THE EFFECT OF STRESS ON WORKERS PERFORMANCE

Abstract
This study is on effect of stress on workers performance. The total population for the study is 200
staff of first bank osogbo, Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the
data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133
respondents made accountants, human resource managers, senior staff and junior staff were used
for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages
and frequencies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Life in modern societies is generally not without stress. Stressful experience has become part and
parcel of living in contemporary society. In most human behaviour, human being will advertently go
through some elements of stress. For example, when we subject ourselves to time, pressure or
urgently engage in complex and difficult problem solving processes, we become exposed to high
noisy environment or new of impending damage, we are most likely to go through movement of
stress.
Stress occupies a prominent position in psychological and medical research, psychologist view
stress as a disruption of human skilled performance. In clinical research, stress and anxiety as
viewed as made of pathological adoptive responses in whether context with view stress its role in
human resources management cannot be overlooked. Stress has an emotional experience, which
can be monetary affairs. In such cases, the social antecedent of stress is short and we may possess
the psychological resources to cope and go through the situation undue disruption of adaptive
responses. When this is the case stress posses and energizing effect workers motivation, this will
act as a signal for us to get ready for action induced by longstanding condition of tension pains,
situation, conflicts, and anxieties ever positive adoptive responses become over stretched and our
reactions to it are negative in such cases, the negative effects of stress not only affect our health but
diminish our productivity
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The statement was purposely studied due to the following reasons:
1. To achieve a full knowledge of stress and examine the way to cope with it in rural areas
2. Identify and monitor the symptoms of stress must especially in rural areas
3. To examine the possible sources of stress
4. To examine the technique of controlling stress through
5. To enable the workers to reduce cost of stress and the risk of constant exposure to stress
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
1. To examine the impact of stress on workers performance
2. To educate workers on how to manage stress in rural areas
3. To identify different methods which can be used to reduce stress that affects workers
4. To help the management to know about the existence of stress in an organization
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by
the researcher;
H0: there is no impact of stress on workers performance.
H1: there is impact of stress on workers performance
H02: there are no different methods which can be used to reduce stress that affects workers.
H2: there are different methods which can be used to reduce stress that affects workers
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research work is important because it would assist the employees of labour, to manage stress
and undergone by their workers. It would also serve as an avenue and foundation for future and
further study.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This write - up is intended to highlight the effort of stress on workers performance. With particular
reference to First Bank of Nigeria Osogbo as a case study. The study makes use of the
questionnaire which are distributed to employees of the First Bank of Nigeria. The researcher
encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher
is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher
has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all
the necessary and required information concerning the activities.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
STRESS: Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you sense
danger whether it's real or imagined the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic
process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction or the "stress response".
WORKERS PERFORMANCE: The job related activities expected of a worker and how well those
activities were executed. Many business personnel directors assess the employee performance of
each staff member on an annual or quarterly basis in order to help them identify suggested areas for
improvement.
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical
background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the
study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study.
Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of
related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.
Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter
five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study

ABSTRACT
This research tends to examine the effect of business stress on the performance of small scale
enterprenuer with scope covering One hundred business owners across Lagos State.
A survey design was employed, with the use of simple random sampling technique one hundred
business owners were sampled in Lagos state.
Data were gathered with the used of a well structured questionnaire which were distributed to one
hundred business owners. These data were analysed and presented on table in percentile.
Five hypotheses were formulated and tested with the use of Chi-Square analysis.The analysis
resulted to rejecting all null hypotheses and accepting the five hypotheses.
It was concluded that there is significant relationship between business stress and business
performance, there is significant relationship between business stress and work motivation and there
is significant relationship between business stress and marital status.
Recommendations were poffered to these business owners.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Research Hypotheses
1.6 Research Methodology
1.7 Significance of the Study
1.8 Scope of the Study
1.9 Limitations of the Study
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Work Motivation and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
2.2.1 Theories of Motivation
2.2.1.1 Content Theories of MotivationProcess Theories of Motivation
2.2.3 What Motivates Employees
2.2.4 Methods of Motivation
2.3 Social Support and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
2.3.1 Forms of Social Support
2.4Unmet Expectations and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
2.5 Professional Conditions and the Performance of Small Business Entrepreneurs
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Population and Sampling of the Study
3.4 Research Instrument
3.5 Method of Data Collection
3.6 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
4.0 Introduction
4.2 Descriptive Frequency Analysis of the Instrument
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation
References
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
This study focus on how stress affects the performance of small business entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Before now, entrepreneurs have been recognized as an essential ingredient of economic
development. The manner it has been explained in the Western societies has varied from time to
time to suit the changing values of socio-economic reality.
To Schumpeter (1961), an entrepreneur is a dynamic agent of change, or the catalyst who
transformed increasingly physical natural and human resources into corresponding production
possibilities. For any economy to grow and develop there is need for entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship has been defined as the willingness and ability of an individual to seek out
investment opportunities, establish and run an enterprise successfully. Over the years, several
attempts have been made to explain economic growth, within the past three decades or so, one
factor which has been emphasized as a pre-requisite to economic growth is entrepreneurship.
In the context of our society, an entrepreneur will be assumed to include any person who runs a
business. Thus, the man who owns a departmental store, bookshop, beer parlour, printing press,
beauty saloon, publisher, manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer etc is an entrepreneur (Nwachukwu,
1990) small and medium scale business owners in this country have on their own made immense
contribution to the development of the national economy over the year.
On the other hand, despite the contributions made by entrepreneurs to the economy they are often
faced with some problems which include:
v High Degree of Business Uncertainty: Entrepreneurship development is faced with high level of
uncertainty associated with enterprise ownership, there is constant threat of government
interventions, political instability and degrees etc. Because of these, one has to expect changes in
monetary policy, credit policy, etc.
v Limited Profit Opportunities: This is as a result of low level of real income and limited market,
even now, the situation is the same with economic depression and most business enterprise are
folding up because they cannot break even what more making profit.
v Problem of Power Supply: Power failure possesses a lot of problem for entrepreneurs which
make them spend more for alternative resources.
v Insufficient Capital: Most entrepreneurs find it difficult to borrow from banks, because of the
processes involved and because of this reasons, he/she has limited resources to work with.
Other problem encountered by entrepreneurs include family problem, emotional problem, work
overload, cultural barrier, work insecurity, work pressure, high cost of materials etc.
All these and lots more causes problem for small scale business owners which might lead to stress.
The effect of stress in the work place can be sometimes serve that same researchers have been
prompted to equate it effect with “combat stress” or battle fatigue.” (Nelson et al). stress lowers
individual and organisational performance which lead to both production and quality suffering
(Nelson and Quick, 1996).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Stress in the workplace is a growing problem with extensive cost to individual, organisations and the
society at large. Often times, small business owners are faced with high level of stress, this is
because work and its demand often dominate their lives (Jamal, 1997), clear separation between
work and non-work activities are frequently non-existence, moreover, an average work day can
easily extend to 12 hours or longer (Jamal and Badawi, 1995).
Although many industrialised nations and their citizens might be enjoying the frit of their industrial
revolution through ever-higher standard of labour they are enjoying these fruits less than was
anticipated. This may be due to large measure to the excessive level of stress in their lives (Karasek
et al.,) stress is widely accepted as a potential drawback of small business owners (Akande, 1992 et
al).
Therefore, this study will examine how stress affect the performance of small business
entrepreneurs and also evaluate the problems associated with stress in business and probably
suggest solutions.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives for this study include:
v To determine the impact of business stress on the performance of small business entrepreneurs.
v To determine the impact of work motivation on the performance of small business entrepreneurs.
v To determine the impact of social support on the performance of small business entrepreneurs
v To determine the impact of collegiality on the performance of small business entrepreneurs
v To determine the effect of unmet expectation on the performance of small business entrepreneurs
v To determine the impact of autonomy in the performance of small business entrepreneurs.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research would be guided by the following questions, and hypothesis

 How does stress affect the performance of small scale business?

 How often do you experience business stress?
 What are the causes of business stress?
 What measure can be taken to over-come business stress?
 How do businessstress contribute to the failure of Small-scale businesss?
o In what way does stress affect ones performance?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

To provide answer to the research questions arising from this study, the following hypotheses are
postulated.
Hypothesis One
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and business performance
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and business performance
Hypothesis Two
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and negative affectivity
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and negative affectivity
Hypothesis Three
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and work motivation
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and work motivation
Hypothesis Four
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and marital status
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and marital status
Hypothesis Five
Ho: There is no significant relationship between business stress and the numbers of years in
business.
H1: There is significant relationship between business stress and the numbers of years in business
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is based on primary data collected using a structured questionnaire which was basically
structured questions relating to the objectives use study. Chi-square was being employed to analyse
the information collected.
1.7SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Numerous studies has explored the causes of occupational stress and these include: the pressures,
job dissatisfaction, job insecurity, poor supervision, boring repetitive work, work over load, lack of
communication, too much or too little responsibility, poor work/life balance etc (Kaal, 1973). Little is
known on how work motivation, social support and collegiality help to reduce the impact of stress on
performance of small business entrepreneurs, and how unmet expectation also affects their
performance.
This research therefore helps to advance the researchers knowledge in respect to the topic and also
enable her contribute to the finding of solution to the problem for which the research is based.
1.8SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study is limited to some particular businesses such as the Mechanical/Autorical,
Transport Service, Business Venture/Bulk Sales (Antisan). This is to say that the study is restricted
to some selected workers and some business eexecutive in Yaba Area of Lagos State, Nigeria.
1.9LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
In the course of the study, there were some set backs that have hindered the full realisation of the
objective of this study. First, is that the study is limited to only 100 business owners compared to the
large number of entrepreneurs in LagosState.
Also, there was a poor response by some entrepreneurs especially the Transport Service who less
believe in paper work and therefore fail to fill their questionnaires promptly, while some collected the
questionnaires and refuse to return them thereby reducing the total number of questionnaires
distributed.