being", The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 25, No.2, pp. 373-391. Jackson, S.; Schwab, R.; and Schuler, R. (1986), “Toward an Understanding of the Burnout Phenomenon”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 61, pp. 630-40. Jackson, Susan E.; and Maslach, Christina (1982), “After Effects of Job- related Stress: Families as Victims”, Journal of Occupational Behaviour, Vol. 3, No.1, Special Issue [Current Issues in Occupational Stress: Theory, Research and Intervention], pp. 63-77. Jernigan, I.E.; Beggs, Joyce M.; and Kohut, Gary F. (2002), “Dimensions of Work Satisfaction as Predictors of Commitment Type”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 17, No. 7, pp. 564-579. Johnson, J.V.; Hall, E.M.; Ford, D.E.; Mead, L.A.; Levine, D.M.; Wang, N.Y.; and Klag, M.J. (1995), “The Psycho-social Work Environment of Physicians: The Impact of Demands and Resources on Job Dissatisfaction and Psychiatric Distress in a Longitudinal Study of Johns Hopkins Medical School Graduates”, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol.37, No. 9, pp. 1151-59. Kahn, R. L.; Wolfe, D. M.; Quinn, R.; Snoek, J. D.; and Rosenthal, R. A. (1964), Organizational Stress, Wiley, New York.

81

Kanungo (1979), “The Concepts of Alienation and Involvement Revisited”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 86, pp. 119-38. Kaplan, S.H.; Greenfield, S.; Supran, S.; and Wilson, I.B. (1999), “Compromised Physician Morale, Time Pressures and the Quality of Interpersonal Care”, An Abstract, Association for Health Services Research, p. 408. Katz, Daniele; and Kahn, Robert (1978), The Social Psychology of Organizations, Wiley, N. York. Kawakarmi, N.; Araki, S.; and Kawashima, M. (1990), “Effects of Job Stress on Occurrence of Major Depression in Japanese Industry: A Case-control Study Nested in a Cohort Study”, Journal of Occupational Medicine, Vol. 32, No.8, pp. 722-725. Knoop, Robert (1995), “Relationships among Job Involvement, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment for Nurses”, Journal of Psychology, Vol. 129, No.6, p. 643. Kuruuzum, Ayse; Cetin, Emre Ipekci; and Irmak, Sezgin (2009), “Path Analysis of Organizational Commitment, Job Involvement and Job Satisfaction in Turkish Hospitality Industry”, Tourism Review, Vol. 64, No.1, pp. 4-16. Landsbergis, Paul A.; and Vaughan, Eleanor Vivona (2006), “ Evaluation

of an Occupational Stress Intervention in a Public Agency”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 29-48.

Larson, Linda Lee (2004), “Internal Auditors and Job Stress”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 19, No.9, pp. 1119-1130. Leiter, M.P.; and Durup, M.J. (1996), “Work, Home, and in-between: A Longitudinal Study of Spillover”, Journal of Applied Behaviour/ Science, Vol. 32, No.1, pp. 29-47. Lewandowski, Cathleen (2003),"Organizational Factors contributing to Worker Frustration: The Precursor to Burnout", Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 175-185. Library Personnel News (1998), “Employee Tips: What Motivates Employees?”, Library Personnel News, 12 (1-2), pp. 4-7.

82

Linz, Susan J.; Good, Linda K.; and Huddleston, Patricia (2006), “Worker Morale in Russia: An Exploratory Study”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 415-437.

Lodahl, T.M.; and Kejner, M. (1965), “The Definition and Measurement of Job Involvement”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 49, pp. 24- 33. Lubans, John (2000), “"I'm So Low, I can't Get High": The Low Morale Syndrome and What to Do about It”, Library Administration & Management, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 218-221. Mayo, Elton G. (1947), The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization, Harvard University, Boston. McFarland, D.F. (1978), Management Principles and Practices, Norton & Co., N. York, p. 517. Mckelvey, B.; and Sekaran, U. (1977), “Toward a Career-based Theory of Job Involvement: A Study of Scientists and Engineers”, Administrative Science Quarter, Vol. 22, pp. 281-305. McKnight, D. Harrison; Ahmad, Sohel; and Schroeder, Roger G. (2001), “When do Feedback, Incentive Control, and Autonomy Improve Morale? The Importance of Employee-Management Relationship Closeness”, Journal of Managerial Issues, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 466- 481. McManus, Kevin (2005),"Ask and Learn", Industrial Engineer, Vol. 37, No. 1, p. 18. Messmer, Max (2001), “Leading Your Team Through Change”, Strategic Finance, 83, No.4, pp. 8-10. Mills, L.B.; and Huebner, E.S. (1998), “A Prospective Study of Personality Characteristics, Occupational Stressors, and Burnout Among School Psychology Practitioners”, Journal of School Psychology, Vol. 36, No.1, pp. 103-20. Misra, S.; and Kalro, A. (1981), “Job Involvement of Intrinsically and Extrinsically Motivated Indian Managers: To Each According to his Need”, Human Relations, Vol. 34, pp. 419-26.

83

Mudrack, Peter E. (2004), “Job Involvement, Obsessive-compulsive Personality Traits, and Workaholic Behavioural Tendencies”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 490-508. NIOSH (1999), “Stress at Work”, Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Publication No. 99-101. Noor, N.M. (1995), “Work and Family Roles in relation to Women’s Well-being: A Longitudinal Study”, British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 34, No.1, pp. 87-106. Parker, Donald F.; and DeCotiis, Thomas A. (1983), “Organizational Determinants of Job Stress", Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 160-177. Parks, Carole; Scully, Judy; West, Michael; and Dawson, Jeremy (2007), “High Commitment Strategies: It ain't what you do; it's the way that you do it”, Employee Relations, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 306-318. Pathak, R. D. (1983), “Job Involvement and Need Satisfaction of Bank Officers in India”, Research Note, Vol. 8, No. 4. Pestonjee, D.M. (1992), Stress and Coping the Indian Experience, Sage Publications, New Delhi. Phelan, J.; Schwartz, Je; Bromet, E.J.; Dew, M.A.; Parkinson, D.K.; Schulberg, H.C.; Dunn, LO; Blane, H.; and Curtis, E.C. (1991), “Work Stress, Family Stress and Depression in Professional and Managerial Employees”, Psychosom Med, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 999- 1012. Poulin, J.; and Walter, C. (1993), “Social Work Burnout: A Longitudinal Study”, Social Work Resource Abstract, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 5-11. Prosser, D.; Johnson, S.; and Kuipers, E. (1997), “Perceived Sources of Work Stress and Satisfaction Among Hospital and Community Mental Health Staff, and their Relation to Mental Health, Burnout and Job Satisfaction”, Journal of Psychology Research, Vol. 43, No.1, pp. 51-59.

84

Rabinowitz, Samuel; Hall, Douglas T.; and Goodale, James G. (1977), “Job Scope and Individual Differences as Predictors of Job Involvement: Independent or Interactive ?”, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 273-281. Rabinowitz, S.; and Hall, D.T. (1977), “Organization Research on Job Involvement”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 84, pp. 265-88. Redfern, Sally; Hannan, Shirina; Norman, Ian; and Martin, Finbarr (2002), “Work Satisfaction, Stress, Quality of Care and Morale of Older People in a Nursing Home”, Health & Social Care in the Community, Vol.10, No.6, pp. 512-517. Revicki, D.A.; Whitley, T.W.; Gallery, M.E.; and Allison, E.J. (1993), “The Impact of Work Environment Characteristics on Work-related Stress and Depression in Emergency Medical Residents: A Longitudinal Study”, Journal of Community Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 273-84. Reynolds, S. (1997), “Psychological Well-being at Work: Is Prevention Better than Cure?”, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 43, No.1, pp. 93-102. Roach, Darrel E. (1958), “Dimensions of Employee Morale”, Personnel Psychology, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 419-431. Romanov, K.; Appelberg, K.; Honkasalo, M.L.; and Koskenvuo, M. (1996), “Recent Interpersonal Conflict at Work and Psychiatric Morbidity: A Prospective Study of 15,530 Employees Aged 24-64”, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol.40, No.2, pp. 169-76. Ron, L. Cacioppe; and Graham, K. Kenny (1987), “Work Attitudes in an Employee-owned Company: Comparing Managers with Non- managers”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 17-22. Rotenberry, Paul F.; and Moberg, Philip J. (2007), “Assessing the Impact of Job Involvement on Performance”, Management Research News, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 203-215. Rout, U.; Cooper, C.L.; and Rout, J.K. (1996), “Job Stress Among British General Practitioners: Predictors of Job Dissatisfaction and Mental Ill Health”, Stress Med, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 155-66.

85

Rusbult, Caryl E.; and Farrell, Dan (1983), “A Longitudinal Test of the Investment Model: The Impact on Job Satisfaction, Job Commitment, and Turnover of Variations in Rewards, Costs, Alternatives, and Investments”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 429-438. Schaefer, Jeanne A.; and Moos, Rudolf H. (1996), “Effects of Work Stressors and Work Climate on Long-term Care Staff's Job Morale and Functioning”, Research in Nursing & Health, Vol.19, No.1, pp. 63-73. Schaufeli, Wilmar B.; and Peeters, Maria C.W. (2000), “Job Stress and Burnout among Correctional Officers”, International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 19-48. Schonfeld, I.S. (1996), “Relation of Negative Affectivity to Self-reports of Job Stressors and Psychological Outcomes”, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 397-412. Scott, Dow; Bishop, James W.; and Chen, Xiangming (2003), “An Examination of the Relationship of Employee Involvement with Job Satisfaction, Employee Cooperation and Intention to Quit in U.S. Invested Enterprise in China”, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 3-19. Scott, Gail (2001), “Reviving Staff Spirit: A Key to Impressive Service”, Journal of Healthcare Management, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 293-295. Shadur, Mark A.; Kienzle, Rene; and Rodwell, John J. (1999), “The Relationship between Organizational Climate and Employee Perceptions of Involvement : The Importance of Support”, Group & Organization Management, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 479-503. Sinha, D.; and Nair, K.R. (1965), “A Study of Job Satisfaction in Factory Workers”, Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol. 26, pp. 1-8. Skinner, Denise A. (1980), “Dual-Career Family Stress and Coping: A Literature Review”, Family Relations, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 473-481. Spriegel, W.; and Lansburgh, E. (1957), Industrial Management, Asia Publishing House, Bombay. Sreelatha, P. (1991), “Stress: A Theoretical Perspective”, Stress: Sources, Effects, and Resolution Strategies and Stress Research Indian Perspective in Organizational Stress, Sage Publishing House, New Delhi, pp. 6-163.

86

Taris, T.W. (1999), “The Mutual Effects Between Job Resources and Mental Health: A Prospective Study Among Dutch Youth”, Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs, Vol. 125, No. 4, pp. 433-50. Taylor, H.; and Cooper, C.L. (1989), “The Stress-prone Personality: A Review of the Research in the context of Occupational Stress”, Stress Med, Vol. 5, pp. 17-27. Tschohl, John (1999), “The Qualities of Successful People”, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 78-80. Van Sell, Brief and Schuller (1976), "Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity: Integration of the Literature and Directions for Future Research," Journal of Human Relations, Vol.34, No.1, pp. 43-66. Watson, Wyatt (1998), “Disability Management: The Key to Staying @ Work”, 2nd Annual Survey Report, Watson Wyatt Worldwide and Washington Business Group on Health. Weinberg, A.; and Creed F. (2000), “Stress and Psychiatric Disorder in Health Care Professionals and Hospital Staff”, Lancet, 355(9203), pp. 533-537. Zapf, D.; Dormann, C.; and Frese, M. (1996), “Longitudinal Studies in Organizational Stress Research: A Review of the Literature with reference to Methodological Issues”, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 1, No.2, pp. 145-69.