Work Stress and Coping in the Era of Globalization [Book Review] R.S. Bhagat, J.C. Segovis, and T.A. NelsonPublisher: Taylor & Francis Group308 pp. ISBN: 978‐0‐8058‐4847‐2

• Published date: 01 September 2013
• Date: 01 September 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1255

Book Review/Recensions de livre

Reviewed by Dr. Mark Skowronski, Ramapo College

Anisfield School of Business

Work Stress and Coping in the Era of Globalization [Book Review]

Edited by R.S. Bhagat, J.C. Segovis, and T.A. Nelson

Taylor & Francis Group, 308 pp.

ISBN: 978-0-8058-4847-2

In Work Stress and Coping in the Era of Globalization,

Bhagat, Segovis, and Nelson describe the impact of globali-

zation on the experience, study, and management of work

stress. The authors provide a thorough review of the litera-

ture and demonstrate that contemporary stress research is

grounded in a Western perspective, which limits its global

applicability. In order to expand our understanding of stress

in a borderless world, scholars must explicitly consider how

culture affects one's perception of and ability to cope with a

growing array of workplace demands. To manage stress

effectively, practitioners need an evidence-based framework

that acknowledges the different worldviews of non-Western

contexts. This book is a scholarly attempt to jumpstart this

process by providing a comprehensive review and integra-

tion of the cross-cultural work stress literature. The reader

will come away with a useful toolkit of conceptual models

for formulating research questions and hypotheses. More

importantly, however, readers will challenge their own

Western assumptions about stress and coping—a necessary

step for advancing scholarship.

The book begins by def‌ining globalization as worldwide

interconnectedness, which has both economic and social/

cultural dimensions. It is important to note that both aspects

of globalization can produce work stress. For example,

economic integration can create conf‌lict arising from inter-

national coordination and fears about labour reallocations

(e.g., offshoring). In addition, cultural integration can create

stress when, for example, individuals are expected to work

in accordance with the values of a foreign organization.

Bhagat, Segovis, and Nelson outline various stressors

created by globalization. Such effects, the authors contend,

must be viewed in the context of culture, which is “the

totality of knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values

of a group of people who speak the same language and are

located in the same geographical context of the world”

(p. 36). Using the cultural models of Harrison and Hofstede,

the authors propose different responses to globalization by

different cultural groups. For example, groups high in indi-

vidualism should more easily adjust to the unsettling effects

of globalization, as such cultures have more positive attitudes

towards novelty and change.

Although Bhagat, Segovis, and Nelson seek to move

scholars beyond research conducted on Western samples,

they provide a compendious summary of contemporary

work stress research and theory. They describe the eff‌icacy

of various primary, secondary, and tertiary stress manage-

ment programs and highlight important gaps in the literature.

In addition, the authors argue that stress management in the

West has had a tendency to overemphasize the role of the

individual as the responsible party for managing stress, to

focus on stress as inherently destructive (underemphasizing

theroleof“eustress”), and to hold a narrow view of the concept

of coping that minimizes the role of religion and spirituality.

To understand stress from a non-Western perspective,

one must consider how cultural beliefs, values, demands,

and resources inf‌luence perceptions of stressors and coping.

For example, individuals from collectivist cultures presum-

ably have more opportunities for using social support as

a means of coping. However, individuals in collectivist

cultures may have more demands in nonwork domains

(e.g., commitments to extended family members) that can

exacerbate the effects of workplace stressors. Sensitivity

to culture also requires one to consider new constructs.

For example, the concept of “collective coping,”in which

one mobilizes the resources of one's in-group, is not

adequately addressed by the Western problem-focused/

emotion-focused coping distinction. Even the nature of

social support may change across contexts. In collectivist

cultures, individuals may be inclined to seek out counsel

and guidance from members of their in-group, while at the

same time “saving face”by not explicitly burdening others

with their problems. Bhagat, Segovis, and Nelson suggest

that in collectivist cultures, emotion-focused coping may

be both more preferred and more effective than problem-

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l'administration

30: 219–220 (2013)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1255

Can J Adm Sci

30(3), 219–220 (2013)Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 219