Impact of Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity on Job Stress of Operative Level Employees in Apparel Industry

Abstract

Apparel industry is considered as the backbone the of economic growth in selected countries including Sri Lanka. Also, this industry makes up a large part of Sri Lankan economy. The development of apparel sector is paramount important for Sri Lanka irrespective of their level of development. In Sri Lankan context, a few empirical studies have been conducted on role conflict, role ambiguity and job stress of Apparel firms’ operational level employees. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the impact of role conflict and role ambiguity on job stress and to examine the moderating effect of tenure on these relationships. To achieve these objectives, data were collected from 213 supervisors from selected apparel firms in Katunayake Export Processing Zone using an online questionnaire. Regression and correlation analyses were performed to test hypotheses of the study. The results indicate that there are strong positive relationships between role conflict and job stress, and role ambiguity and job stress. Further, the results revealed that there are significant positive impacts of role conflict and role ambiguity on job stress. Finally, it was found that organizational tenure moderates the impacts of role conflict and role ambiguity on job stress.