Please Tell Me What to Do: Exploring the effects of operating procedures on occupational stress and performance outcomes in temporary organizations

Abstract

Music festivals have become big business, bringing in $8.79B in global revenue in 2017, and continuing to grow with projected 2022 revenues of $13.7B. However, these events still function mostly as “temporary organizations,” with employees coming together for the distinct period of time that the event takes place in and fulfilling the tasks that need to be accomplished for the production to be successful. The process of festival production can be stressful, requiring the implementation of operating procedures and other guidelines to ensure that employees produce an optimal guest experience. Through a grounded theory study of managers and employees at three different music festivals and an historic case study, this work seeks to understand how operating procedures impact workers in temporary organizations. The results reveal a relationship between operating procedures and employee stress as well as guest experiences that suggest the more an organization is able to communicate procedures the less likely employees are to suffer stress. In addition, analysis unveiled the presence of “compensation anxiety” among festival employees as an occupational stressor not traditionally considered in the occupational stress or temporary organization literatures.