Global Business and Management Research An International Jour

Global Business and Management Research: An International
Journal
Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
55
A Study on Occupational Stress and Quality of
Work Life (QWL) in Private Colleges of Oman
(Muscat)
Arvind Hans
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Management
Waljat College of Applied Sciences, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Email: [email protected]
Soofi Asra Mubeen
PhD, Lecturer, Department of Management
Higher College of Technology, Muscat, Oman

Niraj Mishra
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Management
Ameera Hamood Humaid Al-Badi
EMBA Student, Department of Management
Abstract
Purpose: Study aims to depict the phenomena related to Quality
of Work Life (QWL) and
Occupational Stress among business management lecturers in
private colleges of Oman. It
also intends to find the predictive validity of the proposed
model by using SEM path
analysis.
Design/methodology/approach: A combination of descriptive
and conclusive research
design was adopted to describe and report the related
phenomena. Private colleges of Oman
were chosen for study. Sample frame consisted of all the

management teachers teaching in
seven private higher educational institutions in Oman offering
management degree. The
sample size consisted of 44 lecturers.
Findings: Study indicated that occupational stress score among
management lecturers
were relatively lesser than the average, whereas perceived QWL
was found more than the
average in these institutes. It was inferred that perceived QWL
was better in these
institution compare to occupational stress. SEM path analysis
was also administered to
validate the proposed framework by using SmartPLS software.
A negative relationship was
established between two latent construct. The statistics
indicated that occupation stress is
negatively affecting the QWL of teachers in management
institutions in Oman. But,
proposed hypothesis was not established because T value was
reported as 0.927 with p
value of 0.354.
Originality: Based on the review of literature relatively a very
few studies targeted on

management lecturers in private colleges of Oman with related
variables.
mailto:[email protected]
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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
56
Limitations: Sample size was on a lower side due to the
teacher’s tight work schedule
and involvement in institutional miscellaneous activities and
limited time allocated for
data collection.
Keywords: Occupational stress, Quality of Work Life (QWL),
SEM path analysis, Oman
Abbreviations: IT = Information Technology, PLS= Partial
Least Square, QOL= Quality
of Life, QWL= Quality of Work Life, SEM= Structural Equation
Modeling

1. Introduction
Education sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in Oman
and Lecturers play an
important role in shaping up the future of students. They
constantly engage themselves in
the pursuit of quality pedagogy. Since new teaching
methodologies are evolving rapidly, it
has become more demanding in carrying out their roles and
responsibilities in an effective
way. The main causes of stress among the lecturers were
reported as their multiple
academic and administrative roles assigned to them. Lecturers
feel stressed when they are
not able to balance their personal and work life need, which
leads to decrease in quality of
teaching and lack of efficiency which in turn affect the
relationship between the student
and lecturers. Stress has been increasing due to the evolving
needs, tough competition,
work pressure and short deadlines. When occupational stress is
felt, it will not only affect
the performance of work but also affect health of employees in
the form of heart attack,

migraine that can lead to death. (Yahaya, et.al 2010).
Quality of work life is an outgrowth of human relation
movement. Robbins (1989) defined
Quality of Work Life (QWL) as a process by which an
organization respond to employee
needs by developing mechanisms to allow them to share fully in
making the decisions that
design their lives at work.QWL affect employee’s work
responses in terms of
organizational identification, job satisfaction, job involvement,
job effort, job performance,
intention to quit, organizational turnover and personal
alienation (Efraty & Sirgy, 1990).
The lack of quality of work life is due to inappropriate
placement, less recognition and
participation and inadequate health and insurance programs.
Occupational stress affects
quality of work life which ultimately affects job satisfaction.
Present study analyzed the
phenomena of occupational stress and QWL among the business
management lecturers in
private colleges in Oman.
2. Literature Review

Review of literature was done to report the studies related to
occupational stress and QWL.
Following research examined the underlying phenomena of
stress and QWL separately and
together in various professions, organizations and sectors. It
provides a foundation to
identify the research gap for the present study.
Beheshtifar & Nazarian (2013) reported that occupational stress
was a perception of
discrepancy between environmental demands (stressors) and
individual capacities to fulfill
these demands. Occupational stress was more, where there was
more discrepancy in
perceptions. Nasiripour,et.al.,(2009) explored the level and
sources of occupational and
personal stress among 172 rural health workers in Mashhad
district. It was found that role
overload and role ambiguity were the main sources of stress and
it adversely affected the
quality of their service. Bokti & Talib (2009) determined the
level and relationship of
occupational stress, job satisfaction among 40 male Navy
officers and non officers from

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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
57
the Naval base in Lumut, Malaysia. Result revealed that
majority of the male navy
personnel had moderate levels of job satisfaction in the
favorable nature of work facet.
Hasan (2014) compared occupational stress among 100 teachers
of primary government
and private school in Haridwar and found that private primary
school teachers were highly
stressed in comparison to the government primary school
teachers. Jeyarai (2013)
determined the occupational stress level of 120 government
teachers and 185 aided/
contractual school teachers and found that aided school teachers
had more occupational
stress level than government school teachers and were also less
satisfied with teaching.
Reddy & Anuradha (2013) examined the occupation stress of

327 higher secondary school
teachers of Vellore district in Tamil Nadu and found that 88
percent of teachers were
experiencing moderate and high levels of occupational stress.
Tashi,K (2014) examined
the level of stress among 150 Bhutanese teachers and found that
stress was experienced by
them. Male teachers were more stressed than their counterparts.
Kusi,et.al. (2014) explored the cause and effects of work related
stress among 50 university
level academic staffs. Result highlighted various causes and the
effects of stress among the
lecturers. Adebiyi (2013) investigated the occupational related
stress to know the influence
of gender, faculty and experience on stress among 100 lecturers
and revealed that gender
and years of experience did not influence stress on lecturer but
the stress varied from
faculty to faculty based on their teaching experience.
Kumar,et.al. (2013) investigated
causes of work stress among 478 engineering faculty members
to find out the difference
and association among demographic and job profile variables of
engineering teachers.

Study showed that location, working status, working hours and
type of institutions also
causes stress. Pabla (2012) studied the occupational stress
amongst 200 professional
college teachers in Punjab and revealed that there was no
significant difference between
male and female teachers in occupational stress level where as
there was significant
difference between teachers teaching in the professional
colleges located in rural and urban
areas. Teachers employed on Ad-hoc and permanent basis had
different level of stress.
Muthuvelayutham & Mohanasundaram (2012) found the impact
of occupational stress on
job satisfaction and job involvement among 422 engineering
college teachers in Trichy. It
was found that there was a significant impact of stress on job
satisfaction and job
involvement among teachers. Ismail,et.al.(2009) measured the
effect of occupational stress
on job satisfaction among 80 academic employees in private
institutions of higher learning
in Kuching city, Malaysia. Result demonstrated that
physiological and psychological stress

did not increase job satisfaction in the stress model.
Mostert,et.al. (2008) determined the
occupational stressors for support staff at a higher educational
institution in North West
Province. Study investigated the relationship between
occupational stress and
organizational outcomes. Result demonstrated average level of
occupational stress with
increased organizational outcomes.
Srinivas et.al. (2014) studied quality of work life (QWL) among
50 employees at Dunlop
Polymers Pvt, ltd in Mysore. Result confirmed that the company
was providing a high
quality of work life to the employees. Sabarirajan & Geethanjali
(2011) investigated the
extent of QWL among the employees of public and private
banks in dindigul. QWL
positively influenced the performance of the banks based on
findings. Kasraie,et.al.,(2014)
investigated the relationship between the quality of work life,
job stress, job satisfaction
and citizenship behavior among 158 staff of Oshnaviyeh
Hospitals and showed that there

was a significant positive relationship between the quality of
work life, job stress, job
satisfaction and citizenship behavior. Jayaraman (2014) aimed
to find out the level of
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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
58
quality of work life of 298 employees of paper & pulp mill of
Dindigul district and found
that most of employees are satisfied with their jobs and the job
factors were related to level
of perception of QWL and overall job satisfaction. Varghese &
Jayan (2013) explained
quality of work life as the part of overall quality of life that is
influenced by work. Quality
of work life matters to employees as better quality of working
life is associated with better
retention and lower absence. Chitra & Mahalakshmi (2012) find
out the employees
perception on their work life quality of 251 employees in

manufacturing organization. Ten
variables were used to measure quality of work life and to test
the relationship of variables
with job satisfaction. Result indicated that each of the QWL
variables on its own is a salient
predictor of job satisfaction.
The following studies focused on the relationship between QWL
& work stress in various
organizations.
Behzad et.al. (2014) assessed the relationship between quality
of work life and
occupational stresses in personnel of social security
organization in Hamadan Province, IR
Iran with 58 personnel selected through census method and
showed a positive association
between QWL and Stress.QWL was significantly associated
with personnel education
level and work experience. Bolhari,et.al. (2012) investigated the
impact of occupational
stress on quality of work life among information technology
employees in Iran. A cross
sectional design was applied and information was gathered from
IT staff. It found that

occupational stress had a negative impact on quality of work
life. Jafari,et.al. (2012) aimed
at determining the quality of life (QOL) among 241 nurses to
see the relationship between
occupational stress and QOL. The result showed a high level of
occupational stress among
nurses which adversely affected their QOL and there was no
significant correlation
between QOL and occupational stress.
A hypothesis was proposed based on the research in this area. It
was observed in most of
the research that occupational stress is inversely affecting
QWL, but in few cases the
research result was just opposite. Especially in Middle East
countries, the researches have
shown a mixed trend between occupational stress and QWL
relationships. To explore the
relationship between these two phenomena in the management
institutions, the following
hypothesis was proposed.
3. Hypothesis [H1]: Occupation stress is positively affecting
quality of work life (QWL)
in private management colleges in Oman.

Very few studies focused on the relationship between QWL &
work stress in educational
institutions. These studies are as follows:
Kumar & Deo (2011) measured different aspects of work life
among 100 college teachers
of Bihar and Jharkhand to find out the differences in perception
of male and female, senior
and junior teachers and revealed that junior college teachers
experienced significant more
stress as compared to senior teachers and female teachers
experienced more role overload
and inter role distance stress as compared to their male
counterparts. Chadha,et.al.(2012)
studied on the effect of organizational stress on quality of life
among 50 primary and
secondary school teachers and the result revealed that there was
a significant difference
between self role distance among primary and secondary school
teachers and significant
correlation between physical domain and role overload. (QWL
and Stress in education
institution)
In the field of management, there was a significant gap in the

associational study of
occupational stress and QWL among the lecturers. This study
attempted to address the
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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
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observed research gaps by reporting and examining the impact
of occupational stress on
QWL among lecturers.
4. Objectives of the Study
of Oman.
Life (QWL) in
private collage of Oman.
life in private collage of
Oman.

5. Research Methodology
A combination of descriptive and conclusive research design
was adopted to study the
phenomena related to QWL and occupational stress. Standard
Questionnaire on QWL and
occupational stress was identified for the study. QWL
questionnaire had 45 five point scale
items consisting to 10 factors, whereas Occupational stress
questionnaire had 46 five point
scale items consisting of 12 factors. The questionnaire on
Occupational stress was taken
from Srivastava, A.K., Singh, A. P., (2000) and Questionnaire
on QWL was taken from
Dhar, S., Dhar, U., Roy, R. (2000) respectively.
Purposive sampling method was used. Sample frame consisted
of all the management
teachers teaching in seven private higher educational
institutions in Oman offering
management curriculum. Questionnaires were distributed to all
the teachers to collect the
response related to these phenomenons. 44 responses were
collected from the lectures who
taught management subjects in private colleges in Muscat.

Sample size in this study was
44. The level of QWL and Occupational stress among the
management lecturers were
reported by using the descriptive statistics, whereas the
conceptual framework between
QWL and Occupational stress was verified by Smart PLS
version 3.2.1 in order to test the
hypothesis and measurement model.
Primary data was collected from two questionnaires in the
study, whereas secondary data
was collected from following sources to build the research
framework and review of
literature:
1. Internet sources.
2. Books and Journal research articles.
3. Electronic Research Database , EBSCO
6. Data Analysis Method
The data collected from the sample was analyzed by using
descriptive statistics using
statistical tools. Occupational stress and QWL questionnaire
was analyzed by using
descriptive statistics. Occupational stress consisted of 46 items
on five point scale. 28 items

were true –keyed and 18 items were false-keyed items out of 46
items in the questionnaire.
A false keyed item scoring was reversed at the time of scor ing.
Test of reliability of scale
was done using Cronbach alpha method and composite
reliability of scale was done
through SmarPLS. SmartPLS was used to test the hypothesis by
exploring the model’s
predictive validity. An initial path model was formulated .Boot-
strapping was conducted
in the initial path model for model analysis in terms of its
predictive ability.
7. Findings of the Study
Data was compiled for occupational stress in the following table
for further analysis.
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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
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Table 1: Factors average to Occupational stress
S.NO Subscales/Factors (Occupational Stresses) AVAREGE
1 Role overload 3.3
2 Role ambiguity 2.6
3 Role conflict 3.0
4 Unreasonable group and political pressures 3.0
5 Responsibility person 3.2
6 Under participation 2.9
7 Powerlessness 2.8
8 Poor peer relation 2.7
9 Intrinsic impoverishment 2.7
10 Law status 2.8
11 Strenuous working condition 2.7
12 Unprofitability 3.1
TOTAL 2.9
According to the factor average calculated in Table-1, strong
similarities among three
factors were observed such as role overload, responsibility

person & unprofitability. It was
inferred that teachers in private colleges were overloaded and
under high pressure to
perform their duties. Since, modern private institutions assign
academic and administrative
work to their faculty members, and these responsibilities are
diverse in nature, they found
them relatively overloaded. The compensation was also not
profitable to them based on the
findings of the study. Unprofitability was ranked moderately
higher compare to other
occupational stress factors. It is proposed that, the private
education institution in Muscat
should focus to resolve the above concerned area to foster better
quality of work life (QWL)
within the organization by lucrative compensation.
The score reported on role ambiguity, under participation,
powerlessness, poor peer
relation, intrinsic impoverishment and law status in the colleges
indicated comparatively
little stress among the faculty members. Moderately high score
on the factor “responsibility
person” indicated that faculty members felt responsible as a
teacher in the organization. A

moderate score on role conflict & unreasonable group and
political pressures indicated the
inverse impact of dual responsibility in term of academic and
administrative duties
assigned to them. The overall score reported on occupational
stress is below the average
was considered as a positive stress in an educational institution
for improved organizational
effectiveness. Data was compiled for QWL in Table -2 for
further analysis.
Table 2: Factors average to QWL
Factors Elements Average
1 Stability of tenure 3.4
2 Growth opportunities 3.4
3 Employee satisfaction 3.4
4 Competent employees 3.7
5 Value orientation 3.5
6 Innovation practices 3.9
7 Work-life balance 3.4

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8 Human relations 3.3
9 Learning orientation 3.5
10 Challenging activities 3.5
Total 3.5
Table 3: Dimensions average to QWL
Sl.no Dimension Average
1 Dimension 1(Proactively) 3.53
2 Dimension 2 (work- life balance 3.43
3 Dimension 3 (human relation) 3.35
4 Dimension 4 (learning organization) 3.60
Total 3.50
Factors such as competent employees and innovation practices
got high score from the

faculty members teaching management subjects in Table 2. It
was inferred that respondents
felt satisfied about the way organization responded to the needs
of employees in a positive
way. The feeling of being competent and using innovative
practices in their pedagogy can
make them committed and instill loyalty to the organization.
Findings indicated a good
QWL environment in private higher management education
institutions in Oman.
The others factors scores such as Stability of tenure, Growth
opportunities, Employee
satisfaction, Value orientation, Work-life balance, Human
relations, Learning orientation
and Challenging activities were found more than moderately
satisfied. It was inferred that
respondents were moderately satisfied with QWL. It was
verified from Table 3 on QWL
dimensions average such as learning origination and being
proactive with the score more
than moderately satisfied with the existing QWL in the
management education institutions
in Oman.

The findings corroborate the research evidence that when the
employees experience lesser
occupational stress, QWL within the organization is bound to be
more. The lesser
occupational stress observed among lecturers is the evidence of
comparatively better QWL
in these private management educational institutions in Oman.
8. Conceptual model analysis by using Smart PLS
Conceptual framework between QWL and Occupational stress
was verified by Smart
PLS in order to test the hypothesis under conclusive research
design. The reliability test
was conduct to verify the items and scale reliability used in the
study to go for further
analysis using smart PLS.
8.1. Reliability analysis: Cronbach’s Alpha reliability method
was applied to check
reliability of all items in the questionnaire. Reliability test was
applied using SPSS 20 and
the reliability measures were given in the Table 4. The initial
reliability coefficient value
was found as 0.850 for Quality of Work Life (QWL)
questionnaire. The eight (8)

insignificant items were again deleted based on item- total
statistics to improve the
measurement model. The remaining 37 QWL items were again
tested for items reliability.
The reliability coefficient value was found as 0.880. Similarly
for Occupational Stress the
initial reliability coefficient value was 0.835. The fifteen (15)
insignificant items were
again screened out to improve the measurement model. The
remaining 31 Occupational
Stress items were again tested for items reliability. The
reliability coefficient value was
found as 0.874. As the reliability score is higher compare to the
initial reliability test further
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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
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analysis can be done to verify the structural model. It can be
inferred that the standard scale

used in the study to identify QWL and stress among
management teachers need revision in
Omani context.
Table 4: Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability of the measure
Scale Cronbach’s
Alpha
No. of Items Cronbach’s
Alpha after
deleting items
No. of
Items
Quality of Work
Life (QWL)
0.850 45 0.88 37
Occupational Stress 0.835 46 0.87 31
8.2. Conceptual Background
The two constructs of the study are conceptually related to each
other by the structural

model as shown:
Figure 1: Conceptual framework
Measurement Model evaluates the relation between manifest
variable (Observed items)
and Exogenous/Endogenous latent variable by analyzing the
factor loading on each
constructs (Hulland, 1999).Structural model verify the
relationship between exogenous
latent variable and endogenous latent variable by analyzing path
coefficients between
them. Higher path coefficients and resultant R2 values reported
is the indicator of better
model predictive ability. The study used Smart PLS to estimates
the measurement model
and structural model simultaneously (Ringle, et. al., 2005). The
proposed model is shown
in Figure1.The proposed model has two latent construct as QWL
and occupational stress.
8.3. Measurement Model:
Tenenhaus, M., Esposito Vinzi V., Chatelin Y. M. and Lauro C.
(2005) introduce three

criteria to determine the overall quality of the model.
Specifically, a path model can be
assessed at three levels:
1. The quality of the measurement model
2. The quality of the structural model
3. Each structural regression equation used in the structural
model.
8.3.1. The quality of the measurement model:
The quality of the measurement model was tested by assessing
the individual item and
scale reliability followed by convergent and discriminant
validity of constructs’ measures.
Initially the relationships were displayed between the constructs
of occupational stress and
QWL (Bhakar, et. al., 2012). PLS algorithm was applied and the
resultant relationships,
coefficients and values of loading were calculated. QWL was an
endogenous latent variable
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Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)

63
in the study and Occupational stress is exogenous latent
variable. The factor loading below
0.5 were removed from the initial path model. A final path
model was determined after
removing the items which had the loading below 0.5. The final
path model is given below
in Figure 2. Path coefficient was reported negative. It was -
0.741.
Figure 2: Final Path Model
Reliability:
Individual factors reliability was assessed by examining the
loadings of associated factors
on their respective latent constructs in PLS modeling (Hulland,
1999). Reliability of each
variable was assessed through Fornell and Larcker’s (1981)
measure of composite
reliability in addition to Cronbach’s (1951) alpha. This measure
is preferred over
Cronbach’s alpha because it offers a better estimation of

variance shared by the respective
indicator (Hair et al., 2006). In this study composite factor
reliability coefficient of the
constructs ranged from 0.785 to 0.882 as shown in Table 5,
which met the standard of 0.70
as suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981).
Table 5: Composite Reliability
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Sl. No Composite Reliability
1 Occupational Stress 0.88
2 QWL 0.78
The factor loading, cronbach alpha, composite reliabi lity and
Average Variance Extracted
(AVE) values calculated by PLS algorithms were tabulated in

Table 6.
Table 6: Cronbach alpha, Composite reliability and AVE)
Latent variables Cronbach’s
Alpha
Composite
Reliability
AVE
Occupational Stress 0.87 0.88 0.279
Quality of Work Life (QWL) 0.88 0.78 0.249
Convergent validity:
Convergent validity refers to the degree of agreement in two or
more measures of same
construct (Camines & Zeller, 1979). Fornell & Larcker (1981)
indicated that convergent
validity is not established because variance extracted values are
less than 0.5. Results
indicated that the variance extracted from the items ranged from
0.249 to 0.279 reported in
Table 6. It was inferred that the scale used for Occupational

Stress and Quality of Work
Life did not possess convergent validity. Also, the standard
scales used in Omani context
need to be moderated in future research for better measurement
model and thus the
structural path for the same can be validated.
Discriminant Validity:
Discriminant validity is adequate when constructs have an AVE
loading greater than 0.5
meaning that at least 50% of measurement variance was
captured by the construct (Chin,
1998). In addition, discriminant validity was also not confirmed
because the diagonal
elements are not higher than the off-diagonal values in the
corresponding rows and
columns. The diagonal elements are the square root of the AVE
score for each construct
(i.e. Stress and QWL).
Table 7: Discriminant Validity Results (Fornell-Larcker
Criterion)
Occupational Stress Quality of Work Life (QWL)

Occupational Stress 0.528
Quality of Work Life (QWL) -0.741 0.499
The diagonal element values were shown in the Table 7 was
more than the off-diagonal
values. The result indicated that the constructs of Occupational
Stress and QWL did
possess Discriminant Validity. It was inferred that the standard
scales of Occupational
Stress and QWL constructs are different from each other thus
the structural path for the
same can be validated.
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8.4 Structural Model Analysis:
Hypothesis was tested by computing path coefficient (β) where
as R2 measured a

construct’s percentage variation that is explained by the model
(Wixom& Watson, 2001).
Conceptual model hypothesized that Stress is negatively
impacting the QWL of teacher
teaching in private management institutions. (R2) was reported
as -0.741. It suggested that
negative variance of 74.1 percent in QWL was explained by
occupational stress on QWL
in the measurement model. It can be also be inferred that if
there is 100 point increase in
the stress, the 74.1 point decrease on QWL will be observed.
The statistical significance of
path coefficient (β) between these two latent constructs is
measured by T statistics reported
in bootstrapping.
Since the objective of PLS is to maximize variance explained
rather than fit, therefore
prediction–oriented measures such as (R2) are used to evaluate
PLS models (Chin, 1998).
A bootstrap procedure using 1000/5000 sub samples was
performed to evaluate the
statistical significance of path coefficient according to Chin’s
(1998). The following (Table

8) showed hypothesized path coefficient along with their
bootstrap values, “T” values.
Table 8: Path coefficient along with their bootstrap values, “T”
values
Original Sample
(O)
T Statistics
(|O/STERR|)
P
Values
Occupational Stress -> Quality of
Work Life (QWL)
-0.741 0.927 0.354
The relationship between Occupational Stress and QWL was not
significant because path
coefficient between these two latent constructs are not
significant as Т= .927 (Table value
is supposed to be significant if it is more than 1.96 at α
(significance level) of 0.05 degree
of freedom > 120). Since T value is less than 1.96 indicating

that the proposed path between
occupational stress and QWL of teachers teaching in private
management colleges in Oman
is not significant. Also p value of 0.354 suggests that the
proposed relationship between
these two latent constructs is not significant.
Proposed hypothesis was not accepted based on the above
analysis. It was inferred that
occupational stress is not significantly affecting the QWL
among the management teachers
in Oman.
9. Conclusion
The study found moderate work stress among the management
teacher in private collages
in Oman. Moderate stress can be indicated as positive stress to
foster individual
performance and organizational climate. This was also
corroborated from the result
reported from QWL questionnaire. The final score of QWL was
reported as 3.5 in 5 point
scale. It was inferred that employee were moderately satisfied
from QWL in these

management institutions. Perception of being competent
employee and innovative
employee score was reported more than the final average score
of QWL. It was inferred
that teachers in educational institutions perceived them as more
competent and
empowerment because of the autonomy in pedagogy.
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66
PLS analysis revealed that QWL of these educational institution
are inversely related with
stress with a coefficient of -0.741. This clearly indicated that
100 point change in the stress
would bring 74.1 point negative changes in QWL among faculty
members in private
management institutions in Oman. It means a 100 point increase
in stress among employees
would lead to deterioration of 74.1 point in QWL. But,
Proposed hypothesis was not

accepted based on the analysis as stress was not significantly
affecting the QWL among
the management teachers in Oman. Proposed structural model
was not established because
T value was reported as 0.927 with p value of 0.354. The
hypothesized relationship
between Occupational Stress and QWL was not significant
because path coefficient
between these two latent constructs were not significant. It was
inferred occupational stress
is not significantly affecting the QWL among management
teachers in Oman.
The study reaffirms the past research findings where these two
phenomena were negatively
associated with each other. Further, it proves the theory that if
Quality of Work Life (QWL)
is better in an organization, the occupational stress shall be
relatively lesser among the
employees in such organizations. It can also be inferred that if
perceived QWL is better in
the organization, overall organizational health is better or
improving there. It suggests that,
the employees working in such organizations are withdrawing
satisfaction from the

workplace. Thus the perceived occupational stress shall be
lesser in such organizations and
mostly an inverse relationship shall prevail between these two
constructs. Also, perceived
QWL was reported more compare to occupational stress in
Oman based on descriptive
statistics. Thus, collectively these finding corroborates the
inverse relationship between
these two phenomena discussed in the study.
10. Directions for Future Research:
1. The future study can include all higher private colleges for
further generalization
of the phenomena related to QWL and occupational stress
among teachers in Oman.
2. The further study in these areas can be extended to other
sectors to study the
phenomena related to these two construct.
11. Limitations
1. Sample size was on a lower side due to the teacher’s tight
work schedule and
involvement in institutional miscellaneous activities.
2. Time duration to collect the data was less than 3 months.

References
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Behzad,I., Arezo,K. & Mohammadi,N.(2014) Association
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in Hamadan province, IR
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Bhakar, S. S., Bhakar, S., Bhakar, S., & Sharma, G. (2012).
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Bokti, M.K.N.,& Talib,A.M., (2009) A Preliminary study on
occupational stress and job
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Malaysia. The journal of
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Journal
Vol. 7, No. 3 (2015)
67
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of occupational stress on quality of
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Science, Engineering and
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Carmines, E., and Zeller, R., 1979. Reliability and Validity
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To cite this article:

Hans, A., Mubeen, S.A., Mishra, N., & Al-Badi, A.H.H. (2015).
A Study on
Occupational Stress and Quality of Work Life (QWL) in Private
Colleges of Oman
(Muscat). Global Business and Management Research: An
International Journal, 7(3),
55-68.
http://www.smartpls.de/
Copyright of Global Business & Management Research is the
property of Global Business &
Management Research and its content may not be copied or
emailed to multiple sites or
posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express
written permission. However, users
may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
BBA 3626, Project Management Overview 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Identify scope, quality, responsibility, activity sequence, and
schedule of a project.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 3: Organizational Capability: Structure, Culture, and
Roles, pp. 52-75, and 79-80
Chapter 6: Scope Planning, pp. 144-166, and 169
Chapter 7: Scheduling Projects, pp. 170-200, and 205-206
Unit Lesson
Unit III summary is going to discuss agile project management
in relation to the traditional approach. Agile
project management has been used for several projects for the
Department of Defense. Traditional project
management consists of a phased, sequential, non-iterative, and
plan-driven approach based mainly on the
standards of the Project Management Institute (PMI). Agile
project management is an “approach used to
reduce product development time while minimizing risk through
continuous interaction between the customer
and small self-organized teams that produce increments of
working product features in short iterations while
rapidly adapting to changes in requirements” (Gido & Clements,
2015, p. 183). Agile project management can
be mapped to traditional project management which is outlined

in “How a traditional project manager
transforms to scrum” by Sutherland and Ahmad, (2011). If the
scope is difficult to define and many changes
are expected, the agile project management model is the
preferred choice.
At the beginning of an agile project, overall planning is at a
high level and only the work that is to be
performed soon or first is to be laid out. This is a segmented
model which operates in iterations. The next part
of the project is then planned in detail. The iterations are called
sprints. These sprints are assigned a set
amount of time, such as two or four weeks. The project team, as
a group, agrees to deliver something at the
end of each sprint. “Each iteration has initial planning, a brief
daily meeting, a demonstration of the value at
the end of the iteration, and a retrospective meeting at the end
to learn and apply the learnings to the next
iteration” (Kloppenborg, 2015, p. 64). Scrum is one of the most
popular methods for implementing agile
project management. Some of the roles involved in the agile
project management model include: product
owner, development team, and the scrum master. The scrum
master is the facilitator for the process (Gido &
Clements, 2015).
Let’s discuss some of the roles of the participants involved with
the scrum process. First, we have a product
owner, who is also called a customer representative. His or her
job is to define customer and product
requirements and features. This is done to ensure that the
development team delivers an end product with the
features defined. User stories are used sometimes for product
features, which help paint the picture of what is
wanted. This story could include changes to existing products or
features wanted in a new product.

Prioritization is also done by the product owner for
requirements based on their value and dependent
relationships. A product backlog is then created, which is
actually an ordered list of the requirement features
“from which the specific sets of items will be selected and
released to the development team to produce and
to demonstrate at the end of a fixed timeframe” (Gido &
Clements, 2015, p. 183). The set of features are
called releases just like with software updates.
The next role to be discussed is the development team who
delivers, develops, and demonstrates the working
product increments for the specific product features or
requirements for this timeframe. This timeframe is
called a sprint. A sprint is also called an iteration; these two
terms are interchangeable. As mentioned above,
UNIT III STUDY GUIDE
Project Management Principles
BBA 3626, Project Management Overview 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
sprints can be two or four weeks long. The development team
consists of all levels of expertise to produce the
deliverables. The teams are usually small, with no more than

eight people. This team structure allows for
good collaboration and a high level of communication. Face-to-
face communication is emphasized with an
open office environment so people can interact freely with one
another. No leaders exist in this environment.
Work tasks are based on the team members’ expertise (Gido &
Clements, 2015).
The scrum master’s primary job is:
to take actions to remove or reduce any obstacles, barriers, or
constraints that are impeding progress
of the development team toward accomplishing their work tasks
and that may negatively impact the
successful production and demonstration of a deliverable
working product increment by the end of the
sprint time. (Gido & Clements, 2015, p. 184).
Sprint cycles are fixed and uncompleted tasks are added back to
the product backlog list to be completed
during another sprint cycle. Scrum master does not equal
project manager. The project manager manages his
or her team, but the scrum master is just a facilitator. The team
under the agile model is self-directed and self-
organized (Gido & Clements, 2015).
One of the goals of agile project management is to reduce the
development time, while simultaneously
communicating with the customer and self- organized teams.
This approach is effective for projects that have
difficult requirements to nail down and that have changing
requirements. Short term planning is emphasized
through this approach. Traditional project management consists
of a phased, sequential, non-iterative, and

plan-driven approach based mainly on the standards of the
Project Management Institute (PMI).
The waterfall method is one of the traditional approaches to
project management and scrum is an alternative
to this approach. Getting quicker feedback is an advantage of
the scrum process. Collaboration is another
benefit of scrum. The waterfall approach starts with the
requirements analysis followed by the design,
followed by the code, followed by integration, followed by
testing, and finally deployment. A perfect
understanding of the project is used with the waterfall method.
This is why difficult projects, in relation to
scope and requirements development, need a different approach
such as scrum. Each approach has its own
benefits as discussed in this summary (Gido & Clements, 2015).
References
Gido, J., & Clements, J. (2015). Successful project management
(6th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage.
Kloppenborg, T. J. (2015). Contemporary project management
(3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Sutherland, J., & Ahmad, N. (2011). How a traditional project
manager transforms to scrum. Retrieved from
www.agilealliance.org/files/session-
pdfs/presentationhowatraditionalprojectmanagertransformstoscr
um_final.pdf

188 PEDIATRIC NURSING/July-August 2011/Vol. 37/No. 4
D
emystifying the research process often involves
understanding research terminology, the rationale
for the selection of a research design, and the
known benefits and consequences in the selection
of a design. This commentary discusses the major aspects of
a well-known and used quantitative research design in
nursing research used by Tourigny, Clendinneng,
Chartrand, and Gaboury (2011) to evaluate the utility of a
virtual education tool for pediatric patients undergoing
same-day surgery. The rationale for why this design was
chosen by these nurse researchers and its advantages and
disadvantages are discussed.
A research design is the overall plan for answering
research questions and hypotheses. The design spells out
strategies the researcher adopts to gather accurate, objec-
tive, and interpretable information (Polit & Beck, 2007).
Tourigny et al. (2011) used a non-experimental, quantita-
tive research design known as a descriptive, comparative
design. It is also known as casual comparative research and
pre-experimental research. The basic purpose of these
designs is to determine the relationship among variables.
The most important distinctions between these designs and
experimental designs are no control (manipulation) of the
independent variable (IV) and no random assignment of
study subjects to the intervention or control group. These
designs are frequently used in nursing research studies
because nurse researchers are often faced with these specif-
ic limitations.
In summary, the known properties of descriptive, com-

parative research studies are 1) no manipulation of an inde-
pendent variable, 2) no random assignment to groups, and
3) often inclusion of a control or comparison group. The
paradigm for these studies is diagrammed in Figure 1.
In this diagram (see Figure 1), the researcher hypothe-
sizes that “X” is related to and a determinant (cause) of “Y,”
but the presumed causes are not manipulated, and subjects
are not randomly assigned to groups (LoBiondo-Wood &
Haber, 2010). Rather, a group of subjects who has experi -
enced “X” in a natural situation is located, and a control
group of subjects who has not experienced “X” is chosen.
The behavior performance or condition of the two groups
is compared to determine whether the exposure to “X” had
an effect predicted by the hypothesis (LoBiondo-Wood &
Haber, 2010). Tourigny et al. (2011) hypothesized a deter -
minant of study participants’ level of knowledge about hos-
pital equipment and procedures, and their emotional state
would differ based upon whether or not they viewed the
Surgery Virtual Tour presentation. In this study, the
exposed group resulted from participants choosing to view
the Surgery Virtual Tour. These researchers then compared
this group with a group at the same institution who did not
view the Surgery Virtual Tour presentation.
Tourigny et al. (2011) noted that the Surgery Virtual
Tour was posted on the hospital’s Web site and available to
all children, adolescents, and parents being cared for at this
institution. Thus, these researchers had no control over
which study participants viewed or did not view the educa-
tional program. Prohibiting access of this educational pro-
gram to some participants for the purposes of conducting
this research study would have violated these children’s,
adolescents’, and parents’ ethical right to fair treatment.
The right to fair treatment is based on the ethical principle

of justice that each person should be treated fairly and
should receive what he or she is due or owed (Burns &
Grove, 2005).
An important criterion in determining a research
design’s rigor is its potential to generate findings that are
interpretable. The term interpretable relates to the credibil -
ity and dependability of data generated by a study, and is
based on the study’s design to sufficiently test “cause and
effect” relationships. The term “causality” implies that a
systematic relationship exists between the independent
variable (IV), which is the “cause” or intervention of the
study design, and the dependent variable(s) (DV) or the
outcome(s) of the study. In other words, confidence that
the outcome of a research study is a consequence of the
effects of the intervention must exist.
Mary Ann Cantrell, PhD, RN, is an Associate Professor, College
of
Nursing, Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
Demystifying the Research Process:
Understanding a Descriptive Comparative
Research Design
Mary Ann Cantrell
Demystifying Research
Tourigny, J., Clendinneng, D., Chartrand,C., & Gaboury, I.
(2011). Evaluation of a virtual tool for children undergo-
ing same-day surgery and their parents. Pediatric
Nursing, 37(4), 177-183.
With Demystifying Research, nursing research leaders comment
on some aspect of a research article featured in the issue, with

the aim of helping the reader better understand research. Look
for Demystifying Research in each issue of Pediatric Nursing.
PEDIATRIC NURSING/July-August 2011/Vol. 37/No. 4 189
There are three criteria for causality: 1) the cause (the IV)
must precede the effect (the DV) in time, such that the IV
had to occur before the DV); 2) an empirical relationship
exists between the IV and DV, meaning that a relationship
that is measurable must exist between the presumed cause
and effect; and 3) the relationship between the IV and DV
cannot be explained by a third variable. Of these three cri -
teria, researchers are most concerned about ensuring results
of their study are due to the experimental treatment and
not due to the characteristics of the subjects or other com-
peting explanations for the results. Characteristics of the
subjects or other competing explanations are known as
internal validity threats.
There are several limitations in the design used by
Tourigny et al. (2011) that threaten the confidence in their
study’s findings, specifically having no control over the
internal validity and characteristics of the subjects influenc-
ing the outcome of the study. The internal validity threat
due to characteristics of the subjects is known as selection
bias and is always a threat if random assignment to groups
does not occur. Researchers are cautioned to be aware that
when intact groups are compared, differences existing
between the two groups before the start of the experiment
could have affected the outcome of the study. People “self-
select” to a group based on personal characteristics and
preferences, and these personal characteristics and prefer -
ences can influence the outcome of a study. Tourigny et al.
(2011) addressed this potential threat operating in their

study’s findings by measuring selected differences in socio-
demographic variables that could have accounted for dis-
similarities between the groups. There were no significant
differences in socio-demographic variables between partici-
pants who viewed or did not view the Virtual Tour, with the
exception that families who took the Tour were more like-
ly to have access to the Internet at home (Tourigny et al.,
2011). These findings provide some evidence that these
socio-demographic variables can be ruled out as internal
validity threats operating in this study; however, it remains
unknown if characteristics not measured by Tourigny and
colleagues could be operating as threats to the study’s inter -
al validity. It is not feasible to measure an exhaustive list of
socio-demographic characteristics that could pose every
possible internal validity threat related to study partici -
pants’ characteristics, but researchers carefully select known
factors from previous studies and their clinical experiences
as was done by Tourigny et al.
Another strategy used by Tourigny et al. (2011) to
increase the internal validity of their study was to establish
inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine the study’s
sample. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are guidelines or
the standards determining who can or cannot be in the
study. Population descriptors, also known as important
characteristics of a population, are criteria that set the stan-
dards. These characteristics can also operate as internal
validity threats in a study. In their study, Tourigny et al.
identified the inclusion criteria for their study as only
allowing children and adolescents 6 to 18 years of age, able
to understand or read and write in English, be at a school-
age cognitive level, and who gave an assent or written con-
sent to be in the study. They also excluded children with
any developmental or physical state that could prevent
them from completing the questionnaires. These criteria

placed more control over potential internal validity threats
operating in the study, but as a consequence of doing so,
the external validity of the study’s findings was decreased.
External validity addresses the ability to generalize the find-
ings of the study to other groups. The findings generated by
Tourigny et al. are not generalizable to children younger
than 6 years, who are unable to understand or read and
write in English, are not at a school-age cognitive level, or
have a developmental or physical impairment. Internal and
external validity have an inverse relationship; the more
internal validity control a study design employs, the more
likely its external validity will be limited.
In summary, Tourigny and colleagues (2011) selected a
feasible research design; its implementation protected
research participants’ ethical rights, tested the identified
intervention, and generated interpretable findings. A
researcher’s choice in selecting a research design is depend-
ent on many factors, and researchers usually make con-
scious decisions in their selection to augment some aspects
of rigor in their study while foregoing others. Selection of a
research design requires creativity to maximize inter-
pretable findings within known limitations in conducting
the investigation.
References
Burns, S., & Groves, S.K. (2004). Understanding nursing
research (3rd
ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2010). Nursing research:
Methods
and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (7th ed.). St.
Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Polit, D.F., & Beck, C.T. (2007). Nursing research: Generating
and
assessing evidence for nursing practice (8th ed.). Philadelphia:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Tourigny, J., Clendinneng, D., Chartrand, C., & Gaboury, I.
(2011).
Evaluation of a virtual tool for children undergoing same-day
surgery and their parents. Pediatric Nursing, 37(4), 177-183.
Figure 1.
The Paradigm for Descriptive,
Comparitive Research Studies
Groups
X (The “Cause)
(The “Intervention”)
Y (The Effect)
(Outcome Variable)
Exposed group Exposure to “X” Measurement of “Y”
Control group No exposure to “X” Measurement of “Y”
Demystifying the Research Process: Understanding a
Descriptive Comparative Research Design
Pediatric Nursing
Call for Evidence-Based, Clinical
Manuscripts for These and Other Topics
• Allergies
• Alternative and

complementary treatments
• Burns assessment
• Calcium and school aged girls
• Care of the child with a
congenital heart defect
• Care of children with
neurological problems
• Care of the child with diabetes
mellitus
• Celiac disease identification
and long-term ramifications
• Chronic illness/nursing
management
• Clinic aspects of care in
ambulatory setting
• Dealing with difficult family
• Discharge of the complex
patient
• Diseases/disorders associated
with pain, such as
osteogenesis imperfecta
Questions regarding these or other topics can be directed to
Judy A. Rollins,
PhD, RN, Editor of Pediatric Nursing ([email protected]). A
copy of the author

guidelines can be obtained from the journal Web site
(http://www.pediatric
nursing.net), or will be forwarded at your request by contacting
the journal
office at Pediatric Nursing, Jannetti Publications, Inc., East
Holly Avenue/Box
56, Pitman, NJ 08071-0056. Phone: 856-256-2300. E-mail:
[email protected]
Pediatric Nursing is a refereed, bi-monthly publication.
Copyright of Pediatric Nursing is the property of Jannetti
Publications, Inc. and its content may not be copied or
emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder's express written permission.
However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.
MAR 3231, Marketing Research 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Discuss basic research designs as applied to research in
marketing.

2.1 Discuss how the SWOT analysis contributes to marketing
and management decision-making.
3. Differentiate between exploratory, descriptive, and causal
research designs.
3.1 Explore the differences between exploratory, descriptive,
and causal research designs.
3.2 Discuss which research designs would benefit a specific
company.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
2.1
Unit Lesson Presentation; ”Benefits of SWOT Analysis;”
“SWOT Analysis:
What it is and When to Use it;” Scholarly Activity
3.1
Unit Lesson Presentation; “The Research Design is the
Methodology and
Procedure a Researcher Follows to Answer Their Sociological
Question;”
“Demystifying the Research Process: Understanding a
Descriptive
Comparative Research Design;” “A Study on Occupational
Stress and Quality
of Work Life (QWL) in Private Colleges of Oman (Muscat);”
“1.3 Exploratory,
Descriptive and Explanatory Nature of Research;” “Exploratory

Research;”
Scholarly Activity
3.2 Scholarly Activity
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links
below:
Cantrell, M. A. (2011). Demystifying the research process:
Understanding a descriptive comparative research
design. Pediatric Nursing, 37(4), 188–189. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://s
earch.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=a9h&AN=64448031&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Hans, A., Mubeen, S. A., Mishra, N., & Al-Badi, A. H. H.
(2015). A study on occupational stress and quality of
work life (QWL) in private colleges of Oman (Muscat). Global
Business & Management Research,
7(3), 55-68. Retrieved from
earch.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=113006185&site=ehost-live&scope=site
MeanThat. (2016, March 17). 1.3 Exploratory, descriptive and
explanatory nature of research [Video file].
Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBFdEgrTBM

Click here to access a transcript for this video.
Pestleanalysis Contributor. (2016). Benefits of SWOT analysis.
Retrieved from
http://pestleanalysis.com/benefits-of-swot-analysis/
The research design is the methodology and procedure a
researcher follows to answer their sociological
question. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/courses/Busi
ness/MAR/MAR3231/17G/UnitIII_Det
erminingTheResearchDesign.pdf
UNIT III STUDY GUIDE
The Research Design
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBFdEgrTBM
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-
114310800_1

http://pestleanalysis.com/benefits-of-swot-analysis/
ness/MAR/MAR3231/17G/UnitIII_DeterminingTheResearchDes
ign.pdf
ness/MAR/MAR3231/17G/UnitIII_DeterminingTheRe searchDes
ign.pdf
MAR 3231, Marketing Research 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Research Methodology. (n.d.). Exploratory research. Retrieved
from http://research-
methodology.net/research-methodology/research-
design/exploratory-research/
Fallon, N. (2017). SWOT analysis: What it is and when to use
it. Retrieved from
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4245-swot-analysis.html
Unit Lesson
The unit lessons for this course are presented through
interactive presentations.

Unit III Lesson
Unit III Lesson PDF
Suggested Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links
below:
To learn more about descriptive research strategies, take a few
minutes to read the article below. It provides
a great discussion of some of the methods used in this type of
research.
The following article discusses some of the methods used in
exploratory research design.
FluidSurveys Team. (2014). Exploratory research: What is it?
And 4 ways to implement it in your research!
Retrieved from http://fluidsurveys.com/university/exploratory-

research-4-ways-implement-research/
Wickford, H. (n.d.). Descriptive research strategies. Retrieved
from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/descriptive-research-strategies-
12107.html
http://research-methodology.net/research-
methodology/research-design/exploratory-research/
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4245-swot-analysis.html
120307503_1
120307595_1
http://fluidsurveys.com/university/exploratory-research-4-ways-
implement-research/
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/descriptive-research-strategies-
12107.html
120307503_1
Running head: INSERT TITLE
Title of Paper
Student name
Columbia Southern University

Overview
This is where you will write a brief overview of the company.
This section does not need to be more than one or two
paragraphs.
SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS
· Insert strengths in a bulleted list. Provide at least 5 bullet
listings.
WEAKNESSES
· Insert weaknesses in a bulleted list. Provide at least 5 bullet
listings.
OPPORTUNITIES
· Insert opportunities in a bulleted list. Provide at least 5 bullet
listings.
THREATS
· Insert threats in a bulleted list. Provide at least 5 bullet
listings.
Summary and Recommendations
You will begin your discussion of the SWOT analysis here.
The length of your paper should be at least three pages not
including the title and reference page. Be sure to address the
items listed in the instructions as part of your response. Include
references on a separate reference page.
References

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