Dr K.

Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,

ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

A Comparative Study of Occupational

Stress among Employees of It Sector - With
Specific Reference to Hyderabad City
Dr. K. Sunanda
(Associate professor)

Abstract: Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Many of our life demands
can cause stress, especially at work place. Occupational stress is stress related to one’s job, often stems from
unexpected responsibilities and pressures that do not align with a person’s knowledge, skills or expectations
inhibiting one’s ability to cope.
Occupational stress in IT employees is very high as they spend most of their productive time at work. Moreover,
they are constantly assailed with lots of work pressures to perform effectively with tight time deadlines, shifts in
work and, rapid technological changes are some of the causes for stress. Occupational stress is a recognized
killer and a major contributor to work sickness. Organizations are getting anxious of stress to overcome bad
effects of it such as increase absenteeism, increase in turnover, low productivity etc., and finding ways to
manage it properly.
The present study is an endeavour to identify factors causing occupational stress, Strain and coping resources
adopted among employees of IT sector. The role of demographic variables gender, age, marital status, income,
organization, experience, designation and income has been discussed. A comparison of occupational stress
levels between MNC’S and Domestic IT companies has been made. The results of the research has practical
implications that may help organizations to understand the key factors that are causing occupational stress and
adopt coping strategies accordingly for employees of IT sector. This will not only contribute for Employee and
Organization development but also lead to a stress free working environment.
Keywords: Occupational stress, IT employees, IT sector.

I. INTRODUCTION
Stress has become the 21st century buzzword from the high prevailing corporate echelons to the
bassinets of teaching infants” nurseries we find this world liberally used. Stress has become a common part of
modern life. Urbanization, industrialization and the increase in the scale of operations in society are some of the
reasons for raising stress. It is an inevitable consequence of socioeconomic complexity and to some extent, its
stimulant as well. People experience stress as they can no longer have complete control over what happens in
their lives. The speed at which change is taking place in the world today is certainly overwhelming and breath-
taking. In the fast changing world of today, no individual is free from stress and no profession is stress free.
Everyone experiences stress whether it is within the family, business, organization, study, work or any other
social or economic activity. Thus, in modern time, stress in general and job stress in particular has become part
of the life and has received considerable attention in recent years.
Occupational Stress
Occupational stress is stress involving work. According to the current world health organizations
(WHO) definition,” Occupation or work related stress is the response people may have when presented with
work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their
ability to cope. Occupational related stress among working people were drastically increasing worldwide. Stress
at work has become an integral part of everyday life and is referred as ‘Worldwide epidemic’.
Occupational Stress among IT Employees
An increasing number of IT professionals have been finding difficult to handle occupational stress.
According to experts ‘An Occupational hazard “the stress related to work needs to be addressed without delay,
as it leads to Burnout. Currently managing a team of software professional working on a crucial database
project, the software professionals spend nearly 12 hours every day in front of the system to make sure the
targets are met. As an employee gains experience in the IT industry they are endowed with more responsibilities
that involve working under strict deadlines, managing more people from business units and reworking on
millions of lines of code to suit the changing patterns of client requirements.
Scope of the study
The scope of the study covers IT companies in Hyderabad city. The reason for this is that it is an
emerging information technology hub in India. Hi tech city is the major Hi-tech business district which is one of

http://indusedu.org Page 15

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

the leading information technology hubs of India. The technology township is also known as CYBERABAD.
The area comprises of it parks such as L&T Infocity, Hi-tech city SEZ, Mind space, Cyberabad SEZ, Tech
Mahindra IT SEZ, TCS synergy park, SEZ’s of Infosys, Wipro and APIIC built to suit campuses of several
major IT companies.
Limitations of the study
1. The findings of the study are totally based on the responses of the sample to which the questionnaire is
administered.
2. The study does not asses all the factors responsible for occupational stress but only addresses specific
factors that are causing occupational stress.
3. The Data were gathered from only one place, (i.e.) Hyderabad city in India

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Hans selye (1955) 6 defined stress as” The non-specific response of the body to any demand placed
upon it. One of his most significant modern theories of psychological stress was printed in 1956; in a book “The
stress of life” stated that the term “stress” was used to explain physical and psychological responses to difficult
situations. Seyle explained the concept of stress using the conditions for distress (bad stress) and eustress (good
stress). The degree of insistence is basic in Seyle’s clarification of distress. (Le Fevered etal, 2003)7. Distress
stand for either too much or too little insist.
Seyle investigated the physiological reactions of stress, as a distracted response of the body to any
insists made upon it. He defined stressor as any incentive that reasons a stress response. If the stimulus does not
decrease, a stress –response the supposed general-adaptation-syndrome results, which has distinct stages (Seyle,
1956)8.
Alarm reaction- Living being exposed to a stimulus that it has not modified to act in response by
going into a stage dominated by an upset response finally leads to another rejoinder in which the organism
begins to counteract the initial alarm reaction.
Stage of resistance – The organism has made to order to the stressor stimulus and any indication
improves.
Stage of Exhaustion—It is the stage when the stressor has been particularly harsh and long –drawn the
symptoms come back and the organism becomes tired.
Cummins R (1990) 69suggested role conflict and ambiguity, work overload, underutilization of skills,
resource inadequacy and lack of participation as the main stressors at work.”
singh AP and singh B (1992) 70 A study on “Stress and strain among Indian middle managers”. Study
was done on 400 middle– level managers of Bokaro steel plant to fill out role stress and job anxiety
questionnaires. Their result showed that high anxiety employee’s showed positive relationship with role stress.
McDonald and Korabik (1991) 71 in a study titled “Sources of stress and ways of coping among male and
female managers studied stress and coping among managers.10 male managers in a low stress group and 10
female managers in a high stress group described stressful work related situations that they had experienced and,
how they coped with them. A structured work stress questionnaire was used to assess additional type of
stressors. It was found that women were more likely than men because that prejudice and discrimination at work
and family interference were sources of stress.
Biswas (1998) 72 studied the relationship between “Lifestyle stressors and organizational effectiveness
“. He collected data from 160 managers, 47 supervisors and 50 workers of public sector organization. His results
showed that stress caused by performance, threat and frustration led to low degree of organizational
commitment.
Occupational stress among IT personnel in Singapore –A study by Lim and Alan (1999) 73 analyzed
the factors which generated stress among information personnel resources in Singapore. Lack of career
advancement, workload, Risk taking, decision –making, employee morale, workload and organizational culture
were identified as broad categories of stressors “.
In a study by Vijayalakshmi and Meti A (2000) 74, found that non-executive employee’s exhibited
signs of significantly higher occupational stress than executives on such dimensions as role conflict, political
pressure, poor peer relations and job responsibility.
Mishra and Rani DL (2001) 75 conducted a study on “Occupational stress among women in emerging
services”. Data was collected from 39 young and 23 old doctors as well as 50 young and 32 old nurses. Their
results show that older doctors and nurses experienced more role stagnation and found their job less stressful.
On the other hand, young doctors and nurses felt greater personal inadequacy and hence experienced greater
stress at work “.
Dr. K.Jawahar Rani and R.Muzhumati (2012) 107 noted that women professionals were greatly
dependent on work family conflict and flexible work schedules produced positive benefits for employees in a
study titled “Examining the relationship between work family conflict and organizational role stress on life
satisfaction among women professionals in Chennai city”.
http://indusedu.org Page 16

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

Keshavchandran etal (2012)108 noticed that musculo-skeletal disorders, psycho social problems and
ocular disorders are the health problems identified among software professionals in a study on ”Working
conditions and health among employees at information technology-enabled services: A review of current
evidence”. They suggested with the implementation programs such as Health education, Ergonomics and
Training of personnel to prevent and overcome psycho-social problems and morbidity among employees in
software industry
Objectives of the study
 To identify the factors that contribute for the occupational stress experienced by the IT professionals in
select IT companies
 To examine the difference in occupational stress levels between employees’ in multinational and
Domestic IT companies
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are framed for research.
H₀1: There is no significant relationship between determinant factors and occupational stress
experienced by the employees.
H01a:- There is no significant relationship between occupational role stressors and occupational stress
experienced by the employees.
H01b: There is no significant relationship between Personal strain and occupational stress
H01c: There is no significant relationship between Personal resources and occupational stress
H₀2: There is no significant difference in level of occupational stress experienced between employees
of MNC’S and Domestic IT companies.
Limitations of the study
1. The findings of the study are totally based on the responses of the sample to whom the questionnaire is
administered.
2. The study does not asses all the factors responsible for occupational stress but only addresses specific
factors that are causing occupational stress.
3. The Data were gathered from only one place, (i.e.) Hyderabad city.

III. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

Osipow and Spokane (1984) 36 have developed a model of stressors, stress, and coping that appear to
be more suitable to the professional employees. The present study instrumentation is adopted from the
occupational stress inventory–revised (OSI-R). This model is used to integrate sources of work stressors, the
resultant stress and coping resources with a classification system that facilitates it to use as a research
instrument. The instrument is divided into three questionnaires.
1. Occupational role stressors: has six dimensions Role overload, Role insufficiency, Role ambiguity, Role
boundary, Responsibility and Physical environment
2. Personal strain : has Vocational strain, Psychological strain, Interpersonal strain and Physical strain
3. Personal resource: has Recreation, Self-care, Social support and Rational /Cognitive

IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Tools for data collection - Primary and Secondary sources
2. Questionnaire Design
3. Sample design
4. Reliability and Validation of scales
5. Statistical tools used
Tools for Data Collection
Sources of Primary and Secondary Data
Information elicitation instruments Descriptions
Primary: Structured questionnaires which
 Questionnaires distributed to respondents and
collected.
Secondary: Company websites, Journals etc.,
 Literature study
 (internet and hard copy& an archival records
Questionnaire Design
The questionnaires to be used for this research are structured under five categories in order to measure
occupational stress of employees: Demographic variables, Occupational role stress, Personal strain and Personal
resources.
1. Part A: Demographic Profile
http://indusedu.org Page 17

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

2. Part B: Occupational role stressors, Personal Strain and Personal resources

Sample Design
Study population: The population for this study is employees of IT companies in Hyderabad who are working
in the select IT companies.
Sampling technique: The sampling technique applied for the research is Stratified Random sampling
technique.
Sample Size
The occupational stress among employees of IT sector survey sample is calculated based on formula
for sample size calculation, which is depicted below: n= (Zs/0.05)/2
Where: n=the sample size required, Z= 95% confidence level is taken which is equivalent to z score of 1.96
s= standard deviation of the pilot test (.85), e= is tolerable error .05 is taken
In this study the variables are measured using 5-point Likert scale, the highest 5 and lowest 1. So, that we have
to decide how much error on each scale of 1to 5.
n= (1.96*.86/0.05))2
n= 1200
Proportionate allocation of Respondents
Company Name Total population Sample population

TCS 2700 194

Wipro 2000 240
Infotech 3000 360
C4i technologies 976 126
Mindsoft computech 800 156
Impec soft 700 124
Total population 10,076 1200

Occupational stress measures

Sub-scales Dimensions Individual Items
1. Different tasks in little time
Occupational Role 2. Increasing Responsibilities
role stressors overload 3. Tasks never been trained
4. Have to work at home
5. Tight time dead lines
6. Need help to deal demands
Role 7. Career progressing
insufficiency8. Job fits my skills and interests
9. Bored with the job
10. Talents are used well
11. Job has good future
12. Learn new skills
13. Perform tasks below ability
Role 14. Supervisor provides useful feed back
ambiguity 15. I know tasks o be performed first
16. I know where to begin the project
17. Supervisor wants one thing and asks for another
18. Priorities are clear
19. Know the basis on which I am evaluated
Role 20. More than one person telling what to do
boundary 21. I know where I fit in organization
22. Supervisor has conflicting ideas about me
23. It is clear who really runs the things
24. Frequently disagree with individuals at other departments
Responsibilit25. Deal with more people during the day
y 26. Job responsibility for activities of others
27. Consequences of my mistake can be pretty bad
28. I worry about people work with me
29. I am responsible for welfare of subordinates
30. Worry about meeting job responsibilities
Physical 31. Have erratic work schedule

http://indusedu.org Page 18

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

environment32. Work all by myself

Vocational 33. Don’t seem able to get
Personal Strain 34. Getting behind in my work
Strain 35. Quality of my work is good
36. Find my work interesting
37. I make errors in work
Psychologica38. Easily irritated
l Strain 39. I have been depressed
40. Trouble falling asleep
41. I Respond to situations later
42. I have good sense of humor
Interpersonal43. Wish to spend more time with friends
strain 44. I do things by myself instead with other people
45. I quarrel with member of the family
46. Need time to myself
47. Worried about how others view me
48. Have been withdrawing from people lately
Physical 49. Unplanned weight gains
Strain 50. Eating habits are erratic
51. Have aches and pains
Personal Recreation 52. When need vacation I take one
resources 53. Able to do what I want in free time
54. On weekends I spend on things enjoy most
55. I set aside time for things I really enjoy
56. I frequently think about work while relaxing
57. I spend lot of free time on hobbies
Self-care 58. I am careful about diet
59. I get regular check ups
60. I practice relaxation techniques
Social 61. At least one sympathetic person with whom I can discuss my concerns
support 62. I feel I have at least one good friend
63. I have help for important things that have to be done
64. I feel that there are other jobs
65. I could do besides my current job
66. I can establish my priorities for use of my time able to stick to my priorities
Rational 67. I have techniques to help to avoid being distracted
/Cognitive 68. I use systematic approach when faced with problem
69. To take decisions I think through consequences of choices I might make

Reliability of Variables Reliability of entire items

Variables Cronbach’s Number
Alpha of
Items
Occupationalrole .850 32 Cronbach’s Alpha Number of Items
stressors .964 69
Personal strain .764 19
Personal .751 18
resources

Statistical tools used

 To analyze the data both descriptive and inferential statistics are used.
 Descriptive: Percentages, Mean , Standard Deviation
 Testing for relationship between variables: Pearson correlation and Chi-square independence statistics
 F-VALUES: The mean difference on given study variables are examined to know variations.
 Associative relationships between IDVs and DV : REGRESSION ANALYSIS
It is used to explain the variation in the level of occupational stress (DV) based on the variation over the
independent variables, Occupational role stressors, Personal strain and Personal resources. Therefore, the
multiple regression equation becomes:
Y =a +b1x1+ b2x2 – b3x3

http://indusedu.org Page 19

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

Where:
Y= the value of the dependent variable (occupational stress)
a= is the constant or intercept
b1= is the Slope, regression coefficient (Beta coefficient) for X1
X1=First independent variable that is explaining the variance in Y
b2= is the Slope, regression coefficient (Beta coefficient) for X2
X2= Second independent variable that is explaining the variance in Y
b3= is the Slope, regression coefficient (Beta coefficient) for X3
X3= Third independent variable that is explaining the variance in Y

V. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

Correlation analysis: Determinant variables& occupational stress
The objective of the study is to examine the relationships between the independent variables and
occupational stress. These variables are: Occupational role stressors, Personal strain and Personal resource
.Whether there is a relationship between these factors and total occupational stress Pearson correlation
coefficient analysis is performed, because correlation establishes a relationship between two variables.
Hypothesis Testing
Hypotheses
H01: There is no significant relationship between Occupational stress and Occupational role stressors, Personal
strain and Personal resources
H01a: There is no significant relationship between Occupational role stressors and Personal strain
H01b: There is no significant relationship between occupational role stressors and Personal resources
Ho1c: There is no significant relationship between Personal strain and Personal resources
Hypotheses testing were carried out at 99% confidence level: two tailed. Hypothesis testing was
performed to know if there is correlation between variables and occupational stress.
Table 7: Correlation Matrix among Variables (Alpha .01)
PS PR Total OS
ORS

ORS .765** - .849**

1 .634**
Correlation

Sig(2-
tailed)

N 1000
PS 1 - .651**
Correlation .867**

Sig(2-
tailed)

PR 1 -.723
Correlation

Sig(2-
tailed)

1000
N

http://indusedu.org Page 20

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

TotalOS 1
Correlation .867** -.723**
.849**
Sig(2-
tailed)
N 1000 1000 1000
1000

Table 11: Model summary table

Mean Std dev R R Adjusted Std err of Sample
Variables square R square the Size
estimate
3.73
Occupational role .634 .945 .893 .892
stressors .356
1000
Personal strain 3.45
.568

Personal Resource
2.14 .453

Table 12: ANOVA Results of the model fit

Model Sum of df Mean square F Sig
squares
Regression 1571.387 4 1128.543 1.903 .000
Residual 165.762 994 40.55
Total 2637.049 998
Predicator: Occupational role stressors, Strain, Personal Resource

Table 13: The coefficient Table (rate of range)

Model Unstandardized Standarized t Sig
coefficients Coefficient
β Std err s
Beta
(Constant) -.633 - .000
.060 22.1
Occupational 9
stress Occupational role .391 .191 8.56 .000
stressors .029 9
Personal Strain .301 .149 6.68 .000
.022 8
Personal Resources -.231 -.136 - .000
.022 5.67
0
Y = a + b1x1 +b2x2- b3X3
OS = -0.633 + .391X1 + .301X2 – .231 X3
Where, Y = Occupational stress, X1= Occupational role stressors, X2= Personal Strain, X3 =Personal resources,
OS = occupational stress
Table 14 Summarization of Regression weights
Null hypothesis Estimate of Sig Decision Strength Inference
regression Of relationship
weight
There is no .391 .000 Ho is R2 is of When
significant rejected variation is Occupational role
relationship between explained by stressors goes up

http://indusedu.org Page 21

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

Occupational role IV’s by 1,

stressors and Occupational
occupational stress stress goes up by
Strong .319
There is no .000 Ho is relationship When Personal
significant .310 rejected exists strain goes up by
relationship between 1, occupational
Personal strain and stress goes up by
Occupational stress .310

There is no -.231 .000 H0 is When Personal

significant rejected resource goes up
relationship between by 1
Personal resource Occupational
and occupational stress goes down
stress by.231

Objective 2
 To examine the difference in occupational stress levels between employees’ in Multinational and Domestic
IT companies
H₀2: There is no significant difference in level of occupational stress experienced between employees of
MNC’S and Domestic IT companies
 There is significant association of demographic variables with occupational stress in both MNC’S and
Domestic IT companies
Table 28: Correlation Matrix results in MNC’S IT companies
PSQ PRQ Total OS
ORQ

ORQ .705** -.614** .800**

Correlation 1

Sig(2- .000 .000 .000

tailed)

PSQ 1 - .651**
Correlation .734**

Sig(2- .000
tailed) .000

PRQ 1 -
Correlation .614**

Sig(2-
tailed) .000

TotalOS
Correlation .800** .734** -.614** 1

Sig(2- .000 .000 .000

tailed)
N 732 732 732
732

http://indusedu.org Page 22

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Table 29: The table below shows correlation statistics results of Domestic IT companies
PSQ PRQ Total OS
ORQ

ORQ .765** - .849**

1 .634**
Correlation

Sig(2- .000 .000

tailed) .000

PSQ 1 -.700**
Correlation .817**

Sig(2- .000
tailed) .000

PRQ 1 -634**
Correlation
.000
Sig(2-
tailed)

TotalOS 1
Correlation .849** .817** -.634**

Sig(2- .000 .000 .000

tailed)
N 268 268 268 268

 There is strong and positive correlation between occupational role stressors and Personal strain with
occupational stress and it is high in Domestic IT companies than MNC’S. Negative correlation is seen for
personal resources and it is less in Domestic IT companies compared to MNC’S.

Table 30: Comparing of MNC’S and Domestic IT companies (using mean &SD)
SECTOR Variables Mean Std. Dev Sample size
Occupational role stressors 3.12 .504 734
MNC’S
Personal strain 3.22 .601 734

Personal resources 3.48 .620 734

Occupational role stressors 3.70 .644 268

Domestic
Personal strain 3.64 .659 268

Personal resources 3.01 .680 268

http://indusedu.org Page 23

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

Table 31: Unstandardized Regression weights of MNC’S and Domestic IT companies

Estimates , at 95%
Description

MNC’S p- value Domestic p-value

Constant -1.174 -2.673

Occupational Occupational role .298 .000 .319 .000

stress stressors
Personal strain .316 .000 .328 .000

Personal Resources -.490 .000 -.221 .000

 The regression weights of variables reveal that Occupational role stressors and personal strain is high in
Domestic IT companies and that Personal resources are less than MNC IT companies.

VI. FINDINGS
(a) Occupational role stressors analysis
The respondent’s response survey shows that under Role overload dimension majority of the
respondents agree that different tasks are given in little time (58%), have increasing responsibilities (63%) and
have to work under tight time deadlines (59%).Under role insufficiency most of the respondents agree that
Career is not progressing as hoped (60%), bored with the job (62%) and has to perform tasks below ability
(52.3%). Employees have role ambiguity as the superior do not provide useful feedback about performance
(66%), priorities are not clear (80%) and do not know on what basis they are being evaluated (66.1%). In role
boundary dimension most of the respondents agree that superior has conflicting ideas about them(51.4% ) and
more than one person telling what to do(53.3%).Under Responsibility dimension most of the employees agree
that they worry about meeting job response (57.7%), has job responsibilities for activities of others (56.5%). In
Physical environment dimension most of the employees feel that they have erratic work schedule (58.3%) and
has to work all by themselves (61.6%).
From the above findings it is suggested that companies has to concentrate on employee’s roles,
responsibilities, superior behavior towards the employee and the entire above mentioned role stressors which
can decrease occupational stress and increase employees job performance.
(b) Personal strain survey
Under vocational strain dimension majority of the employee agree that they are getting behind in work
(54.2%) and they are making errors in work (55.8%). In Psychological strain dimension most of the employees
agree that they are been depressed (57.9%), they easily get irritated (52.8%) and have trouble falling asleep
(57.5%). In Interpersonal strain majority of employees agree that they wish more time to spend with close
friends (61.5%), they need time for themselves and sometimes quarrel with members of the family (49.5%).
Under Physical strain dimension majority of employees agree that their eating habits are erratic (58.7%) and
they have aches and pains (61.6%).
From the above findings companies are suggested that employees are having high level of occupational
stress so we conclude that the coping strategies to overcome Occupational stress are not sufficiently provided to
the employees by the companies. Hence, they are suggested to provide necessary coping strategies before the
stress leads to Burnout.
(c) Personal Resource survey
Under recreation dimension majority of the respondents agree that when they need vacation they take
one (56.9%), they are not able to do what they want in free time (52%), they frequently think about work while
relaxing (55.9%).Under Self-care dimension majority of the employees agree that they are careful about diet
(39%), not able to go for regular check-ups (56.5%) and for practicing relaxation techniques (58.7%).Under
Social support dimension majority of the employees agree that they need help for important things to do
(55.4%), could not establish priorities for use of time and stick to the priorities (67%).Under Rational /Cognitive
dimension majority of the employees agree that to take decisions they think through consequences of choices
(53.7%).
From the above findings companies are suggested that employees should be provided time for
relaxation techniques, regular health check-ups. Employees should be given vacations or a break from their
regular work and hectic schedule which will help in overcoming occupational stress.

http://indusedu.org Page 24

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

It was hypothesized that there were no relationship between determinant variables (Personal role
stressors, Personal strain and Personal resources and occupational stress. Pearson correlation coefficient was
employed to test the hypotheses. The result of hypotheses testing show the relationship between occupational
stress and occupational role stressors and Personal strain is positive, strong and significant at the 0.01 level 2-
tailed. Relationship between occupational stress and Personal resources is negative and significant at the 0.01
level 2-tailed. Relationship is observed as: Occupational role stressors(r= .849) Personal strain(r= .867) and
Personal resources(r= -.723). This means the increment in Personal role stressor and Personal strain would
correspond to increase in occupational stress and the increment in Personal resources would correspond to
decrease in occupational stress.
The F-test values indicate the relationship between determinant factors and occupational stress is
significant. Therefore, the dimensions that are taken for study of Occupational role stressors i.e., Role overload,
Role insufficiency, Role boundary, Responsibility and Physical environment are to be managed well by the
companies according to the employee needs. Dimensions for Personal strain are Vocational strain,
Psychological strain, Interpersonal strain and Physical strain and Dimensions for Personal resources are
Recreation, Self- Care, Social support and Rational /Cognitive are significantly related to occupational stress
The results of Regression analysis demonstrate that there is effect of the determinant variables (Occupational
role stressors, Personal strain and Personal resources) and Occupational stress. The regression analysis reveals
that the estimate of regression weight. When Occupational role stressor goes by 1 occupational stress goes up by
.319. When Personal strain goes up by 1 occupational stress goes up by .310. When Personal resources goes up
1 occupational stress decreases by .231. This means the greater the variables Occupational role stressors and
Personal strain the greater the occupational stress and variables Personal resources increases occupational stress
decreases. This means when Occupational role stressors and Personal strain are high occupational stress is high
and when Personal resources are high occupational stress is low. The results of regression analysis implies when
Proper care is taken by the companies for variables of Occupational role stressors and Personal strain and
Personal resources are provided to employees occupational stress can be decreased and employees will get
motivated for their work.
Finally, it was hypothesized that the level of occupational stress is different in MNC’S and Domestic
IT companies. The mean score comparison of MNC’S and Domestic IT companies analysis (table 6.89 )shows
that in Domestic IT companies mean score for occupational stress (ORS= 3.70 ,PS=3.64) is little high when
compared to MNC’S mean score(ORS=3.12 , PS =3.22). The results further indicate that Personal resources are
high in MNC’S (PR= 3.48) than Domestic IT companies (PR=3.01). But, both MNC’S and Domestic IT
companies have to concentrate on Occupational role stressors and Personal strain to decrease the occupational
stress among employees and techniques for improving the Personal resources.

VII. SUGGESTIONS
1. Coping strategies provided to the employees should be specific according to the employee’s gender, marital
status, age, experience, designation and income i.e., employee’s demographic characteristics should be
considered.
2. Job roles, responsibilities should be made clear to the employees by conducting regular meetings so that
they are clear about their roles that are to be performed. This can be achieved by conducting weekly,
quarterly, Half-yearly and Annual meetings with the employees. This will reduce role ambiguity increases
role clarity which in turn reduces occupational stress.
3. Facilitation of supportive supervisory behavior, develop a good organization culture, Provide training on
Behavioral attitudes, interpersonal relations, Ethics and Moral values to the employees.
4. Employee assistance programmes are to be conducted where counselling about work-life balance, career
development etc., are given to employees.
5. Employees work for longer hours sitting in front of computer which is causing both physical and mental
strain increasing the occupational stress levels among employees. So, conducting some physical activity
games a little break from routine work, providing gym, relaxation techniques like Yoga and meditation
make the employee to overcome occupational stress.
6. From the study it has been seen that employees at different designations and income showed variations in
occupational stress. It is suggested to provide vacation holidays to the employees to spend time with their
family and friends BASED on stress levels of the employee.
7. Create awareness about balanced intake of food, Diet, Preventive health management like Health
promotion campaigns, Promoting a healthier life style regular health check-ups etc. So, that the effects of
occupational stress will not cause severe health problems. It can be checked prior it reaches to Burnout
symptoms in employees
8. Social support is associated with increased psychological well-being in the work place. In stressful times,
social support helps people reduce symptoms of stress like anxiety, depression etc., Formation of family,

http://indusedu.org Page 25

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

friends, peers, functional clubs create social integration. These clubs provide informational, emotional, and
companionship support, reduces isolation by improving social support.
Scope for further research
1. Further research can be done by taking some more determinant factors for causes of occupational stress and
its impact on employee engagement, commitment etc., among employees of IT sector.
2. Conducting an in- depth study on the effect of occupational stress on IT employees can be done.
3. The Present study is confined to IT sector only. Further study can focus on other sectors.

VIII. REFERENCES
[1] Aldwin, C.M.Levenson M.R.Kelly. L. L., (2009) .Lifespan developmental perspectives on stress-related growth, Washington DC,
APA Press.
[2] Aminabhavi, V.A and Trriveni, S.,(2000).Variables causing occupational stress on the nationalized and non-nationalised bank
employees.” Journal of commerce guiding research, Vol. 17 (1), pp 20-29.
[3] Anderson, B.O., (1971).Reactions to a study of Bureaucracy and Alienation. Social Force, Vol.49, June, 614-621.
[4] Anita Devi.,(2006). “occupational stress-A comparative study of women in different occupations”. Prajan, 35(1),pp66-71.
[5] Ansari, MR & Singh, RP.,(1997), “A Study on Nature and Extent of Stress in Teachers and Impact of Moderators on Stress”,
Journal of Extension Education, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 1623-1625
[6] Arnold, J.H,. & Feldman,C.(1986).Organisational behavior, New York, Mc Graw hill.
[7] Aquino, J. A., Russell, D. W., Cutrona, C. E., & Altmaier, E. M., (1996). Employment status, social support, and life satisfaction
among the elderly. Journal of psychology, Vol 43, pp 480-489.
[8] Baroudi, J.J and Ginzberg, M.J.,(1986) .Impact of Technological environment on Programmer/Analysts Job Outcomes,
Communications of the ICM, Vol 29,pp546-555
[9] Bashir, Asad., (2007). Employees stress and its impact on their performance, first proceedings of international conference on
Business and Technology, pp 156-161, Iraq university, Islamabad, pp 156- 161.
[10] Beehr, T.A and Newman, J.E., (1978).Job stress ,employee health and organizational effectiveness : A Factor analysis ,model
and literature review ,Personnel psychology,. Vol 31. pp 665-699
[11] Beena,C and Poduval ,P.R.,(1992). Gender differences in work stress of executives, Journal of Psychological student, Vol .37(2),
pp 109-113
[12] Bernhart and Molly., (2006).Work intensity showing up in stress, attrition and employee benefits. Vol .20 .issue13, pp 26-30.
[13] Bhagawan, S.,(1997). “Job Stress and Burnout in Teachers of Secondary School in Orissa”, Educational Research and
Extension, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 218-234.
[14] Bhatia, P &Kumar, A.,(2005).Occupational stress and burnout in Industrial employees .Indian psychology review, Vol 64 (4),
pp191-198.
[15] Billings, A.G and Moos, R.H., (1984). Coping stress and social resources among adults with unipolar depression, journal of
personality and social psychology,Vol 46,pp 215-32
[16] Bimal Kishore Sahoo and D.K. Nauriyal.,(2013).Determinant of software exports from India. International economics and
Economic policy”. Vol 11 (4).
[17] Biswas, U.N.,(1998). Life style stressors, organizational commitment, job involvement and perceived organizational effectiveness
across job levels, Indian Journal of Industrial relations, Vol 34, pp 55-72.
[18] Biswas, S. N. & Tripathi, R. C. (1998). “Organisational Culture and Contexual Culture: A Cross Cultural and Cross
Organisational Study”. Prajanan: Journal of Social and Management Science, Vol 27(3), pp 247-252.
[19] Blix, A.G., Cruse, R.J., Mitchell, B.M.M.B., & Blix, G.G. (1994). Occupational stress among university teachers. Educational
Research, 36, 157-170.
[20] Brock, B.L,. and Grady,M.L,.(2002).Avoiding burnout: A Principlal’s guide to keeping the fire alive. Thousand oaks, CA:
Corwin.
[21] Burke, R J (1988). Sources of Managerial and Professional Stress in Large Organizations, in C L Cooper and R Payne [eds]
Causes, Coping and Consequences of Stress at Work, Chichester, John Wiley and Sons.
[22] Burns,N and Grove, S., (2003). The Practice of Nursing Research Conduct, Critique and Utilization (4th ed). W.B. Saunders:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. USA.
[23] Carolyn. A, Martin (2005) .From high maintenance to high productivity: What managers need to know about Generation Y”,
Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 37 No.1, pp.39 – 44.
[24] Cart wright Susan, CooperCary. L.,(1997).Managing work place stress , Thousand oaks, Calif; Sage applications, 185p
[25] Chand, P, Monga, O, P.,(2007).“Correlates of job stress and burnout, J.com. Gui.Res, 24(3): 235-242.
[26] Craig Mc Clean., (1996).Data collection and analysis, published in association with Open University.
[27] Cranwell, W., & Alyssa, J. Abbey., (2005). Organizational Stress. New York (USA): Macmillan Press
[28] Darshan etal., (2009). A study on professional stress, depression and alcohol use among Indian IT professionals, Indian journal
of psychiatry, Vol 55.
[29] Daneil C, Ganster and Bronston T, Mayes., (1986) . Role of social support in the experience of stress at work, Journal of Applied
psychology ,Vol 71,No 1,pp102-110
[30] Das.A., Banga,.R.,&Kumar.D.,(2011).Global Economic Crisis: Impact and Restructuring of the Services Sector in India”. ADBI
Working Paper No 311, Asian Development Bank Institute.
[31] Dawis, R.V., England, G.W., & Lofquist, L.H., & Weiss, D.J.,. (1969). A theory of work adjustment (a revision). Minnesota
Studies in Vocational Rehabilitation, 23.
[32] Devi S.R., (1982). A study of role conflict in relation to anxiety, alieniation and probalistic orientation, unpublished. Phil
dissertion, University of Madras.
[33] Dijkhuizen,. (1981).Measurement and impact of organization stress In; j.iegrist and M.J. Halhuber (editors),myocardial
infarctions and psychosocial stress; Berlin ,Springer.
[34] Dollard, M.F.,(2003).Introduction ;Context theories and intervention . In M.F.Dollard, A.H.Winefield and H.R .Winefield(Eds),
Occupational stress in the service professions, New York: Taylor and Francis.
[35] Dr. Gorav.,(2009). How to combat stress”, Hindustan paper publication.
[36] Dubsinsky, A.J, Yammarino.F.J., (1984).Differential impact of role conflict and ambiguity on selected correlates: A two sample
test-psychological reports, Vol 55,pp 699-707.
[37] Edworthy, A.,(2000), Managing stress, Buckingham, Open university Press.

http://indusedu.org Page 26

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dr K. Sunanda, International Journal of Research in Management, Economics and Commerce,
ISSN 2250-057X, Impact Factor: 6.384, Volume 08 Issue 04, April 2018, Page 15-27

[38] Elovainio,M, Kivimaki,M and Vahtera,J.,(2002).Organisational justice: Evidence of a new psychosocial predictor of health.
American Journal of public health, Vol 92(1), pp 105-108.
[39] Erran Carmel.,(2003) .Taxonomy of New software exporting Nations. American university, Washington D.C., USA. Vol 13(2), pp
1-6.
[40] Father Bulake., (1971) .Stress: A threat to the quality of life, Mc graw hill.
[41] Fireman .,(1979). Psychological model of stress and its application to managerial unemployment-human reaction, 32(4), pp 323-
345.
[42] Fisher,S., (1986). Stress and strategy. London: Lawrence Erlbaum associates.
[43] Fleet, D.D.,(1991). Behavior in organizations; New Jersey, Houghton Mifflin Company.
[44] Frese, Michael., (1985). Stress at Work and Psychosomatic Complaints: A Causal Interpretation. Journal of Applied Psychology,
70,314-328
[45] French, J.R.P., Jr .,Caplan,R.D., Harrison,R.V.,(1982). The Mechanisms of job stress and strain, Chichester, Wiley.

http://indusedu.org Page 27

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License