Final Project Stress Management Paper

Stress Management for Salespeople

Frank Taylor’s automobile dealership has a number of high-achieving salespeople who could be described as extreme Type A personalities. Unfortunately, several of them are experiencing stress-related physical problems such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and migraine headaches. You have been hired to develop a stress reduction program incorporating both relaxation techniques and physical exercises that can be utilized by individuals and in group sessions several days a week at work. Describe specifics of a program that incorporates techniques of proven efficacy in dealing with extreme Type A personality behaviors.

1. Tips & Clarification for Final Applied Project

The goal of the Final Applied Project paper in this course is to design an intervention program for Type A employees to lower their stress levels and improve their mental and physical health. 

For this assignment, keeping that goal in mind, I would suggest that you address each of the following items in your paper:

1. Describe the Type A personality, emphasizing its role in stress

Discuss health risks associated with the Type A personality

Discuss the roles of relaxation and exercise in the prevention and treatment of stress

Discuss a few possible interventions to reduce stress for employees and/or Type A personality

Evaluate those interventions using studies of their effectiveness for employees under stress and/or with Type A personality

Create a description of a program that would likely be effective, based on what you’ve stated above. Be specific. 

Write a description you would present to the company or to the employees describing the program, how it works, and why it is being implemented.

How long does it last? 

How frequently do the employees practice the intervention?

Is it practiced at the job site or on their own time?

If on their own time, how will you track their participation or improvement?

Suggested Resources for Final Applied Project

1. Type A

Espnes, G. A., Moksnes, U. K., & Byrne, D. G. (2017). The Type A behavior pattern. In: C. L. Cooper & J. C. Quick (Eds.), The handbook of stress and health: A guide to research and practice (pp. 299-309). Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=l7gZDgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA299&dq=workplace+stress+%22type+a+personality%22&ots=uvLGrr9tFN&sig=DRS_2bkvsZC0R0TmdsDXxyyn70Q#v=onepage&q=workplace%20stress%20%22type%20a%20personality%22&f=false

Interventions

1. Baumeister, R. F., & Alghamdi, N. (2015). Commentary: Resource-based interventions in the workplace: Integration, commentary, and recommendations. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88, 623-629. Resource based interventions in workplace.pdf

Cooper, C. L., & Cartwright, S. (2013).   In: C. L. Cooper (Ed.), From stress to wellbeing (Vol. 2): Stress management and enhancing wellbeing (p. 32-47). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xCH7Dix9q3wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA32&dq=organizational+psychology+stress+intervention+%22type+a%22&ots=Yn-XeRsq2C&sig=hQ1hPoQ3ojwxE9rL2ZKBtZ1PG-0#v=onepage&q=organizational%20psychology%20stress%20intervention%20%22type%20a%22&f=false

Davenport, T. O. (2015, Fall). The good stress strategy. Employee Relations Today, 42(3), 9-20. Retrieved from http://worklodes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Good_Stress_Strategy_Davenport.pdf

1. Michel, A., O’Shea, D., & Hoppe, A. (2015). Editorial: Designing and evaluating resource-oriented interventions to enhance employee well-being and health. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88, 459-463. Designing interventions for employee well-being.pdf

Robertson, I. T., Cooper, C. L., Sarkar, M., & Curran, T. (2015). Resilience training in the workplace from 2003 to 2014: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88, 533-562. Resilience training in the workplace.pdf

Shahnaz, A., Wuensch, K. L., & Duffrin, C. (2015). Workaholism, exercise, and stress-related illness.  Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 30(4), 393-406. Workaholism & stress related illness.pdf