Stress and organisational citizenship behaviours in Indian business process outsourcing organisations

IIMB Management Review (2012) 24, 155e163

available at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/iimb

IIMB

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
BANGALORE

Stress and organisational citizenship behaviours in
Indian business process outsourcing organisations
Ajay K. Jain a,*, Cary L. Cooper b a Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University,
8000 Aarhus C, Denmark b Lancaster University Management School, Dean’s Suite, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, United Kingdom
Available online 23 August 2012

KEYWORDS
Organisational stress;
Organisational
citizenship behaviours;
BPO industry in India;
ASSET (an organisational stress screening tool)

Abstract This study investigates the direct effect of organisational stress (as measured through ASSET) on organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). A sample of 402 operators was taken from business process outsourcing (BPO) organisations located in northern India.
The authors hypothesised that there is a negative relationship between organisational stress and OCBs. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that stress had significant negative impact on OCBs. The implications for managers are discussed.
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Introduction
This paper is based on a study aimed at examining the strength of the relationship between organisational stress and organisational citizenship behaviours among operator level employees working in Indian business process outsourcing organisations (BPOs).
Evidence from the field suggests that the hours of work and working conditions in the BPO sector lead to the stress

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [e-mail], [e-mail] (A.K.
Jain).
Peer-review under responsibility of Indian Institute of Management
Bangalore

syndrome, which in turn

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