stress in organization

stress, as an inevitable and indispensible reality of modern time, has a multitude of positive and negative effects on the physical and psychological health of man and survival and development of organizations. therefore, the precise and timely identification of stressors and a readiness to prevent and cope with them is a great task of men and organizations at the twenty- first century. with this vision, in this paper, following a discussion of the concept of stress both from a physiological and cognitive perspective, the four major categories of stressors; namely, personal, family and external organizational have been considered. based on the research presented, the family stressors have been considered and it is contended that due to its cultural nature, family  stressors and its multitude effects on the individual derserves more attention both in terms of research and real life. the internal organizational stressors have been discussed under the rubrics of policies, structures, processes and physical climate. the importance of the external organizational climate which includes the economic, social, cultural and political effects have been discussed. in explaining the stage of stress, sely’s general adaptation syndrome (gas) to stress have been considered with regard to the three stages of alarm reaction, resistance and finally exhaustion. the important point made is that stress is the result of an interaction between a particular person and a particular event. in most situations, stress depends on the way the person interprets the stressors and on the personal ability to cope with stress.