Craig R. Seal

The Relative Contribution of Emotional Competence and Cognitive Ability to Individual and Team Performance

The relative contributions of emotional competence and cognitive ability to individual and team performance, team-member attitudes, and leadership perceptions were examined. Focusing on emotional competencies, we predicted that, although both cognitive ability and emotional competence would predict performance, cognitive ability would account for more variance on individual tasks, whereas emotional competence would account for more variance in team performance and attitudes. We also predicted that emotional competence would be positively related to team attitudes and to both leader emergence and effectiveness. Using a sample of undergraduate business majors who completed tasks alone and as members of teams, our results generally supported the hypotheses. Implications for the reach and impact of work relating emotional competencies to performance are offered.

Teaching with and through Teams: Student-Written, Instructor-Facilitated Case Writing and the Signatory Code

Modern organizations prize teamwork. Management schools have responded to this reality by integrating teamwork into the curriculum. Two important challenges associated with integrating teams in the management classroom include (a) designing teamwork assignments that achieve multiple, sophisticated learning outcomes and (b) instruction in, and management of, the classic social loafing problem. This article addresses these two challenges. First, it provides a method for designing teamwork assignments using Student Written–Instructor Facilitated (SWIF) case learning. SWIF provides the ideal vehicle for achieving all six of Bloom’s (1956) Educational Objectives— knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Second, it demonstrates the use of the Signatory Code, a team-contracting device that helps teams minimize social loafing. Survey results from 112 students speak to the efficacy of this tandem teaching methodology for blending complex management concepts with genuine team experience.

Fostering Emotional and Social Intelligence in Organizations

This paper integrates diverse research to provide a theoretical model of the process whereby emotional and social intelligence (ESI) is fostered in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to provide: (1) an overview of the theory of ESI, including the historical contributions and current conceptualizations; (2) the impact of ESI on performance, including the research evidence and examples of organizations using ESI; (3) developing ESI competencies and a model for desirable, sustainable change; and (4) a call to action for education and management, including guidelines for fostering ESI in organizations. Unlike general intelligence or personality, the key assumption and rationale for the current paper is that ESI can be developed. Increasing ESI competences through the learning process can guide program design, implementation, and measurement for scholars and practitioners. Research has demonstrated that ESI competencies may be developed through a process of desirable, sustainable change called Intentional Change Theory (ICT).

An integrative model of emotional intelligence: emotional ability as a moderator of the mediated relationship of emotional quotient and emotional competence

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new theoretical and empirical model of emotional intelligence (EI) that incorporates the dominant paradigms in the field today – Bar-On (1988) emotional quotient (EQ), Mayer and Salovey (1990) emotional ability, and Goleman (1995) emotional competence – using a moderated-mediation framework. The paper proposes that emotional ability (potential capacity) has a moderating effect on the mediated relationship of EQ (preferred patterns) and emotional competence (actual behaviors) on performance outcomes. The proposal potentially resolves the content domain and nomological network concerns by incorporating the three paradigms into an integrative model of EI.

Development and Assessment of Social and Emotional Competence Through Simulated Patient Consultations

Objective. To determine whether a quantitative tool could be used to measure social emotional competence and whether the development of social emotional competence through a pharmacy practicum course is possible. Design. First-year pharmacy students completed the Social Emotional Development Inventory (SED-I) online and then participated in a series of mock patient consultations on smoking cessation and nonprescription medication. Assessment. The 212 students enrolled in the course completed the SED-I. Evaluation of students’ performance in the clinical cases using a patient counseling assessment form showed that students’ social emotional competencies significantly improved. Observer ratings for “influence” and “connection” on the assessment form predicted student performance in the clinical cases. Conclusions. Role-play exercises in which students engage in patient consultations can be used to develop social emotional competence in pharmacy students, and the SED-I and a patient counseling assessment form can be used to assess learning and improvement in this area.

Integrating the emotional intelligence construct: the relationship between emotional ability and emotional competence

This paper posits that the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has not advanced as quickly and adroitly as it could have because of a lack of validity studies that combine the two most prevalent models, emotionality ability (EA) and emotional competency (EC). Although prior EI validations studies exist, none have examined the relationship between the primary EA and EC measurement tools – the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test and the Emotional Competency Inventory – University Edition, respectively – at the sub-trait levels with a population of undergraduate and MBA students. Findings indicate that there is no direct relationship between the total item scores and limited relationships among sub-trait scores. The paper concludes by issuing a call for research that conceives of EI as both an ability and a constellation of behaviors, and measures EI with a combination of knowledge, reasoning, self-report, and other-report, to provide a more holistic and encompassing examination that would foundationally contribute to unlocking the constructs potential.

High Performance Work Systems and Flexible Work Processes

In this issue, the Emerging Conceptual Scholarship section presents an innovative framework for understanding the impact of high performance work systems (HPWS) on flexible work processes. W. Randy Evans and Walter D. Davis, in their article “High-Performance Work Systems as an Initiator of Employee Proactivity and Flexible Work Processes,” provide a multi-level model to analyze the impact of HPWS on employee motivation to improve work process within the context of social relationships. The authors consider the concept of how HPWS (such as staffing, training, and compensation policies) may impact flexible work processes, that is, employee exploration and modification of current processes. The assumption is that the HR policies impact the individual motivation and opportunities, to potentially exploit and explore opportunities for task improvement. In addition, they theorize that motivation and opportunity may be enhanced (or constrained) by the overall social context, in particular, by the network ties, norms of reciprocity, and/or shared mental models.

Organizations Don’t Resist Change, People Do

In this issue, the Emerging Conceptual Scholarship section presents an innovative framework for understanding resistance to change through the concept of loss. James R. Bailey and Jonathan D. Raeli...