Manager's occupational stress in state-owned and private enterprises in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

Privatization that has taken place in the People's Republic of China has brought about improved profitability and effectiveness of enterprises. However, it is not known whether employees' occupational stressors and strains in private enterprises would differ from those in state-owned enterprises. This study aims to examine the major sources of manager's occupational stress in private and state-owned enterprises, and comparing the intensity of these stressors and strains. The relationships between stressors and strains were also investigated in both economic sectors. The questionnaires were completed by 234 managers in state-owned enterprises and 179 managers in private enterprises from eight cities of the PRC. The questionnaires were used to measure sources of stress, job satisfaction, and physical and psychological strain. The results showed that managers in private enterprises experienced higher levels of occupational stressors (mainly ‘Organizational structure and climate’ and ‘Relationship with others’) and psychological strains than those in state-owned enterprises. Moreover, ‘Organizational structure and climate’ was also found to be a major stressor when predicting both psychological and physical strain in both economic sectors.

Keywords:

• China
• economic sectors
• managers
• occupational stress

Acknowledgement

This research was fully supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No.70571002), and a grant from Department of Psychology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.