EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND CORPORATE EFFECTIVENESS (A SURVEY OF SELECTED MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE)

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The idea of increasing corporate effectiveness occupied the minds of different classes of employers of labour including the government in Nigeria. Efforts are always made to improve working conditions of workers towards better work performance, since they are responsible for the effective utilization of other factors of production to reach pre-determined organizational goals. There is the general awareness that proper motivation of employees in a work situation is verynecessary for the effectiveness of corporate/organization as propagated by A. Ukpana (1986).

Emotional intelligence reflects the ability of read and understands others in social controverts to detect the nuance of emotional reactions and utilize such knowledge to influence other through emotional regulation and control. As such, it represents, a critically important competency for effective leadership and term performance in organizations/corporate body today.

The term Emotional Intelligence came to exist way back in 1990s by Salayo and Mayer (1996) but it started gaining, the current attention it has when it was republished by Goleman (1996) recognize and deal with their own feeding which is of great important in cater feeling which is of great importance in later enabling us relate well with other by being in a better position to handle other feelings in reality. Emotions controls our actions and can therefore impact or redirect can behaviours for a better or good or worse, thus the need to handle our emotions and those of other carefully more especially where faced with very challenging situation (Jonas 2013).

The relationship between group extension and group performance is perhaps the most widely studied phenomenon in the group cohesion and group cohesion literature researchers that have conducted meta-analytic studied have attempted to shed light on the relationship between cohesiveness and employee commitment, in a meta-analytic study conducted by Evans and Dion (1991), cohesion and performance were significantly positively correlated and cohesiveness groups significantly outperformed non-cohesive groups.

However, the study used in their meta-analytics included experimental groups military groups, and short teams Evans and Dion (1991) cautioned against the generalizability of their findings in the performance of work group in organization as anyone who has studied work groups without real organization can attests the development of meaningful and measurable performance criteria is extremely difficult (P. 180) although Evans and Dion (1991) reported a significant and positive relationship between two constructs, Mullen and Copper (1994)reported a small but significant relationship between cohesion and group performance. Unlike many previous studies, Mullen and Copper (1994) provided evidence, that high level of group performance leads to higher level of cohesion.

According to Ashkanasy and Daus (2005); Giardini and Frese (2006), the concept of Emotional Intelligence has emerged as an important but still relatively ignored topic. Mayer, Salovey and Caruso (2008) stated in their study that emotional intelligence basically refers to the ability of recognizing and then regulating the emotions of oneself and that of the others. Information about the emotions will assist the leaders to guide the actions and behaviors of one-self and that of the others.

Thi Lam, et al (2002), Opined that Emotional Intelligence increases the productivity and performance of employees. Emotional Intelligence is theoretically significant for analyzing employee’s routine work because Interpersonal relations corporatewant to achieve goals and because most work requires the ability to manage emotions. While several professional difficult are being faced by employees in different sectors (public, private) in Nigeria.

Many researchers have worked to find out the relationship between the emotional corporate effectiveness, Lam and Kirby (2002) and Semadar, Robins and Ferris (2006) in their research found that emotional intelligence is also the best predictor of the employee’s performance as it can forecast the productivity of the employees by understanding and handling their emotions in the desired manner accordingly.

Emotional intelligent person can easily achieve his/her goals and that is the reason that most of the jobs nowadays need some level of emotional intelligence.

Furthermore, the importance to developing emotional intelligence is very essential to success in any organization, utilizing the power and energy of employees emotions lead to high motivation, increased problem solving and improved decision making in an organization.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Sometimes, we are faced with a very difficult and challenging situation that we have to decide how we have to handle it in an appropriate manner without, hurting any parties involved and leaving us, with no regret later on therefore we are required to go through systematic process of pondering upon the issues and analyzing it for its impacts both positive and negative on self and others who might be affected by the decision are arrive at hence, wise decision necessity in our daily decision that we are not sure about are necessity in our daily dealing with several issues hence emotional intelligence entails all the above issues and is a paramount tools in dealing with challenging issues (Marc, Susan, and Salovey, 2011).

For an organization to achieve their set goal, it requires that the employee or workforce which is seen as a valuable tool must be properly evaluated in terms of their individual skills and behaviours.

Emotion is one of the inner drivers that stimulate and organization towards productivity and corporate effectiveness.The emotions a person perceives can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of their anger and what it might mean (Pahuja and Sahi, 2012). It is on this basis that understanding emotions is an inherent part of emotional intelligence (Mayer et al, 2001). Yet, an understanding of people’s emotions should lead to a proper management of those emotions (Goleman, 1996).

Hence, this research work is attempting to review the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness.

1.3     PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main purpose/objective of the study is to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness. The specific objectives of the study are:

       To examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness.

       To examine the influence of culture on the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness.

       To examine the relationship between management and corporate effectiveness.

       To examine the relationship between self-awareness and corporate effectiveness.

       To examine the relationship between self-motivation and corporate effectiveness.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions are designed to enhance the achievement of the set objectives of the study.

       To what extent does self-awareness influence corporate effectiveness?

       To what extent does self-motivation influence corporate effectiveness?

       To what extents does management relationship influence corporate effectiveness?

       To what extents does organizational culture influence the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness?

       To what extent does emotional intelligence affect corporate effectiveness?

1.5     STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses are designed for the study.

H01:  There is no significant relationship between self-awareness and increase in market share.

Ho2:  There is no significant relationship between self-motivation and increase in market share.

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study enriched knowledge by focusing on the effect of emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness the result of this study will be useful to the following,

a.       Stakeholders of Business ventures in decision making

b.       Decision makers-managers who have quest for more knowledge on emotional intelligence in ascertaining organizational productivity and corporate effectiveness.

c.       It will also serve as a framework for scholars and students who are researching into similar topics. Mostly student in the department of Business Administration of higher learning like Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori. Nevertheless, it will provide ideas to a layman who needs to know more about emotional intelligence on corporate effectiveness.

1.7     SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope is delimited under the following headings: content scope, geographical scope, and unit of analysis.

1.       Content Scope: The content scope of this investigation is to ascertain the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness. The independent variable is measured by the dimensions which are self awareness, self motivation and management relationship, while the dependent variable is measured by the following: increase in market share and efficiency.

2.       Geographical Scope: In this study, the geographical scope is delimited in Nigeria Bottling Company and 7 Up Bottling Company, Port Harcourt. The geographical scope of this study is concerned with where the study is carryout at the particular time of the case study.

3.       Unit of Analysis: The unit of analysis of this study involves the individuals we meet while carryout the investigation. The scope of this study is to ascertain the relationship between emotional intelligence and corporate effectiveness.

1.8     LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time Constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

Distance: The distance from school to different locations stood as a constraint, if therefore prevented the research from being carried out effectively.

1.9     DEFINITIONS OF RELATED TERMS

For comprehension and clarity purposes, it is pertinent to define some basic languages/words as used in this work:

Emotional Intelligence: understanding of feelings; personal attributes that enable people to succeed in life, including self- awareness, empathy, self-confidence, and self-control.

Management Relationship: This includes a set of competencies such as essential and basic social skills, the ability of analyzing and influencing the emotions and actions of others and also persuading desirable responses in them in return.

Market Share: It is the percentage of total sales volume in a market captured by a brand, product, or company. It is also seen as the percentage of an industry’s or, market, total sales, that is earned by a particular company over a specific time period. It is calculated by taking the company sales of the industry over the same period.

Self Motivation: Is the ability to what is needed to be done without influence from other people or situation. People with self motivation can find a reason and strength to complete a task, even when challenging without giving up or needing another to encourage them.

Self Awareness: It is having a clear perception of your personality, industry, belief, strength, weakness, thought, motivation and emotion. It allows you to understand other people how they perceive you, your attitude and your response to them in the moment.

Profitability: It is a measurement of efficiency and ultimately, its success or failure. It is therefore the ability of a business to produce a return on an investment based on its resources in comparison with an alternative investment or the ability of a business to earn a profit is the revenue earned at after all expenses have been paid.

Job Definition: Job definition is described as a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one’s occupation or for an agreed price.