Business Research

Methods
(Effect/Impact of emotional stability
on managerial decision making in
organizations)
Worked by
Syed Muhammad Salman
Roll No: L1F17MBAM0016
 Summary
The rules of work are changing. We’re being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how
smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves
and each other. This yardstick is increasingly applied in choosing who will be hired and who
will not, who will be let go and who retained, who passed over and who promoted.

These rules have little to do with what we were told was important in school; academic
abilities are largely irrelevant to this standard. The new measure takes for granted having
enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to do our jobs; it focuses instead on
personal qualities, such as initiative and empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness.

In a time with no guarantees of job security, when the very concept of ‘job’ is rapidly being
replaced by ‘portable skills’, these are prime qualities that make us and keep us
employable. Talked about loosely for decades under a variety of names, form ‘character’
and ‘personality’ to ‘soft skills’ and ‘competence’, there is at last a more precise
understanding of these human talents, and a new name for them: “Emotional Intelligence”.

What exactly is this emotional intelligence? Actually speaking it is an art of handling one’s
own emotions and influencing others’ emotions. Every job differs from the other. Thus
emotional requirements for each job will naturally differ in their perspective. Thus being
emotionally compatible with the job is what emotional intelligence means.

Since for each job, requirements are different, there’s no standard for emotional
intelligence. In this fast changing world, global village will soon become a reality.
Competition is increasing and job security on the other hand is reducing. Similarly
manpower is being cutback and therefore, burden of work per person has increased.

In such a scenario, managing wide number of activities for the organization has become
inevitable for managers. Alongside, they have to deal with customers of different
preferences from throughout the world, employees coming from different regions, belonging
to different nationalities, they have to follow regulations of various governments, satisfy
shareholders from various countries etc. Thus now, there has been a integration of different
ideologies, philosophies, cultures, religions and traditions at a single place: “Work Place”!

An individual working in such an environment has to be compatible with it, has to be flexible
enough, understanding and empathetic, and should be able to handle stress that comes
with such a dynamic milieu. Unless an individual is capable of all this, he can’t perform well.
Ultimately, an individual employee’s performance affects the organization’s performance
and this in turn impacts the organisational goals. Thus an individual should necessarily be
emotionally compatible with the job.

At work place, emotional stability has got following implications:

Emotional stability does not mean merely being nice. At strategic moments it may demand
not being nice, but rather for example bluntly confronting someone with an uncomfortable
but consequential truth they are avoiding.
Emotional stability does not mean giving free rein to feelings. Rather it means managing
feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively, enabling people to work
together smoothly toward their common goals.
Emotional stability is not fixed genetically. It seems to be largely learned and continues to
develop throughout the life.

A survey of employers reveals that they are now looking for more ‘emotionally stable and
intelligent people’ rather than ‘extremely intelligent’ people. The employers want their
employees to possess following:

Listening and oral communication.

Adaptability and creative responses to setbacks and obstacles.

Personal management, confidence, motivation to work towards goals, a sense of wanting to
develop one’s career and take pride in its accomplishments.
Group and interpersonal effectiveness, cooperativeness and teamwork, skills at negotiating
disagreements.

Effectiveness in the organization, wanting to make a contribution, leadership potential.

If this list is followed closely, it is clear that academic excellence has now lesser importance
as compared to the emotional stability and emotional intelligence. Thus, managers should
be necessarily emotionally stable.

To date, organizational behavior research has mostly concerned itself with factors
influencing low power individuals’ reactions to feedback. However, high power individuals
are also often confronted with feedback. In this study, we focus on differences between high
and low power individuals’ affective and attitudinal reactions to unfavorable feedback.
Understanding how high and low power individuals differ in their reactions to unfavorable
feedback is important in order to reap the beneficial effects of unfavorable feedback and at
the same time minimize its potentially negative consequences.

Following insights into emotional stability and power, we propose that emotional stability
reduces negative reactions to unfavorable feedback particularly in high power individuals.
We conducted two experimental studies wherein we assessed participants’ emotional
stability and randomly assigned them to a high or low power condition.

After task completion participants received negative performance feedback. In line with our
hypothesis, we found in both studies that, with higher levels of emotional stability, only high
power individuals were less likely to experience anger and shame in response to negative
feedback. Our data also show that anger towards the feedback provider, contrary to shame
and self-directed anger, mediates the interactive effects of emotional stability and power on
liking and perceived ability of the feedback provider and feedback acceptance. Our results
point to the importance of personality in high power individuals’ feedback reactions.
Practical implications for organizational feedback procedures are discussed.
 Significance
Emotions are by far the most powerful force that influence actions. Action in
turn affects the people around you. Therefore, the way you feel influences
how you react and how you think of a particular situation. Emotional stability
is important because it not improves your life but also the lives of your
friends. However, in order to understand emotional stability first you must
know the definition. It means a person's “ability to remain calm or even keel
when faced with pressure or stress.”

Regardless of the circumstances and when presented with a problem, you

are able to maintain calm and not let your emotions control your actions.

In college you make many friends. Some may share different opinions from
your own and others may believe in the exact opposite. However, you do not
react to listening to such different views in an aggressive manner. A simple
conversation to discuss the value in each other’s opinion is the best way to
react to such a scenario. Therefore, just as critical as knowing the definition
of emotional stability, it is also essential to understand what it means to
be emotionally unstable; it signifies “someone who is emotionally unstable is
more volatile, which means the person faces an increased risk of reacting
with violent or harmful behaviors when provoked.”

So what can you do to more emotionally stable? Here are a few tips:

1. Be aware of what topics arouse you.

If you know that a conversation about military service is especially valuable

and sensitive to you, then you should let your friends know. Your support
system for college is mainly them, people who you turn to when you need
help and to have a fun time. Therefore, your friends should understand what
you are particularly sensitive to so that they can help you work on not
responding emotionally to future discussions.

2. Do not be afraid to admit that you need help.

Emotional instability can be somewhat embarrassing. The vital message to

remember is that you have family and friends that can and will help you.
Overcoming fear and seeking assistance is the most crucial step in starting
to better yourself and be more emotionally stable
3. Practice some techniques that calm you down.

They may include yoga, breathing exercises, swimming, taking a warm

shower, etc. These are all particularly calming and relaxing ways. Your mood
is paramount because the more relaxed you are, the more likely you are to
perceive any given situation in a calmer manner and with more constructive
intentions.

Emotional stability is a concept that affects all of us. There are things and
subjects that simply anger us. However, exhibiting self-control, calmness
and emotional stability is the best way to resolve such problems in a
constructive and productive manner. It is never too late to improve your
emotional stability; reflect and see if you can improve it!

Objective
Identify Problems

The first step in the process is to recognize that there is a decision to be made.
Decisions are not made arbitrarily; they result from an attempt to address a specific
problem, need or opportunity. A supervisor in a retail shop may realize that he has too
many employees on the floor compared with the day's current sales volume, for
example, requiring him to make a decision to keep costs under control.

Seek Information

Managers seek out a range of information to clarify their options once they have
identified an issue that requires a decision. Managers may seek to determine potential
causes of a problem, the people and processes involved in the issue and any constraints
placed on the decision-making process.
Brainstorm Solutions

Having a more complete understanding of the issue at hand, managers move on to

make a list of potential solutions. This step can involve anything from a few seconds of
though to a few months or more of formal collaborative planning, depending on the
nature of the decision.

Choose an Alternative

Managers weigh the pros and cons of each potential solution, seek additional
information if needed and select the option they feel has the best chance of success at
the least cost. Consider seeking outside advice if you have gone through all the
previous steps on your own; asking for a second opinion can provide a new perspective
on the problem and your potential solutions.

Implement the Plan

There is no time to second guess yourself when you put your decision into action. Once
you have committed to putting a specific solution in place, get all of your employees on
board and put the decision into action with conviction. That is not to say that a
managerial decision cannot change after it has been enacted; savvy managers put
monitoring systems in place to evaluate the outcomes of their decisions.

Evaluate Outcomes

Even the most experienced business owners can learn from their mistakes. Always
monitor the results of strategic decisions you make as a small business owner; be
ready to adapt your plan as necessary, or to switch to another potential solution if your
chosen solution does not work out the way you expected.