The Effect of Workplace Conflict and Stress on Employees

Performance at a Freight Transport Company

Andi Erna Mulyana and Muhammad Rido

Business Management Department, Politeknik Negeri Batam, Jl.Ahmad Yani, Batam, Indonesia

Keywords: Human Resources Management, Performance, Work Conflict, Work Stress.

Abstract: This research aims to find out the effect of a work conflict and stress on employees' performance at a freight

transport company with and without educational level as a control variable. The method used in this research

was a quantitative approach by using questionnaires data from 40 employees in the company. The data

obtained then being analysed with classic assumption test and inferential statistics. The result of the study

shows that work conflict and stress have a significant impact on employee performance with and without

educational level as a control variable.

1 INTRODUCTION

The company’s most important asset is its human

resources. Employees as resources have a share as a

driving factor of every process in the company.

Suppose a company does not have qualified

employees. In that case, the impact will be more

difficult for a company to achieve its company goals.

Unconsciously, companies often require employees

to develop their work capability; these actions can

also affect job satisfaction and employee

performance. Job stress will occur if the action is

continued.

Work conflict is a conflict between individuals

due to disagreement among the employees because of

differences of opinion or obstacles in communication.

Work conflict is a social hereditary that applies in

various circumstances because it arises due to

differences of opinion and conflicts between two or

more parties. Conflict itself can have a positive and

negative impact on a company. The positive impact

of the conflict, for example, can increase the

motivation of company employees at work because

employees will compete to provide the best results for

the company. For the negative impact of conflict, one

of them is work stress.

Work stress usually occurs because of an

emotional or physical reaction due to pressure from

within or outside the company. Work stress can

positively affect, for example, motivating the

employees, spurring them to work even harder, and

producing a good performance. In general, work

stress is caused by a physical and psychological

imbalance that causes the condition of employees to

be disturbed. Work stress can turn into a severe

problem for the company because this condition can

make the performance of employees decrease. Work

stress that is not resolved correctly will hinder and

disrupt the work process in the company.

Work stress and work conflict are two

interrelated things because work conflict will cause

work stress experienced by employees. In a company,

a conflict is an unavoidable event.

A freight company in Batam (the company name

cannot be mentioned) was used as an object in this

research because the work environment of this

company requires a high discipline on working time

and progress. The employees require to work well

under pressure. Therefore, this research was

conducted to determine the effect of workplace

conflict and stress on the employee's performance in

this company.

The objectives of this study were to find out the

effect of workplace conflict and stress on employees’

performance and find out the correlation between

workplace conflict and stress in affecting the

employees’ performance.

Erna Mulyana, A. and Rido, M.

The Effect of Workplace Conﬂict and Stress on Employees Performance at a Freight Transport Company.

DOI: 10.5220/0010865400003255

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science (ICAESS 2021), pages 32-39

ISBN: 978-989-758-605-7

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Human Resources

Human Resources are human skills that can work for

a work business service. Said to be able to work

means being able to carry out an activity that has

economic value. Human resources are the most

valuable assets for the company. Employees as

resources have a role as a driving factor for every

process in the company (Prayudi, 2017). If a company

does not have qualified employees, it will make it

more difficult for a company to obtain its goals. In

order to achieve the vision and mission expected by

the company, proper and regular management is

needed, especially employees, because employees are

the core factor in planning, forming, and carrying out

existing activities within a company. Even though the

company has facilities and infrastructure and

excessive company finances, but there are no

qualified employees, the company's goals are still not

appropriately achieved. Employees must continue to

be trained and given knowledge so that their abilities

can continue to develop. It proves that employees are

the primary resource that must be considered.

2.2 Workplace Stress

Workplace stress is a condition in which a person

experiences excessive emotional demands and makes

it difficult to function effectively in all areas of life

(Richard, 2010). Interactions between individuals and

their environment usually cause this condition, and

stress is an internal and external pressure and other

problematic conditions in life. When experiencing

stress, two aspects arise as a result of the stress that

occurs, namely:

a) Physical aspect

The physical aspect of stress impacts decreasing a

person's condition when stress makes the stressed

person experience pain in the limbs, such as

dizziness and digestive disorders.

b) Psychological Aspect

Psychological aspects of stress, namely the

occurrence of disturbances in the behaviour of

people who are exposed to stress, emotional

symptoms occur, and symptoms of cognition. The

severity of the person is experiencing can be seen

from the inside and outside of the person.

Job stress is a condition that is not good, is a

person's assumption of the conditions experienced,

both physically and psychologically, that is excessive

because of the demands of work both internally and

externally. This work stress can impact employee

dissatisfaction when doing their work, and this

condition can reduce employee performance. Job

stress is a significant problem in modern companies

today (Safaria and Triantoro, 2011).

Work stress can positively affect, for example,

motivating, spurring people to work even harder, and

producing a good performance. However, there is

more work stress at this time, which negatively

impacts employees and the company. In general,

work stress is caused by a physical and psychological

imbalance that causes the condition of employees to

be disturbed. Work stress that is not resolved

correctly will hinder and disrupt the work process in

the company. Therefore, leaders in the company are

responsive in solving these problems.

According to Hasibuan (2012), several factors

cause work stress, including:

a) A difficult job to complete

b) There is pressure and leadership behaviour in the

company

c) Inadequate working hours and work requirements

d) Problems within the company between

individuals and leaders

e) Less company reciprocity

f) Problems in the employee's family.

2.3 Workplace Conflict

Work conflict is a conflict between individuals due to

disagreement or incompatibility between employees

due to differences of opinion or barriers to

communication. Work conflict in a company is also

often influenced by ambitious and aggressive

individuals or groups. These individuals or groups

usually create a potential conflict in carrying out their

activities in the company. Work conflict is a social

hereditary that applies in various circumstances

because it arises due to differences of opinion, as well

as conflicts between two or more parties. Work

conflicts usually occur in companies as a result of

communication, structure, or personal problems.

Some of the causes of conflict include:

 Communication

A misunderstanding that causes incomplete

information is one of the causes of conflict. It

could be due to miscommunication, the use of

language that is difficult to understand, and the

method of delivery.

 Structure

Competition between power seekers in the

company and competition for goals in the

company also causes conflict within a company.

 Private

The Effect of Workplace Conﬂict and Stress on Employees Performance at a Freight Transport Company

Incompatibility between the personal mindset of

employees with the behaviour of superiors in the

company and differences in at something or

perspective and perception.

 Differences of opinion

The occurrence of differences of opinion in a

company can led to a conflict. If the condition of

this difference is sharp enough, it can cause

tension.

 Misunderstood

Not all employees in the company agree, for

example, an employee who has good intentions,

but for other employees, such actions can harm

other employees, causing discomfort or even

hatred.

There are several forms of conflict within a

company, including:

 Hierarchical Conflict

Hierarchical conflict is a conflict that occurs

between leaders in one company. This conflict

occurs due to differences in interests between

each, differences of opinion, and goals.

 Functional Conflict

Functional conflict is a conflict caused by various

work units in the company. Conflict occurs

because of the different goals of each part.

 Line Staff Unit Conflict

Line Staff Unit conflict is caused by departmental

leaders and staff in contact with their work

authorization.

 Formal-Informal Conflict

Formal-Informal conflict is a conflict caused by

rules informal companies carried out in non-

formal companies.

2.4 Performance

Employee performance is the output of work

activities. The results include the company's quality

and quantity in the company in completing their work

following what the company has given to the assigned

employee. Performance is a description of the work

or achievement of the activities carried out in

achieving the company's goals, vision, and mission.

Performance is seen from the results of work or work

success and includes how the work activities are

carried out. Employee performance is closely related

to the results of the employee's work in a company.

The results of the work include quality, quantity, and

on-time work.

Performance standards are performance

benchmarks applied to a company. Performance

standards are comparisons or targets for a job. Good

work standards must be easy to understand and

valuable for the continuity of the company and

employees (Abdullah, 2014). Performance standards

are an essential component of the company. The

setting and implementation of performance standards

must involve employees who work in the company to

achieve the company's goals. Performance standards

help in completing work effectively and efficiently.

The purpose of implementing performance standards

is to make work within a company effective and

efficient to be right with what the company wants to

achieve. So, with performance standards, employees

and leaders in the company can find out when the

goals of a company are achieved.

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research uses a quantitative approach, namely,

studying a population or sample based on the

philosophy of positivism (Sugiyono, 2014). This

research design is a descriptive approach with the

form of a causal relationship, namely the type of

relationship characterized by cause and effect.

3.1 Population and Sample

3.1.1 Population

According to Sugiyono (2017), the population is the

total of objects to be studied. These objects have

specific properties, are complete and precise, and can

be used as objects in research. The population of this

study is employees of the freight transport company

with a total of 40 people.

3.1.2 Sample

A sample is a method where the object has specific

properties, is complete, precise, and can represent an

object (Sugiyono, 2017). The population used as a

sample in this study were employees of the freight

transport company, because the population is known

and numbered less than 100, the technique used in

this study is saturated sampling. Saturated sampling

is a way of taking samples using the entire population

as a sample in research (Sugiyono, 2014). So, the total

number of respondents in the sample of this study was

40 respondents.

3.2 Hypothesis

The following are some of the hypotheses that were

proven in this study:

ICAESS 2021 - The International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science

H1: There is a partial and significant effect of work

conflict on employee performance at the freight

transport company.

H2: There is a partial and significant effect of work

stress on employee performance at the freight

transport company.

H3: There is a simultaneous and significant effect of

a work conflict and work stress on employee

performance at the freight transport company.

H4: There is a simultaneous and significant effect of

a work conflict and work stress on employee

performance at the freight transport company with

educational level as a control variable.

3.3 Data Collection Technique

The data collection technique for this research is a

field survey using a questionnaire given to each

respondent. According to Sugiyono (2014), the

survey method is distributing questionnaire data in a

study conducted on a population. The questionnaire

is a sheet containing questions given by researchers

to respondents to obtain data about the responses

given by respondents regarding questions related to

the research object. The purpose of the survey is to

obtain respondents' perceptions of the research

conducted. The distribution of questionnaires in this

study using sheets of paper was distributed to 40

respondents who were employees of the freight

transport company who has worked for at least two

months. The measurement scale in this study is the

Likert Scale. Using this scale, the researcher asked

respondents to fill out a questionnaire and asked the

respondent to indicate their level of agreement with a

series of questions included in the questionnaire. The

questions listed by the researcher have been explicitly

made to make it easier for researchers to measure the

results of opinions from respondents.

3.4 Data Analysis Method.

3.4.1 Classic Assumption Test

The classical assumption test in this study was run

using the program SPSS (Statistical Product and

Service Solution) version 20 to find the output in the

form of statistical calculation results, namely

normality test, multicollinearity test, and

heteroscedasticity test.

3.4.2 Inferential Statistics

Inferential statistics is a statistical calculation to

analyse sample data so that conclusions can be drawn

on the population from sample about the suitability

between the results received from the sample and the

results received from the population (Sugiyono,

2014).

Inferential statistical tests were carried out using

SPSS version 20 in order to find the output in the form

of statistical calculations, namely multiple linear

regression test, T test, F test, and coefficient of

determination.

Multiple Linear Regression Test. This analysis is

used to determine the impact of two or more

dependent variables on one independent variable or

prove the presence or absence of a functional

relationship between two or more independent

variables (X) and a dependent variable (Y).

t-Test. Using the t-test to show how much influence

the independent variables have individually and

explain the variation of the dependent variable. The t-

test was carried out by comparing the t-count of each

independent variable with the t-table value with an

error degree of 5% (α=0.05) (Sugiyono, 2014).

F-Test. The F test is used to see the effect of all

independent variables that can influence the

dependent variable. The F test uses a risk level or a

significant level of 5% with the following decision-

making criteria to test the hypothesis:

 If F

count

> F

table

, then H0 is rejected. Ha is accepted,

which means it has a simultaneous influence

between the independent variables on the

dependent variable.

 If F

count

< F

table

, then H0 is rejected. Ha is rejected,

which means that it does not have a simultaneous

influence between the independent variables on

the dependent variable.

Coefficient of Determination. The coefficient of

determination (R

) is intended to determine the best

level of accuracy in regression analysis, and this is

evidenced by the magnitude of the coefficient of

determination (R

) between 0 (zero) to 1 (one). If the

coefficient of determination is zero, the independent

variable does not affect the dependent variable. From

the coefficient of determination (R

), a value can be

obtained to measure the contribution of several X

variables to the variation in the Y variable's rise and

fall, which is usually expressed in percentages.

The Effect of Workplace Conﬂict and Stress on Employees Performance at a Freight Transport Company

4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Result

4.1.1 Validity and Reliability Test

The test in this study uses tools called SPSS version

20. Based on the validity tests using SPSS, each

item/indicator of statements on the variables of work

conflict (X1), work stress (X2), and employee

performance (Y) has an r value that is greater than the

r table of 0.3120, so that it can be said that all

statement items/indicators contained in each variable

are valid.

Based on the reliability test using SPSS, it is

known that all statement items/indicators on the

variables of work conflict, work stress, and employee

performance have Cronbach's alpha values greater

than 0.60 so it can be said that all statement

items/indicators are reliable.

4.1.2 Classic Assumption Test

Normality Test. Based on the normality test using

SPSS, it was found that the value of Asymptotic

Significance (2-tailed) is 0.997, where the value is

greater than the alpha value of 0.05. It can be

concluded that the data in this study is normally

distributed.

Multicollinearity Test. Based on the test using

SPSS, it can be seen that each independent variable

has a tolerance value > 0.1 and a VIF value <10, so it

can be concluded that there are no symptoms or

multicollinearity problems in the regression model in

this study.

Heteroscedasticity Test.

Figure 1: Heteroscedasticity test result using SPPS.

Based on Figure 1 above, it can be seen that in the

scatterplot, there are no specific regular patterns

(wavy, widening, and also narrowing) and the points

on the scatterplot spread evenly where the points are

above and below 0. It was concluded that there were

no symptoms or problems of multicollinearity in this

study.

4.1.3 Inferential Statistics

Multiple Linear Regression Test. The following are

the results of multiple linear regression without

control variables:

Table 1: Test result of multiple linear regression without

control variable.

Based on Table 1 above, it can be seen that:

 The constant of 5.828 means that if the work

conflict (X1) and work stress (X2) is 0, then the

employee's performance (Y) is 5.828.

 Work conflict (X1) has a regression coefficient of

0.396 and is positive. It means that if the

independent variable has a fixed value or does not

change, then an increase in one unit of employee

performance will increase by 0.396.

 Work stress (X2) has a regression coefficient of

0.305 and is positive. It means that if the

independent variable has a fixed value or does not

change, then an increase in one unit of employee

performance will increase by 0.305.

The following are the results of multiple linear

regression without control variables:

Table 2: Test result of multiple linear regression with

control variable.

Based on Table 2 above, it can be seen that:

 The constant of 4.685 means that if the work

conflict (X1) and work stress (X2), and the level

of education (XC) is 0, then the employee's

performance (Y) is 4.685.

ICAESS 2021 - The International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science

 Work conflict (X1) has a regression coefficient of

0.246 and is positive. It means that if the

independent variable whose value is fixed or does

not change, the increase in one unit of employee

performance will increase by 0.246.

 Work stress (X2) has a regression coefficient of

0.258 and is positive. It means that if the

independent variable has a fixed value or does not

change, then an increase in one unit of employee

performance will increase by 0.258.

 The level of education (XC) has a regression

coefficient of 0.434 and is positive. It means that

if the independent variable has a fixed value or

does not change, then an increase in one unit of

employee performance will increase by 0.434.

t-Test. The following are the results of the t-test

without control variables:

Table 3: Test result of t-test without control variable.

Based on the results of the t-test, the t-count work

conflict (X1) is 5.163 > t

table

2.026, and the sig value

is 0.000 <0.05. Therefore, it can be stated that the

work conflict variable (X1) has a significant effect on

employee performance. Therefore, it can be

concluded that H1 from this study is proven.

Based on the t-test results, the t-count work stress

(X2) is 3,467 > t

table

2,026, and the sig value is 0.001

< 0.05. Therefore, it can be stated that the work stress

variable (X2) has a significant effect on employee

performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that H2

from this study is proven.

The following are the results of the t-test with

control variables:

Table 4: Test result of -test with control variable.

Based on the results of the t-test, the t-count work

conflict (X1) is 2.535 > t

table

2.028, and the sig value

is 0.016 <0.05. Therefore, it can be stated that the

work conflict variable (X1) has a significant effect on

employee performance. Therefore, it can be

concluded that H1 from this study is proven.

Based on the t-test results, the t-count work stress

(X2) is 3,017 > t

table

2,028, and the sig value is 0.005

< 0.05. Therefore, it can be stated that the work stress

variable (X2) has a significant effect on employee

performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that H2

from this study is proven.

Based on the results above, it can be concluded

that there is no significant difference between the

results of the t-test without the control variable and

the results of the t-test with the control variable,

where the results of the t-test both have a significance

value less than 0.05 so that the partial hypothesis

submission entirely acceptable.

F-Test. The following are the results of the F-test

without control variables:

Table 5: Test result of F-test without control variable.

Based on Table 5 above, it can be seen that the F-

count value is 195.923 with a sig value of 0.000. From

the calculation results, the F-count value is 195.923 >

F-table 3.25, and the Sig value is 0.000 <0.05, so that

H3 is accepted.

The following are the results of the F-test with

control variables:

Table 6: Test result of F-test with control variable.

Based on Table 6 above, it can be seen that the F-

count value is 147,882 with a sig value of 0.000. From

the calculation results, the F-count value is 147,882 >

F-table 2,87, and the Sig value is 0.000 <0.05, so that

H3 is accepted.

Based on the results above, it can be concluded

that there is no significant difference between the

results of the F test without the control variable and

the results of the F test with the control variable,

where both the results of the F test have a significance

value of less than 0.05 so that the hypothesis can

simultaneously be accepted.

The Effect of Workplace Conﬂict and Stress on Employees Performance at a Freight Transport Company

Coefficient of Determination. The results of the

coefficient of determination in this study are

presented in the following tables:

Table 7: Result of the coefficient of determination without

control variable.

Table 8: Result of the coefficient of determination with

control variable.

Based on Tables 7 and 8 above, it can be seen that

the value of R Square (R

) obtained in the study

without using the control variable is 91.4%. After

using the control variable is 92.5%, so it can be

interpreted that 92.5% of employee performance

variables can be explained by independent variables

and control variables in this study, while 7.5% is

explained by other variables not explained in this

study. Next, it can be concluded that the education

level variable has an excellent function to control the

influence of the independent variable on the

dependent variable because it can increase the value

of the coefficient of determination (R

4.2 Discussion

Work Conflict Variable is declared to impact

Employee Performance variable so that based on the

results of data analysis that has been carried out. It

means that work conflict has a considerable influence

on improving employee performance at the freight

transport company. The results of this study are

similar to the results of previous research conducted

by Fatikhin and Mukzam (2017), which states that

work conflict affects employee performance.

The variable of work stress is stated to impact the

employee performance variable and is based on the

results of the data analysis that has been carried out.

Job stress has a considerable influence on improving

employee performance at the freight transport

company. The results of this study are the same as the

results of previous studies conducted by Wartono

(2017) and by Noor and Ruhana (2016), which

showed that work stress affects employee

performance.

Work conflict and work stress variables are

declared to affect employee performance variables so

that they are sourced from the results of data analysis

that has been carried out, which means that both work

conflict and work stress together have a considerable

impact in improving employee performance at the

freight transport company. The results of this study

are similar to the results of previous research

conducted by Fatikhin and Mukzam (2017) and the

results of previous research conducted by Kusuma

and Soesatyo (2014) work conflict and work stress

jointly affect employee performance.

Work conflict and work stress variables with

education level as a control variable are declared to

affect employee performance variables based on the

results of data analysis that has been carried out,

where both work conflict and work stress together

have a considerable impact in improving employee

performance at the freight transport company. The

results of this study are similar to the results of

previous research conducted by Fatikhin and

Mukzam (2017) and the results of previous research

conducted by Kusuma and Soesatyo (2014) that work

conflict and work stress jointly affect employee

performance. Then the level of education can be a

controller in giving influence between work conflict

and work stress on employee performance. The level

of education with high and adequate standards

provides knowledge and teaches about a person's

behaviour and attitudes towards others to help

improve employee performance. Later, every

employee can reduce workplace conflicts and work

stress they experience in a company or organization.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are obtained based on the

result of the study:

 There is a partial and significant effect of work

conflict on employee performance at the freight

transport company.

 There is a partial and significant effect of work

stress on employee performance at the freight

transport company.

 There is a simultaneous and significant effect of a

work conflict and work stress on employee

performance at the freight transport company.

 There is a simultaneous and significant effect of a

work conflict and work stress on employee

performance at the freight transport company with

educational level as a control variable.

ICAESS 2021 - The International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science

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The Effect of Workplace Conﬂict and Stress on Employees Performance at a Freight Transport Company