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Procedia Engineering 14 (2011) 19531958

The Twelfth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction

Exploring the Influence of Commitment on Stress for Cost Estimators in Hong Kong
Mei-yung Leung a*, Dongyu Chen b
b a Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong, China School of Economics Information Engineering, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China

Abstract Cost estimators in Hong Kong face high levels of stress. Because understanding the key factors that cause stress for cost estimators is critical for its management, we investigate the impact of the organizational commitment of cost estimators on their stress levels. We find that stress is significantly influenced by the degree to which a cost estimator is committed to an organization. Objective stress has a significant negative correlation with normative commitment, while emotional stress has significant negative correlations with both affective commitment and normative commitment. We recommend that organizations take certain actions to improve the performance of cost estimators, such as employing a consideration leadership style and developing an innovative organizational culture, in order to enhance commitment and mitigate stress. We also recommend that qualitative studies, such as case studies and lateral studies, be undertaken to cross-validate the findings of this study.

2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Commitment; Stress; Construction Profressional

1.

Introduction

Construction estimators often face high levels of stress since they frequently need to produce accurate estimates of inherently uncertain events within a rigid, yet hasty, timeframe (Leung et al. 2006a; Leung et al. 2005a). Extensive studies have explored the determinants of cost estimators stress in Hong Kong, such as personal, interpersonal, task, and physical stressors (Leung et al. 2005b). But the literature exploring the impact of organizational commitment on stress levels remains limited. Because the commitment of cost estimators to an organization significantly influences their psychological perceptions

* Corresponding author E-mail address: cekchung@polyu.edu.hk

18777058 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2011.07.245

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Mei-yung Leung and Dongyu Chen / Procedia Engineering 14 (2011) 19531958

of the work environment, such as work-related attitudes (Gaither 1996) and job outcomes, such commitment may be a significant determinant of stress. Further, since both commitment and stress are associated with job performance, such as job satisfaction and turnover rates (Balfour and Wechsler 1991; Leong and Meng 1994; Leung et al. 2005b), having a thorough understanding of the relationship between commitment and stress may provide additional clues to enhance the job performance of cost estimators in Hong Kong (Gaither 1996; Leung et al. 2008). To clarify the role of commitment in determining the stress levels of Hong Kong cost estimators, we aimed to explore the relationship between commitment and stress. To do so, we first identified the critical factors in commitment and stress, and then explored their relationship by means of a questionnaire survey. 2. Theories of commitment and stress

Organizational commitment refers to a psychological link between employees and their organizations that makes them less likely to leave voluntarily (Allen and Meyer 1990). The topic has been extensively studied (Kobasa 1982). Allen and Meyer proposed a well-known and widely accepted commitment model (Three-Component Model), which identifies three components of organizational commitment, namely affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. Affective commitment can be defined as an emotional attachment to an organization characterized by the acceptance of organizational values and the willingness to remain with the organization (Meyer et al. 2002); it coexists with the other two components of commitment, continuance and normative. Continuance commitment derives from Beckers notion of side-bets and results from the perception of increasing sunk costs in an organization. Normative commitment refers to a perceived duty to support the organization and its activities (Allen and Meyer 1996). The three dimensions of commitment differ in nature. Affective commitment stems from an employees attachment to his or her organization and job, whereas continuance commitment stems from economic concerns about leaving the organization. Normative commitment, on the other hand, is influenced by an employees value systems (Allen and Meyer 1990; Randall et al. 1990). Because the three components of commitment are aroused by different stimuli, cost estimators with different levels of commitment to their organizations tend to have different work attitudes to their jobs. As a result, their efforts and devotion to their jobs can differ considerably. Empirical studies have confirmed that affective commitment and normative commitment are often associated with positive job performance and job satisfaction (Leung et al. 2008), whereas continuance commitment is often associated with negative outcomes. Such different outcomes may lead to different rewards and treatment, and consequently cause different levels of job stress (Leung et al. 2007). Stress is a psychological behavior arising from perception of the external environment (Lazarus 1995). The psychological processes involved can range from perceiving a simple stimulus, to resisting the external stressors, to burning out if the stress is beyond ones normal capabilities (Leung et al. 2006b). Stress is widely understood as a by-product of demands made on an individual that he or she feels incapable of coping with adequately (Cox 1993; Cox et al. 1993). Some scholars have further extended the concept of stress, claiming that when employees actual abilities exceed the expected capabilities needed to perform certain tasks, they can also experience stress. Stress is not only a product of eventrelated feelings, but also a function of the demands of a situation created by events. The former is termed objective stress, while the latter is termed emotional stress (Leung et al. 2007). Investigations of cost estimators in Hong Kong have shown that role conflict, work overload, job ambiguity, and work environment are the critical stressors in the cost-estimation process. Because these factors are closely linked to organizational commitment (Leung et al. 2007; Lok and Crawford 2001), an in-depth investigation into the impact of commitment on stress is needed to improve the management of cost estimators stress levels in Hong Kong.

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3.

Research method

3.1 Sampling and data collection To understand the impact of commitment on the stress of cost estimators in Hong Kong, we conducted a questionnaire survey in Hong Kong using a sample of quantity surveyors and estimators who were professionally qualified in the field and had direct experience of construction estimation. The sample was randomly selected from the membership records of professional institutions. We sent out 120 questionnaires to different types of construction companies in Hong Kong, including consultants and contractors. Of the 45 questionnaires returned, 20 came from directors or those in higher positions, 14 came from team leaders, three came from senior estimators, five came from estimators, and two came from assistant estimators. 3.2 Measurement of commitment and stress 3.2.1 Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment This study measured three types of commitment, namely affective, continuance, and normative. We adapted the measurement questions used in the studies of Allen and Meyer (1990), which have been widely used in commitment studies owing to their good construct reliability and validity (Allen and Meyer 1990). After several rounds of revision, we settled on a final set of questions consisting of 13 items (five for affective commitment, five for continuance commitment, and three for normative commitment). The questions were measured on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (rarely true) to 7 (always true). 3.2.2 Objective Stress and Emotional Stress

The study also measured objective stress and emotional stress. We selected and adapted the measurement questions for objective stress from the RustoutBurnout Scale (RO-BO) (Gmelch 1982). The questionnaire assessed estimators objective stress by measuring the deviations between expectations and perceived actual ability to handle stressors. The respondents were asked to rate their perceived ability and their expectations based on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (no impact) to 7 (a great deal of impact) (see Table 1). At the same time, we adapted subjective stress measurement items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach and Jackson 1981) using five items to measure emotional stress on a scale ranging from 1 (rarely true) to 7 (always true). 4. Results

4.1 Reliability of constructs We conducted a reliability analysis to test the internal consistency of the constructs (commitment and stress). Reliability is related to the variance attributable to the specific factor associated with what has been measured. The results showed that all alpha coefficients approached or were above the cut-off of 0.70, except for normative commitment (0.50). Therefore, these constructs were considered to be reliable (Nunnally and Bernstein 1994). Table 1 provides detailed information on the constructs.

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Table 1: Measurement of stress and commitment Constructs Objective stress Emotional stress Affective commitment Continuance commitment Normative commitment Cronbachs Alpha 0.75 0.90 0.80 0.82 0.50

Stress

Commitment

4.2 Correlation analysis We next analyzed Spearman correlations between the three components of organizational commitment and the two dimensions of stress. Table 2 displays the results. Objective stress had a significant negative correlation with normative commitment (r = -0.368; p < 0.05), while emotional stress had a significant negative correlation with both affective commitment (r = -0.331, p < 0.05) and normative commitment (r = -0.360, p < 0.01). Neither objective stress nor emotional stress was significantly correlated with continuance commitment. This pattern of findings is consistent with the findings of previous studies (Kobasa 1982).
Table 2: Correlations between commitment and stress Objective Stress Affective commitment Continuance commitment Normative commitment -0.133 0.093 -0.368* Emotional Stress -0.331* 0.232 -0.360** Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed).

Note: **-Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed); *-

5.

Discussion and recommendations

The main finding of this study is that affective commitment and normative commitment have a great influence on emotional stress, whereas normative commitment plays a significant role in determining a cost estimators objective stress. This finding enriches our understanding of occupational stress and represents an important contribution to the theory of organizational commitment. The results of this study also partially confirm earlier findings on the relationship between commitment, job stress, and work-related attitudes for hospital pharmacists in the United States (Gaither 1996); these findings showed that the effects of job stress on job turnover were mediated through career commitment, and that increased commitment could reduce the negative effects of job stress and improve work-related attitudes. Our findings are also consistent with the findings of another study examining the causal pattern of the relationships among stress, satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intention for graduate business students in Canada (Elangovan 2001). This latter study found that stress and commitment are reversely correlated. We took this research a step further by exploring the relationship between commitment and stress in greater detail, discovering that although affective commitment and normative commitment have critical influences of stress, continuance commitment has no impact on either objective stress or emotional stress. The negative correlation between commitment (affective and normative) and stress (objective and emotional) may be attributed to their respective impacts on job performance. A number of studies have confirmed that higher affective and normative commitment often leads to better job performance and satisfaction (Meyer et al.1989), which in turn leads to better rewards and feedback from organizations and

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colleagues. Since the stress levels of cost estimators are significantly influenced by work environment factors, such as professional performance (Bartol 1979) and reward and treatment (Leung and Chan 2007), both affective and normative organizational commitment could partly mitigate these stress levels (for both objective stress and emotional stress). To mitigate stress, we recommend that cost estimators enhance their affective commitment and normative commitment to their organizations. For their part, organizations should establish a positive work environment to induce higher commitment from cost estimators. We thus further recommend that organizations introduce an innovative organizational culture and a consideration leadership style, which are effective ways of promoting employee organizational commitment (Lok and Crawford 2001), to mitigate the stress levels of cost estimators in Hong Kong. Because the sample size was small, the results should be carefully validated before being generalized to cost estimators in different social and cultural environments. Thus, we suggest that qualitative studies be conducted to cross-validate these findings. Because lateral studies can only be effective when confounding variables are constrained and controlled, we recommend the use of the triangulation method (in case studies and lateral studies) to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between stress, commitent, and performance, and improve generalizability (Leung et al. 2008). 6. Conclusion

Cost estimators in Hong Kong suffer great stress as a result of their work. Although many studies have investigated the critical determinants of their stress, studies exploring the influence of organizational commitment on stress remain limited. To fill this gap in the research, we conducted a questionnaire survey of cost estimators in Hong Kong in order to investigate the relationship between commitment and stress. The study measured three components of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative) and two dimensions of stress (objective and emotional). We found that objective stress was negatively correlated with normative commitment, and that emotional stress was negatively correlated with both affective commitment and emotional commitment. These results indicate that commitment has a significant impact on stress. Enhancing organizational commitment could thus mitigate a cost estimators stress to some extent. To enhance such commitment and reduce stress, we recommend that organization leaders employ a consideration leadership style and that organizations create an innovative work culture. Finally, we recommend that qualitative studies, such as case studies and lateral studies, be carried out to crossvalidate the findings of this study. Acknowledgement The work described in this paper was supported by the City University of Hong Kong (Teaching Development Project for TEA Award 09). References
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