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Year-3 | Issue-1 | Continuous issue-15 | August-September 2014

Frustration and Alienation among supervisory and managerial cadre personal in an organization

INTRODUCTION

Organizations have been planned, created, designed, structural and modified according to needs to realize certain specific objectives. The process requires proper integration of both human and organizational elements in such a manner that the two sets of goals –individual goals and organizational goals are optimally realized. The major organizational goal includes maximization of production and maximization of profit. Adequate earning, fair treatment, meaningful involvement, job satisfaction, opportunities for growth and development, status and recognition, etc are some of individual goals. Achievement of these goals requires as stated above that both organizational and human elements be integrated properly. To my best knowledge and information till today no formula for the proper integration of the two sets of elements has been evolved so that both sets of goals could be optimally realized.

Usually organizations try to realize their goals through rational means which include division of work, departmentalization, use of technological innovations, expansion of the business affiliation with other organizations for functional division, management of information services (MIS) etc. It is not very clear what specific means are employed for enabling the employees to realize their own goals. Training and economic incentive systems are the age old means for the purpose. While doing something for enabling human being to realize their own goals, it is observed that whatever means that are resorted to for the purpose, they always relate to organizational rationality and they are not treated as another independent set of means for the enhancement for organizational rationality. In short the combination and integration of these elements is matter of research.

It is also recognized that organizational rationality and human happiness do not go hand in hand. If the rationality is pushed beyond certain limit, frustration, indifference, apathy, alienation, dejection, dissatisfaction, effectiveness are inevitable on the part of human employees. It is for this reason that organizational planners look for the optimum realization of the two sets of goals.

Frustration

Frustration is a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be. Causes of frustration may be internal or external. In people, internal frustration may arise from challenges in fulfilling personal goals and desires, instinctual drives and needs, or dealing with perceived deficiencies, such as a lack of confidence or fear of social situations. Conflict can also be an internal source of frustration; when one has competing goals that interfere with one another, it can create cognitive dissonance. External causes of frustration involve conditions outside an individual, such as a blocked road or a difficult task. While coping with frustration, some individuals may engage in passive-aggressive behavior, making it difficult to identify the original cause(s) of their frustration, as the responses are indirect. A more direct, and common response, is a propensity towards aggression.

Alienation

Alienation refers to the detachment to a person from his work role. The concept of Alienation at work is associated originally with the views of Marx. His saw the division of labor in pursuit of profit and exploitation by employer, as denial of the workers, need for self expression. Workers become estranged f4rom the product of their work, work no longer provider a satisfying experience in itself but represented a means to satisfying e other external demands the concept of alienation was explained by BLAUNER he describe alienation in term of four dimensions.

Powerlessness: this denotes the worker the lack of control, over management; emaciate work process or condition of implement.

Meaninglessness: it stems from standardization and division of labor. It denotes inability to see the purpose of work done, or to identify with total production process or finished product.

Isolation: it means not becoming to integrated work group or the social work organization and not being guided by group norms 0f behavior.

Self-estrangement: it means failure to see work as and itself or a central life issue. Workers feel depersonalized detachment and work is seen solely as a means to an end.

The concept of Alienation is also understood in term of the following five dimensions.

Powerlessness:- This denotes the workers lack of control over management policy, immediate work processes, or conditions of employment
Meaninglessness:-It stems from standardization and division of labor. It denotes the inability to see the purpose of work done, or to identify with the total production process or finished products.
Normlessness:-Lack of consistent rules and regulation.
Instrumental work orientation:-He does not get intrinsic satisfaction from the job.
Self evaluative involvement:-Knowing self worth through involvement in the role.

Frustration and alienation seem to be the two major outcomes on the part of employees in the modern complex organizations. With the globalization of Indian economy, the complexities have increased considerably. This has necessitated paradigm shift and emphasis on total quality management (TQM) for the viability and survival capability of organizations. Organizational planners have now realized the importance of human elements much more then the importance of organizational elements. As pointed out earlier frustration and alienation among many other side effects seem to be the major outcomes in modern industrial organizations reducing these two will perhaps open the way towards making organizations most effective. It is with this purpose in mind that the present investigation has been undertaken.

Statement of the problem: The investigation aims at studying frustration and alienation among middle level management personnel. The middle level management personnel include both managers and supervisors.

Objectives: The main objective is to study the extent of prevalence of frustration and alienation among managerial and supervisory cadre personnel.
The secondary objective is to suggest and means where by organizational effectiveness could be enhanced through reduction of frustration and alienation.

Hypotheses:

Managers and supervisors will not show any significant variation in respect of overall frustration from each other.
No significant difference between managers and supervisors is expected in respect of alienation on the overall basis.
Managers will not show any significant difference from supervisors in respect of each specific dimension related to powerlessness, meaningfulness, normlessness, instrumental work orientation, and self- evaluative involvement.

(1) Alienation from work questionnaire: The questionnaire was originally developed by J.M.Shepard (1972) to measure alienation from work. The questionnaire consisted of five dimensions:

Powerlessness ( 8 items )
Meaninglessness ( 8 items )
Normlessness ( 5 items )
Instrumental work orientation ( 4 items)
Self evaluative involvement ( 5 items )

Total:-30 items

Thus the total scale consisted of 30 items. The items related to powerlessness, meaninglessness, and normlessness refers to work features. The subject is asking to tick mark ( √ ) against each item one of the points indicating the extent to which the feature is represent in the work. The score ranges from least (1) to maximum (7) the higher score indicates low alienation. The score for these dimensions are obtained by summing up the points marked by the subject for the respective items. The total score for the powerlessness ( 8 items ) and meaninglessness ( 8 items ) dimensions will vary from 8 to 56 where as the total score for normlessness ( 5 item )will vary from 5 ( 1x5 ) to 35 ( 7x5 ). The total score for two dimensions related to instrumental work orientation (4 items) and self evaluative involvement (5 items) was obtained by summing the rating on individual respective items On a 5 point scale, Thus the score on instrumental work orientation will vary from (1x4) to 20 (4x5) where as the total score on the self evaluative involvement dimension will vary from 5 (1x5) to 25 (5x5). As the scoring indicates the low score shows more alienation and the high score shows less alienation.

Frustration questionnaire: The questionnaire was originally developed by P.E.Sector (1975) to measure personal frustration in an organizational setting and to examine possible correlates of this frustration in terms of reported aggression against others, sabotage of equipment, time wasting and other activities. It consisted of 29 items. Item responses are rated against a six point scale ranging from completely agree (6) to completely disagree (1) through 2, 3,4and 5 points indicating different degrees of agreement or disagreement. The total score will range from 29 to 174 with higher score indicating high frustration. Both the questionnaires were used without any modification.

Interpretation: The data thus collected were subjected to statistical analysis. Managerial cadre personnel were compared with supervisory cadre personnel with respect to frustration and alienation using’ test analysis.

Table-1
Table below showing significance of difference between mean score of managers and officers on frustration.

Sample	Mean value	SD	t
Officers	88.39	13.23	2.7
Managers	98.24	12.60

As can be seen from table-1 the t value of 2.70 is significant at .05 levels indicating that managers differ significantly from officers in the level of frustration. The mean score of 98.24 of managers is higher than that of officers which is 88.39. The frustration level is higher among managers than among officers.

Table-2
Table showing comparison between managers and supervisors with respect to powerlessness dimension of alienation

Sample	Mean value	SD	t
Officers	35.32	8.05	1.34
Managers	37.26	5.42

The results show that both managers and officers do not differ but they have the same relatively low level of powerlessness. Since the score on this dimension vary from 8 to 56 the midpoint will be 32 score points. Both the above mean scores are higher than this midpoint score indicating that the feeling of powerlessness is relatively not much higher.

Table-3
Table showing comparison of managers and officers in respect of meaninglessness dimension of alienation.

Sample	Mean value	SD	T
Officers	38.42	10.02	3.21
Managers	30.05	8.23

In respect of normlessnesss dimension of alienation
The t value of 3.21 in case of meaninglessness dimension is significant indicating that managers differ significantly from officers with managers showing relatively higher level of meaninglessness compared to the feeling of officers.

Table-4
Table showing comparison of managers with officers

Sample	Mean value	SD	t
Officers	23.25	3.03	1.68
Managers	21.03	2.48

As can be seen from table the insignificant t value of 1.68 indicates the same level of feeling of normlessnesss among both groups. Since the mean score are slightly higher than the midpoint the feeling of normlessnesss is not much prominent than the midpoint of 20 (higher score showing less alienation)

Table-5
Table showing comparison between managers and officers in respect of Instrumental work orientation dimension of alienation

Sample	Mean value	SD	t
Officers	17.02	3.92	5.38
Managers	22.11	2.08

As can be seen from the table-5 the t value of 5.38 is significant indicating that managers differ significantly from officers in respect of self evaluative involvement dimension of alienation. Since higher score shows less alienation. Managers relatively seem to be less alienated than officers in respect of self evaluative involvement dimension.

Discussion and Result:-

The findings of the present research clearly point to the fact that employees do have feelings of both frustration and alienation. These feelings could be attributed largely to structural elements of the organization. Much is expected from employees without consideration of their genuine feelings for self-development and the way in which they are treated for work involvement. These feelings are likely to be more prominent among employees working in modern organizations with increasing complexities under globalized environment. In order that employees feel deeply involved in the task allocations with high satisfaction. It is necessary that proper organization is created with both structural and genuine human elements are integrated in a manner so as to maximize organizational effectiveness and human happiness. This require through understanding and implementation of the concept of paradigm shift which in turn should be bound on obtaining massive information about what is going on the e world over and dissemination of this information in the organization in the concerned department. The findings of the present research clearly point to the fact that employees do have feelings of both frustration and alienation.

Conclusions: -

Managers seem to be highly frustrated than officers on the overall basis.
Both managers and officers are at the same relatively low level of alienation in respect of powerlessness, meaninglessness and normlessnesss.
Officers seem to be relatively highly alienated than manager’s respect of instrumental work orientation dimension of alienation.
Managers compared to officers are much less alienated in respect of self evaluative involvement dimension of alienation.

REFERENCES:

B.J.Hodge and Williams P. Anthony, Organizational theory, Third Edition.

Dimitrina Dimitrova (1994) Work commitment and Alienation. International social science Journal, Sociology: Blackwell publishers UNICCO.

Alfred luthans, Organizational behavior sixth Ed., Mc Graw Hill Publication.

Gregory Moorhead and Ricky W. Griffin, Organizational Behavior Managing people and organization 3rd hand book press.

M.K.Singhvi, Organizational problems and Employee Morale, Indian psychological Abstracts, July-September 1990

Trivadi Neha A (1990) A studies of work alienation among social workers, A Dissertation M.S.W, M.S.University.

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Dr. Sangeeta N Pathak
S. P. University
V.V. Nagar, Gujarat