Stress and Its Management: A Study Based on HRM Textbook Literature

Abstract

Stress has become a serious issue which will have to be dealt with. It needs to be managed successfully. Though stress and its management have become a critical issue in the education and the practice of Human Resource Management (HRM), little research has been done with regard to a comprehensive synthesis of stress and its management in the field of HRM in Sri Lanka and Asian context. This non-traditional but systematic research paper was written to accomplish seven objectives: (1) To present some dictionary definitions of stress; (2) To explore and present nominal definitions of stress given by different authors in the HRM literature; (3) To decide whether there is a universally accepted definition of stress; (4) To explore, describe and explain why stress and its management are crucial; (5) To explore and specify the possible causes of stress given by different authors, and formulate an integrative list; (6) To explore and specify the available strategies to manage stress given by different authors, and formulate an integrative list; and (7) To ascertain the myths and facts about stress. A non-scientific method called authority was applied in order to carry out the study, and the desk research strategy was the research strategy adopted for this study. 34 main HRM textbooks which had been available and written in English were initially examined and out of them, 22 textbooks which had the discussion of stress were utilized for the study. In addition to presenting what has been written in the textbooks the study yielded 15 characteristics of stress, 5 reasons for criticality of stress, an integrative list of 81 specific stressors, an integrative list of 77 specific stress management strategies, and seven myths and seven facts of stress.
Key Words: Definition, Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, Stress, Stress Management