Organizational Stress and Job Performance : the Mediating Role of coping Strategies Insoftware Implementation Projects

Abstract

Stress in organizations is a wide-spread phenomenon with far-reaching practical and economic consequences. The present study examined the impact of stress on job performance experienced by IT Project Managers and project related employees working on Software Implementation Projects in Pakistan. The study further investigated the meditational role of coping strategies that influence the relationship between organizational stress and job performance of respondents. The sample was selected by random sampling technique from a cross-section of different industries in Pakistan where SAP Software is implemented .The sample included 40 Project Managers and 80 Team members. To collect data, a web-based online structured Questionnaire was sent to all the respondents comprising sample of the study.This Questionnaire aimed at collection of demographic information of respondents including their age,job experience, and qualifications. The Questionnaire consisted of Part I, Part II and Part III, each based on a psychometrically sound instrument. In all,three Scales were used with minor modifications in administeringInstructions and content to achieve uniformity and ease in recording responses. The scales used for data collection were: Job Stress Scale, Brief COPE,and Job Performance Scale. The main hypotheses formulated for the present study assumed that job stress has an inverse correlation with job performance. The results supported our hypothesis. Further analysis demonstrated that the relationship between these two variables is negative, but curvilinear. Our second hypothesis assumed that coping strategies play a mediational role between job stress and job performance. The results clearly supported this hypothesis too. The data revealed that the participants use different coping strategies to overcome their organizational stress. It was further revealed that project managers as well as team members both use problem-focused adaptive strategies to reduce stress at the workplace. Furthermore, the most frequently used coping strategies employed by IT personnel are Active Coping and Planning. The v results also demonstrated that coping strategies play a significant meditational role to reduce the negative impact of organizational stress on job performance of project managers and project team members. The practical implications of the study encompass alleviation of adverse effects of stress at workplace through selection of appropriate coping strategies to enhance productivity as well as mental health of the employees working on IT projects. Future researchers can investigate the problem by using a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methodology.