Role conflict and role ambiguity as factors in work stress among managers: A case study of manufacturing sector in Pakistan

Abstract

The current research explores the role of ambiguity as factors in stress among the managers in manufacturing industry of Pakistan. The subject of stress at work has been thoroughly investigated in Western countries, particularly the Pakistan. Very little work has been carried out in South Asia. Pakistan has developed very rapidly into a centre place in South Asia and business centre. Thus, it is probable that managers and workers experience stress as much as their Western counterparts. The data were collected from 100 manufacturing industries workers by using simple random technique. The present research study found that role conflict and role ambiguity were positively and significantly related to work stress among Pakistani managers and work stress was negatively and significantly related to job satisfaction. Two personality variables were chosen as moderator variables, but only one, tolerance of ambiguity showed moderating effects. Locus of control failed to moderate the stressor stress and stress response relationships. Overall, this study demonstrates that stress at work does exist for a sample of Pakistani managers and that the antecedents of this stress all roles related. The paper used data from a cross-sectional survey. To capture the long-term trends, dynamics and manager's involvement and stress within and across various institutional contexts, a longitudinal in depth study is needed. The extended business-case perspective contributes to the stress on managers. Moreover, it adds to the knowledge on employer involvement in institutional contexts which have hardly been studied before.