Organisational Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Organisational Behaviour Essay Cognitive Intelligence (CI) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) are considered to be important individual differences in the field of organisational behaviour and there is a lot of research to support this statement. This essay will critically evaluate both concepts and discuss how cognitive ability and EI are applied in modern organisations. It is clear that CI and EI both have very different roles in the modern organisation and they assist in the prediction of success in both personal and professional sectors of ones life. It is important to understand the main difference being that CI implements the individuals mental function for understanding and developing a systematic prospective in thinking whilst EI is considered as the ability for one to make decisions through their emotional and social skills and their understanding and belief system. In modern day organisations there has been a clear shift towards operating in an emotionally intelligent way as this is proving to hold a key to a successful organisation. Cognitive Intelligence (CI) can be defined as The ability to learn new things, recall information, think rationally, apply knowledge and solve problems. (Kaplan Sadock, 1991). CI or commonly referred to cognitive ability was originally researched by Aristotle approximately 23 centuries ago, along with other workings of the mind and the effects on human experience. Many centuries later as psychological studies were advancing in Europe and America, many researchers contributed to the overall study of cognition. Cognition is often measured by the General Mental Ability (GMA), which looks at attention, memory, producing and understanding of language, decision making, learning, reasoning and problem solving. CI is one’s ability to process information, mental functions and processes thoughts and state of intelligence. It also consists of a large number of factors that relate to the way individuals perceive, interpret and respond to information. Emotional Intelligence (EI) â€Å"Ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others claim it is an inborn characteristic.† (K Cherry, 2010). The original studies of EI were conducted by Edward Thorndike. Thorndike describes the concept of social intelligence â€Å"as the ability to get along†. Research continued to advance and in 1990 there was an article published by Peter Salovey and John Mayer â€Å"Emotional Intelligence† in the journal Imagination, Cognition and Personality. In this article they defined emotional intelligence as the the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions (1997). Salovey and Mayer identified four different factors of emotional intelligence; the perception of emotion, the ability reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotion and the ability to manage emotions. According to Salovey and Mayer, the four branches of their model are, arranged from more basic psychological processes to higher, more psychologically integrated processes. For example, the lowest level branch concerns the (relatively) simple abilities of perceiving and expressing emotion. In contrast, the highest level branch concerns the conscious, reflective regulation of emotion (1997). Cognitive ability testing has been used in organisations for over 80 years in employee screening. CI is assessed by psychometric testing and can predict some life outcomes, such as educational level, adult income and health related behaviours and it has a strong link to predicting job performance. There is general agreement that GMA cognitive ability testing should vary for different jobs in different environments. The strengths of CI in a modern organisation are still similar to what they were 80 years ago. (Viswesvaran, C. Ones, D.S. 2002). In recent years there has been a strong renewed interest towards GMA studies in the workplace. GMA has been linked to a study which concludes risky or criminal behaviours or the ability to use public transport, are more likely to be linked to people with lower GMA scores. There is also evidence presented indicating that GMA predicts performance within jobs and occupations (Schmidt Hunter, 2004). GMA testing during the hiring process of new employee can assist with evaluating if the applicant has the skills for the role. GMA is viewed as important for academic performance, during educational years though has little impact on performance in real world performances (Schmidt Hunter, 2004). CI and EI both have their own strengths and weaknes ses within a modern organisation. There are growing bodies of research which demonstrate that EI is a better predictor of success than traditional measures of cognitive ability. The workplace is an ideal environment for people to develop their social and emotional skills, as individuals are motivated to develop those capabilities in pursuit of success and promotion. The concept is equally important to employers, as their bottom-line productivity results can rest on the emotional intelligence of the whole organisation. When executives and employees work to improve capabilities in areas in which they are weakest, it benefits the entire organisation, improving communication and increasing productivity. Research indicates that individuals with high level of CI are required to have high level of EI and individuals with low level of CI are required to have low level of EI. CI and EI are different constructs, because they show the specialty of common intelligence in different content domains (Deary, Der Ford, 2001). Some of the strengths of EI in organisations indicate a strong correlation between EI and individual job performance. By emphasising EI in the hiring process, teambuilding and training programs, management and human resources professionals can improve decision making, problem solving and the ability to cope with change among their employees. Emotionally intelligent organisations maximise their potential for business success and increase productivity as people in these organisations are seen to share an increased connection. Organisations can evaluate EI and can predict job performance and satisfaction. This can create a blueprint for improving individual performance and increasing the productivity. It is also an important measure used in developing people, succession planning, learning and development and leadership development. Some of the limitations of CI is that it is often only effective when one is working alone. The most significant limitation of the CI is not being capable to grab the other feeling and recognise how emotions of others are impacting the situation. It is viewed that various individuals with great cognitive intelligence often perform poorly in relationships due to having low emotional intelligence (Brackett Mayer, 2003). This can be seen as a massive limitation in the modern work place as there is such a high influence on team working environments and collaboration is a vital part of most work places. Some of the limitations or consequences for neglect of emotional intelligence in an organisation can be devastating to productivity and bottom-line business results. Breakdowns in internal communication can produce confusion, uncertainty, hostility and reduced productivity are just a few of the factors organisations face if they do not actively pursue a strategy of fostering emotional intelligence in the workplace. Successful organisations today strive to reap the benefits of becoming more emotionally intelligent, improving performance of employees and executives, building strong teams and driving productivity. An example of CI being applied in modern organisations is a study undertaken by Lindbery and Berger. Where initially developed in organisations with product-focused, repetitive processes and often high standardisation of products and processes such as factories or financial institutions, Lindberg and Berger (1997) have studied a number of Swedish organisations eg Ikea and discovered the applicability of CI with a relatively low degree of standardisation of products and processes. These companies had successfully integrated CI into work teams and seen a positive result. Cognitive Intelligence can be applied in the modern organisation with the help of on the job training and training in real situations because it increases with the help of knowledge of procedures, facts and rules and applicable to efficient cooperating, endorsing and helping the organisation (Attwood, 2007). Historically, leaders in most organisations have neglected emotions in the workplace. In modern organisations, EI is very much a part of workplace success. How individuals and particularly mangers respond to real situations each and every day and what organisations do to grow productive emotional responses can make the difference between the organisation that fails and the organisation that excels. The effects of emotionally ignorant organisations can lead to a destructive environment and may result in poor business results and low employee engagement and productivity. The role of emotional intelligence in organisations in recent years through research has become the chosen measure verse cognitive intelligence in employee selection. Research indicates that generally job applicants find psychological testing to be somewhat invasive and, at times, offensive, employers are more likely to conduct testing to measure emotional intelligence. EI is better forecaster of the success as compared to the traditional cognitive intelligence measures (Trinidad Johnson, 2002). The EI tests create a profile of an individual’s emotional intelligence, showing both areas of strength and weakness. Individuals can use this information to develop areas in need of improvement. Organisations can use these profiles to show whether a potential hire would make a good addition to the team or expose traits in existing employees in need of enhancement through training or incentive programs. An action plan can be developed once an individual or organisation has this information, supporting growth in desired areas. When employees and executives work to enhance abilities in areas where they are weak, it helps the whole organisation, enhancing communication and improving productivity. Lend Lease is a company which requires many of this employees to have cognitive ability in many forms and an example of this would be an engineer. It is important that their CI is tested and measured on a daily basis because if an employee lacked CI they would be unable to perform their role. This employee also requires a high degree of EI as they will constantly be working in a team environment and liaising with internal and external stakeholders. If the individual lacked in either CI or EI they wouldn’t have the ability to do their job. It can be said that EI has become the crucial part and helps the leaders in meeting the challenges they experience. In other words, cognitive intelligence considered as most difficult human mind property and may be evaluated only by itself. In general, workplace considered as the ideal surrounding for the people to form their emotional and social skills, as people are encouraged to form those abilities in search of promotion and success. Emotional Intelligence concentrates on capabilities and ones reactions to situations. Though they both clearly have their places in modern organisations, there is a very definitive movement towards enhancing the employees EI to ensure that it aligns with the organisations EI strategy. This is now seen as a key performance indicator to a successful organisations. Reference List Brackett Mayer, 2003. Positive Psychology: Emotional Intelligence. Discovering human strengths: Page 129 Cherniss, C. (2010). Emotional intelligence: Toward clarification of a concept. Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 3, 110-126. Deary, Der Ford, 2001. Reactive detachment disorder. Encyclopedia of Special Education Volume 3: Page 1676 Kaplan B. J. Sadock (1991). Synopsis of Psychiatry (6th Ed.). Baltimore : Williams Wilkins. Kendra Cherry, (2010). The Everything Psychology Book (2nd Ed.).Massachusetts : Adams Media. Lindberg and Berger, 1997. Managing Innovation and Change: Page 71 Mayer J.D. Salovey P. (1997). What is Emotional Intelligence. New York : Basic Books Peter Salovey, Marc A. Brackett, John D. Mayer, (2004). Emotional Intelligence: Key Readings on the Mayer Salovey Model. New York : NPRinc. Roberts, R. D., Matthews, G., Zeinder, M. (2010). Emotional intelligence: Muddling through theory and measurement. Industrial and Ogranisational Psychology, 3, 140-144 Schmidt, F.L., Hunter, J. (2004). General mental ability in the world of work: Occupational attainment and job performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86 (1), 162-173. Trinidad Johnson, 2002. Assessing Emotional Intelligence: Theory, Research, and Applications: Emotional Intelligence Physical Health Page 203 Viswesvaran, C. Ones, D.S. (2002). Agreements and disagreements on the role of general mental ability (GMA) in industrial, work and organisational psychology. Human Performance, 15 (1/2): 211-231.