Employees Communicating within Transportation and Logistics Organizations: What Studying Stress and Acts of Incivility in the Workplace Reveals About the Industry

This thesis project investigates the relationship of workplace stress and workplace incivility in the context of transportation and logistics organizations. Informal, one-on-one interviews with transportation and logistics operations office employees are conducted to answer this study’s research questions that examine the commonality, perceived norms, and perceived emotional and physical effects of workplace incivility in response to stress within the transportation and logistics workplace. Using grounded theory analysis, it is revealed that acts of incivility amongst transportation and logistics operations office employees communicate the conflict occurring at the industry, organization, and workplace levels of the transportation and logistics industry. The ultimate conflict is at the individual employee level, in which employees must adapt and manage these acts within their daily workplace environment. A model of conflict within the transportation and logistics industry and suggestions for transportation and logistics organizations and leaders are provided for use at the practical level to help improve workplace processes and conditions, which have implications for employee well-being and organizational outcomes (e.g., teamwork, turnover).