True or False? As an organizational concern, stress can negatively affect performance, organizational effectiveness, and mission accomplishment.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not sure
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (A)

Stress in organizations can degrade performance and mission outcomes. When environments place high demands, ambiguity, or limited resources, people experience cognitive load that impairs judgment, memory, situational awareness, and decision-making. This leads to slower responses, more mistakes, and reduced effectiveness at both the individual and team levels. Chronic stress also erodes motivation and morale, increases burnout, absenteeism, and turnover, and can raise safety risks, all of which undermine organizational capability and readiness to accomplish the mission. On the flip side, supportive leadership, clear expectations, adequate resources, and resilience or mental health programs can mitigate these effects and help sustain performance and mission readiness. So, the statement is accurate.