ACCIDENT PREVENTION PRACTICES OF URBAN HOUSEHOLDS IN PLATEAU STATE

Abstract

The study is aimed at ascertaining the extent of managing stress by marketing managers  in  the  manufacturing  sector  of  the  economy  in  Lagos  State. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 287 marketing managers drawn from the 287 manufacturing organizations both in urban and rural areas of Lagos State. A structured questionnaire divided into five sections was used as the instrument for data collection. The instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts and was further pilot tested on 20 marketing managers drawn from Oyo State. Test–retest method was used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument while Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient was used to determine the reliability. The overall reliability coefficient for the instrument was calculated to be 0.89.   Four research questions and four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.  Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data for the research questions while t-test statistics was employed to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the data, it was found that marketing managers in Lagos State to a great extent are acquainted with the indicators of stress, sources of stress, ways of handling stress and difficulties of managing stress.   Consequently, it was recommended among others that policy for vacation on regular basis already formulated for all categories of workers should always be conscientiously observed and should be encouraged to register in any gymnasium or fitness centre nearest to them.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Stress comes in many forms and affects people of all ages and all walks of  life.  No  external  standards  can  be  applied  to  predict  stress  levels  in individuals. One needs not have a traditionally stressful job to experience workplace stress, just as a parent of one child may experience more parental stress than a parent of several children. The degree of stress in lives is highly dependent upon individual factors such as physical health, the quality of interpersonal relationships,  the number of  commitments and  responsibilities carried,  the  degree  of  others  dependence  and  expectations,  the  amount  of support received from others and the number of changes that have recently occurred in lives, (http://www.medicinenet.com/stress/page3.htm).

In the last decade the society had undergone series of social, economic and  technological changes that exposed everyone to tremendous amount of hardship. Perennial hardship sometimes leads to premature ‘wear and tear’ of the brain which relatively indicates that if one does not have adequate stress- coping mechanisms, one is likely to suffer from all sorts of emotional and physical ailments. A recent study by Coker (2007) showed that one out of every three workers considered their job highly stressful. The study revealed that workers could not influence or change most of the things that gave them stress. It, however, concluded that in hard times workers should take a critical look at

their limiting beliefs, paradigm and also make use of methods of managing stress.

Stress is simply a fact of nature – they are forces affecting the individual. Individuals respond to stress in ways that affect them as well as their environment. Hence, all living creatures are in a constant interchange with their surroundings (the ecosystem), both physically and behaviourally. This interplay of forces or energy is, of course, present in the relationships between all matters in  the  universe,  whether  it  is  living  (animate)  or  not  living  (inanimate), (http://www. medicinenet.com/stress/article. htm).

Ezeilo (1995) asserted to this when she made a descriptive definition of stress as “inextricably interwoven with life itself and it ceases as life, itself stops. All living things are in constant state of dynamic interactions with their environments. Within the interactions, man tries to modify his environment while  his  environment  actually  modifies  him  and  in  the  process,  man experiences a kind of tension or stress” (p.192). However, there are critical differences in how different living creatures relate to their environment. These differences have far reaching consequences for survival.

Clayton as quoted in Obi and Obi (2007) in this respect stated that stress is  the  ‘wear’  and  ‘tear’  that  body  experiences  as  it  adjusts  to  continually changing environment,  it has physical and  emotional  effect and  can  create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel one to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective.

As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems.

In this regard, McGrath (1978) opined that although some level of stress is  said  to  be  good  for  the  functioning  of  the  individual,  there  is  also  the agreement that too much of it is detrimental to health and the proper well being of man.

Managing  stress  is  all  about  taking  charge  of  thoughts,  emotions, schedule, environment and the way of dealing with problems. The ultimate goal being to possess a balanced life with time for work, relationships, relaxation and  the  resilience  to  hold  up  under pressure  and  meet  challenges head  on (Ezeilo, 1995). Not all stress can be avoided and it is not healthy to avoid a situation that need to be addressed. While it may seem that there is nothing that can be done about one’s stress level, the simple realization that one is in control of one’s life is the foundation of managing stress.

When stress is used in reference to the executive (marketing managers inclusive)  there  is  the  suggestion  of  a  physical,  intellectual  or  emotional reaction   brought  on   by   external   stimulus   that   exerts   a   compelling   or constraining influence to which the executive has to adjust. It follows that each executive reacts to stress according to his own strength, resilience and total make up. However, the ability of the executive to manage any stressful situation therefore is dependent on his overall balance between the stress level and what he perceived as the important way of handling it (Ayorinde, 1998).

Furthermore, strains of living are being precipitated by the factor of rapid urban development, increasing corporate regimentation of work life, breakdown of cherished  traditional values and  social  supports,  increasing  personal and group conflicts including security threats to life and property and the challenge of adjustment to new technologies. The breakdown of our traditional modes of coping with life changes and the stress they include simply allow the stress to plague life in present day society. All these facts about stress have become part and parcel of life in human societies as a whole and among marketing managers in particular. The frustrations, disappointments and pressures of daily life therefore constitute the price paid for living in society. Although stress had also been said to be a sign of active life otherwise life becomes a passive journey of boredom, and the accompanying motivations and striving to accomplish life ambition and conquer the environment become illusive.

Marketing is an essential part of a nation’s economy as well as that of an organization.  Obi (2002) described marketing as the performance of business activities that direct products and services from producers to consumers or users to satisfy customers demand and accomplish the company’s objective. It is a process responsible for the identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.  According to Osuala (1998) “business people all over the world have recognized that marketing is vitally important to the success of a firm.  As a result of that, a new way of looking at business has emerged, namely the marketing concept” (pp. 2-3).

He described marketing concept as a philosophy of business that states that the customers wants and needs satisfactions are the socio-economic justification for a firm’s existence. For the firm to succeed in its marketing dealings someone has to be at the helm of affairs. The person who bears the major responsibility for the success or failure of the firm in this regard is the marketing manager who has been described as an executive who belongs to the best paid bracket of a business corporation, organization, or government department. Such a person is concerned with decision-making which invariably involves the management of men, money and matters. He is accountable for the success of his unit, division, project, department or organization (Ayorinde,

1998). The peculiarity of marketing manager’s life experience is that their daily activities are usually fully packed with the pursuits of management and administrative chores as they struggle to ensure the achievement of the goals of the organization and their personal visions.   McCrone (2005) also stated that these  people  are  the  business executives –  managers and  administrators  of business enterprises and are the executive of their various groups and corporate organizations. By virtue of their leadership and executive roles and responsibilities,  they  are  charged  with  the  day-to-day  policy  and  decision making in the groups and organizations they lead.

The term manufacturing refers to a range of human activity from handicraft to high tech. but is most commonly applied to industrial production in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale.

These finished goods are sold directly to end-users or used for manufacturing other larger products.  Manufacturing sector is a wealth-producing sector of an economy and Lagos State accounts for every 50% of the total value added by this sector in the country (Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Ikeja Branch

2007 Annual Report p.107).

Prolonged and uncontrolled stress is known to lead to de-activation of body systems, which lead to degenerative disease conditions and cause sudden death in both young and older marketing managers. For the purpose of this study, the young marketing managers will be taken as those below the age of forty-five years while the older marketing managers will be those above forty- five years of age. It is one thing for the marketing managers to be aware of the consequences of stress in their lives and well being, it is another to develop internal capacities for handling and managing it.

Statement of the Problem

The costs of stress in terms of human suffering, social and occupational impairment and illness are enormous. Stress being related to illness is a well- known observation. Pressure comes with the environmental demands especially with regard to the time urgency required to respond to the demands.

For marketing managers, the scenario of life is the same, working for 12-

16 hours a day and seven days a week. Bruno’s (1993) assertion supported this through his description of the executives as the ‘workaholics’ of groups and

corporate organizations and  identified  nine  behavioural traits common with executives which define their lives. These include working 50% or more over the standard 40 hours work week, talking about work all the time during their wakeful time etc. The journey to success has exposed them to positive and negative life experiences. These life experiences depending on their frequencies and magnitude are known to enhance stress.

For the marketing managers in a technological world, being at the top comes  with  other  stresses  as  decisions  especially  in  respect  of  managing available resources in order to accomplish plans are taken.  This include idea generation to outwit others in producing and launching high-quality product for fast and efficient distribution, getting the right people for each job so that the set forth objectives of the organization can be achieved, providing service to customers and handling more specific goals dealing with buying, selling and distribution related to the company’s product.

However,  despite  all  these  accepted  views  about  stress  and  its  full meaning and impact on human adaptive functions, it will be grossly wrong to draw a conclusion that it remains poorly understood and less systematically studied as a major threat to life by marketing managers without an empirical study of the prevalent difficulties of managing stress experienced by marketing managers in the manufacturing sector of Lagos State which is the thrust of this study.

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study is to ascertain the extent of managing stress by marketing managers in the manufacturing sector of the economy in Lagos State.

Specifically, the study will:

1.       determine the indicators of stress as perceived by marketing managers

2.       find out the sources of stress to marketing managers

3.       determine ways of handling stress as perceived by marketing managers

4.       find out the difficulties of managing stress by marketing managers.

Significance of the Study

This present study is expected to reveal the difficulties experienced in managing stress by marketing managers in the manufacturing sector of Lagos State. These anticipated findings will be significant not only to the marketing managers but also to all other categories of workers who are in one way or the other experiencing difficulties in managing stress in the course of their day-to- day activities.

It will be a veritable tool for the intensification of further campaigns by health counsellor, governmental and non-governmental agencies involved in the campaign against neglecting difficulties in managing stress which may lead to other terrible life snuffing diseases.

The result to be generated in this study will ever remain a reference point. This is because it represents an effort to empirically describe achieved results on  factors  that  make  the  category  of  marketing  managers  under  study vulnerable to perpetration of this health risk phenomenon. It is also hoped that social workers, health care givers, and others who may use this material may wish to augment the researcher’s efforts and embark on the dissemination of information embedded in this study.

It will be beneficial to students and teachers of business education. Students in Colleges and Universities who are studying business specifically entrepreneurship will find this study invaluable as it will guide them in identifying the difficulties of managing stress in the business world in general and among marketing managers in particular.

It will help the teachers to update and improve their knowledge on difficulties of managing stress. This is because they are directly involved in the preparation of those who will eventually use the findings to solve problems at home,  schools,  offices and  as future leaders in the business and  economic sectors.

This study will assist the Guidance Counsellors in counselling and monitoring their clients on stress-related issues and the data to be generated from the study will augment the  pool of  available data and  provide future researchers the platform for further research.

Research Questions

This study will answer the following research questions:

1.       What are the indicators of stress?

2.       What are the sources of stress to marketing managers?

3.       What are the ways of handling stress?

4.       What are the difficulties of marketing managers in managing stress?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:

1. There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of marketing managers in the rural and urban areas of Lagos State on the indicators of stress.

2.  There is no significant difference in the mean responses of male and female marketing managers on the sources of stress.

3.  There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of the qualifications of marketing managers on the ways of handling stress.

4.  Age is not a significant source of difference among marketing managers on the difficulties of managing stress.

Delimitation of the Study

The study will be delimited to the difficulties of managing stress among marketing managers in the manufacturing sector of the 20 Local Government

Areas of Lagos State. The State consists of both rural and urban areas. The marketing managers in the manufacturing sector were chosen for this study because they are more prone to stress due to the nature of their work and the prevailing environmental situations in Lagos area.

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