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1 – 10 of 357Historically, research in organizational behavior has denied and even denounced the presence and impact of emotions in the workplace. Today, after little more than 10 years of…
Abstract
Historically, research in organizational behavior has denied and even denounced the presence and impact of emotions in the workplace. Today, after little more than 10 years of research on emotions in the workplace, organizational behavior scholars look to emotions as an important determinant of nearly every facet of workplace behavior. From interpersonal behavior, to team performance, and strategic decision-making in top management teams, researchers have argued that the role of emotions is fundamental to our understanding of these organizational processes. Research on emotions in the workplace has had a fast and furious growth, facilitated by a lack of critical reflection upon the limits of bounded emotionality as a framework for understanding individuals’ actions in organizations. It is undeniable that emotions influence some facets of organizational behavior. But the questions of interest in this chapter are, in which areas of organizational behavior do emotions play a critical role in the determination of individual and organizational outcomes and under what conditions?
Kelum Jayasinghe Dennis Thomas and Danture Wickramasinghe
The purpose of this paper is to advocate the employment of “bounded emotionality”, as borrowed from organisational studies on emotionality, as an alternative framework to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advocate the employment of “bounded emotionality”, as borrowed from organisational studies on emotionality, as an alternative framework to examine and understand entrepreneurial behaviour and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors review the debate and trends in entrepreneurship research with particular regard to structure and agency. They then argue that the application of Mumby and Putnam's concept of “bounded emotionality” strengthens the critical tradition and particularly contributes to that strand which utilises Giddens' structuration theory by explicitly treating the emotional aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour that operate outside the consciousness of individual agency.
Findings
The adoption of an alternative methodological framework, involving “bounded emotionality”, within a broad socio‐cutural and political‐economic perspective, can assist policy makers to rethink their generalised approach to the design and implementation of specific programmes and initiatives to support entrepreneurial development in favour of devising alternative approaches to fit particular contexts and localised settings.
Research limitations/implications
This theoretical paper contributes to the critical debate in entrepreneurial research, which advocates the need for an alternative, more socialised approach that attempts to account for the relationship between social structure and individual entrepreneurial action.
Originality/value
The paper contains the first attempt to apply the concept of “bounded rationality” to entrepreneurship research.
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Ulla Hytti, Pekka Stenholm and Kirsi Peura
Existing research focuses on the role of planning in successful transfers of family business. From a bounded emotionality perspective, this paper aims to investigate the transfer…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing research focuses on the role of planning in successful transfers of family business. From a bounded emotionality perspective, this paper aims to investigate the transfer of business processes and the underlying reasons for delayed or unplanned transfers despite the feasible succession plans.
Design/methodology/approach
A follow‐up case study in six small family firms was carried out between 2001 and 2008. The research material was collected primarily in interviews with firm representatives in 2001 and 2008. Further information was obtained through participant observation, and background data on the firms were also used.
Findings
The analysis enhances understanding of business‐transfer processes in the context of subjective limitations and relational feelings. Any divergence from the original conditions in the transfer plan may delay the process but the delays are tolerated by putting the transfer on hold in the daily activities and focusing on business routines instead. The results emphasise how individuals' goals and values change over time, and how decisions are weighed up from various identity positions questioning the basic assumptions and decisions set out in the plan. Despite the delays, however, transfers of business or the firm are not easily abandoned.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that linear, goal‐oriented planning may not be sufficient for executing successful transfers, but further longitudinal research is needed to corroborate these qualitative findings.
Originality/value
The paper makes use of the bounded emotionality approach, which allows the analysis of both the rational and emotional aspects involved, and helps to explain delays or unplanned transfers.
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Ronit Kark and Hana Medler-Liraz
In the early 1980s, the term “new leadership” was used to describe and categorize a number of new approaches to define leadership; one of the most important being transformational…
Abstract
In the early 1980s, the term “new leadership” was used to describe and categorize a number of new approaches to define leadership; one of the most important being transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is presented in the literature as different from transactional leadership. Whereas transactional leadership is defined as an exchange of rewards for compliance, transformational leadership is defined as transforming the values and priorities of followers and motivating them to perform beyond their expectations (Yukl, 1998). Transformational leadership enables followers to transcend their own self-interests for a collective higher purpose, mission, or vision and to exceed performance expectations. Transformational leaders communicate a compelling vision of the future, provide symbols, and make emotional appeals to increase awareness of mutual goals, encourage followers to question traditional ways of doing things; and treat followers differently but equitably on a one-to-one basis (Avolio et al., 1999). Previous research has shown that these transformational behaviors are related to leadership effectiveness (Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996).
Raymond T. Lee and Céleste M. Brotheridge
The purpose of this paper is to understand, from the child care worker's perspective, how work experience, display rules, and affectivity are related to emotional labor. It also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand, from the child care worker's perspective, how work experience, display rules, and affectivity are related to emotional labor. It also examines the utility of separating surface acting into its two components: the hiding and faking of emotions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a cross‐sectional self‐report survey of 198 child care workers in Western Canada.
Findings
Deep acting occurred more frequently among younger workers, whereas experienced workers hid their feelings more frequently than did their less‐experienced counterparts. The requirement to express positive emotions was associated with deep acting and faking emotions, whereas the requirement to suppress negative emotions was associated with hiding feelings.
Research limitations/implications
Results support the treatment of surface acting's components as distinct given their differential association with the other variables. Future research should validate the emotional labor measure in service occupations that involve different frequency and intensity levels of contact.
Practical implications
The finding that young and inexperienced workers appear to engage in different emotion regulation strategies than mature and experienced workers may be due to their job training. A potential solution is to include service learning projects in child care training that build their confidence in communicating with parents.
Originality/value
Use of the revised Emotional Labour Scale in future studies may facilitate a deeper understanding of workplace emotional expression.
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Michael Pirson and Erica Steckler
Why has responsible management been so difficult and why is the chorus of stakeholders demanding responsibility getting louder? We argue that management has been framed within the…
Abstract
Why has responsible management been so difficult and why is the chorus of stakeholders demanding responsibility getting louder? We argue that management has been framed within the structural confines of corporate governance. Corporate governance in turn has been developed within the frame of agency theory (Blair, 1995; Eisenhardt, 1989). Agency theory in turn is based on ontological assumptions that do not provide for responsible actions on behalf of management (Jensen, 2001; Jensen & Meckling, 1976; Jensen & Meckling, 1994). As such, we argue that managers need to be aware of the paradigmatic frame of the dominant economistic ontology and learn to transcend it in order to become truly response-able.
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Catherine S. Daus, Marie T. Dasborough, Peter J. Jordan and Neal M. Ashkanasy
Despite ongoing controversy, emotional intelligence is emerging as a potentially important variable in furthering our understanding of individual behavior in organizations. In…
Abstract
Despite ongoing controversy, emotional intelligence is emerging as a potentially important variable in furthering our understanding of individual behavior in organizations. In this respect, however, most of the research in relation to emotional intelligence has been at the individual level of behavior. In this chapter, we develop a framework for considering the impact of emotional intelligence at the organizational level. Specifically, we map Mayer and Salovey's four emotional intelligence abilities onto Shein's three-level organizational culture schema. We conclude with a discussion of implications for managers and suggest that the model we propose may prove to be a useful starting point for future research into emotional intelligence as an organizational phenomenon.
Reva Berman Brown and Ian Brooks
This paper introduces the concept of the emotional climate of the workplace and explores how it both shapes and is shaped by the emotions experienced, expressed and redefined by…
Abstract
This paper introduces the concept of the emotional climate of the workplace and explores how it both shapes and is shaped by the emotions experienced, expressed and redefined by nurses. It extracts emotional aspects of an organizational climate framework developed by Litwin and Stringer and examines these with respect to nurse’s experiences. The primary research was carried out at a general hospital NHS Trust in the East Midlands of the UK using a grounded theory methodology. The research methods included semi‐structured interviews and observation. The themes identified include many of those found by Litwin and Stringer, others which represent variations upon these, and a new set, which, when combined, identify the emotional climate of the organization. The findings have confirmed that the “experiment” of using a 33‐year‐old positivistic framework to investigate aspects of qualitative research has enabled a robust contribution to the conceptual area of emotional climate.
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Considers the relations between warfare, gender and marketing, and asks “Are we witnessing the feminization of marketing?” Draws on Deleuze and Guattari’s (1988) conception of…
Abstract
Considers the relations between warfare, gender and marketing, and asks “Are we witnessing the feminization of marketing?” Draws on Deleuze and Guattari’s (1988) conception of warfare to illustrate contemporary patriarchal organization of society, war and marketing. Some might argue that a shifting balance of power in society and in marketing is reflected in developments such as relationship marketing and postmodern marketing which signal a shift away from “male” values, and that we are currently witnessing the resurgence of more “feminine” values. Concludes that despite these grand claims, prevailing “patriarchal” relations of power are still intact.One could argue that such developments are further acts of appropriation of the “female” space. That said, this space can never be totally appropriated. To locate the “female” principle, one must look beyond the regulating structures of society and the academy to the fringe, for this is the domain of the war machine, a territory which cannot be fully occupied by the forces of the social.
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