The 4 Cs of Emotion - a Framework for Managing Emotions in Organizations - Coursework Example

Article critique The 4 C’s of Emotion: A Framework for Managing Emotions in Organizations, Name Institution Course Module Instructor 30th September 2009 Introduction Emotion is a sensitive subject both in the work place and at home or in any other form interaction. Contemporary theorists have defined emotion as energy in motion. Previously regarded as a field of study only in psychology, emotion has gained popularity too in business, organizational and people management. Going by the amount of literature concerning emotions and how it applies in managing an organisation, then managers have a lot to learn from its discussion. However, different authors have taken different perspectives. One of them is Callahan. In his paper The 4 C’s of Emotion: A Framework for Managing Emotions in Organizations, he identifies four environmental factors that trigger emotion. By individually discussing these triggers, he hopes that the knowledge is essential in managing organizations and people. In his paper, he presents a framework of dealing with emotions which is basically based on existing literature. As such, his theory is not supported by any form of data or statistics by is formed out of his personal views and those of preceding authors. This paper thus offers a critique of Callahan’s paper. The first section summarises the article while the rest is the critique. Summary Emotion and knowledge about it is considered as a key to managing change in today’s dynamic environment. Thus emotional intelligence is vital for all people and more leaders to ensure smooth running in an organisation and between people in any social environment. He notes that the emotions are basically set off by change. Since organisations are subject to change, then knowledge on the expected reaction by the people and what can trigger that is very helpful to managers. The second paragraph is all about emotions in the work place. In this section, Callahan traces the history and context of emotional intelligence. He says it developed alongside cognitive intelligence as presented by early authors such as Salovey and Mayer (1989) and Goleman (1995). Their discussion is rooted in Thorndike’s 20th century theory of social intelligence. It is through this theory that Salovey & Mayer define emotional intelligence as a branch of social intelligence where one’s thoughts and emotions are guided by first understanding and monitoring his and other people’s emotions. Callahan finds fault with Goleman’s (1995) categorization of emotional intelligence into abilities saying that they do not encompass the organization but rather personal and interpersonal contexts. The other section titled Environmental Triggers: The Four C’s of Emotion breaks down the environment triggers that help in identifying the source of emotion thus managing emotional intelligence. These are context, challenges, communication, and community. Context: Social systems must be equal their task facilitating organizations to adjust to changing environments. He highlights information gathering whether on competition purposes or benchmarking as an excellent example whereby the information base is broadened. This can also be done on a personal level by interacting with other diverse individuals in various fields. Challenges: A challenge is the objective of reaching already identified targets or goals. Therefore, an organization is defined as a “goal-directed collective” where the common need to achieve the goals is the basic unifying factor. In the process of working towards the goals, resisting forces cannot be avoided but have to be managed and their resistance level reduced. Managing these challenges may entail leadership training, appropriate and timely planning and reflecting on the available choices of meeting the goals and choosing the best. Communication: Callahan says this facilitates linkage between members of an organization. This works hand in hand with emotion which he describes as a “social lubricant.” However, communication in an organization is not automatic and thus Callahan suggests that the organization’s leadership has to device ways through which to facilitate and promote communication between the systems and the people involved. He suggests team building activities, formation of stakeholder networks, job rotation and any other activity that requires information sharing. On the other hand, communication is very prone to emotions and more so negative ones such as jealousy. Community: This entails how an organization defines itself through its unique way of doing things, thus organizational culture. In order to foster a sense of belonging and collective accountability that is reminiscent with organizational culture, an organization has to seek ways such that facilitate togetherness and commonness. This may entail uniforms or a set of identified values to be upheld by all members of the organization. How members attune to the communal spirit supported by these factors determines which emotions are roused. In the Emotion Problem Solving Guidelines section, Callahan suggests five steps to solve emotional related problems within an organization. These are; Identify the feelings- Identify the emotion and question how it would impact on another person. Identify the cause- Reflect on four emotion triggers and match it up Identify the potential futures- Reflect on the consequences of being emotional or not emotional about the problem. Identify the best option- after careful evaluation on whether to show emotion or to refrain, take the best option. Act on that option- execute the action. Callahan concludes his paper by saying that emotional intelligence, as provided by the 4 C’s framework, helps people develop advanced ways of handling emotions in the workplace. H says that his framework. Critique Callahan treats emotional intelligence as an independent discipline in education that relates and combines well with other disciplines of learning and life in different spheres, in this context, workplace. He prefers to address emotional intelligence rather than emotions. The contemporary understanding of emotions revolves around how individuals should learn how to restrain from strong emotions which can be disastrous. Callahan ignores to address the dangerous consequences of emotions to deter persons from displaying emotions excessively. While emotions are felt inside the body and mind, they stir an individual to take actions. However, throughout the paper, Callahan assumes that emotions are just emotions per se. he fails to address the fact that negative emotions have been the main source of conflict in the workplace. While senior employees are responsible for initiating change and making of major decisions within an organization, it is the majority junior employees who are subjected to implementing these changes. Unfortunately, little consultation is done when these changes are being drafted. As such, Callahan fails to address the role of the senior management in addressing emotions in a rather specific manner by avoiding emotional situation sin the first place through consultation. The International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict says that emotions are a mask to a deeper and a more substantive issue in dispute. As much as the 4 C’s are recognized as a way of solving problems related to emotions, the method is not self sufficient. An important element that Callahan fails to address is dialogue between or among the persons where contentions that lead to emotions arise. Callahan argues that communication is more potent in averting conflict and eventual emotional discontent between the participants than in creating friction and emotional situations. Emotions as part and parcel of an organization have an economic impact on the organization, a factor that Callahan fails to address. In his paper, he concentrates much on the negative emotions of arguments and conflicts. While these emotions are most visible and so is their impact, positive emotions might have a negative impact in an organization if carried to the extreme too. A survey on employees by Michael Kramer and Jon Hess, professors in communication, found that a majority of employees believed that positive emotions such as love and excitement should be expressed in moderation as they have a potential of attracting negative emotions from other employees. The same survey revealed that employees in organisations preferred to mask their emotions rather than expose them due to the fact that the management was, according to the interviewees, not emotional accommodating. Callahan’s methodology of understanding the context of emotions best applies on a one on one basis. This is because a person should understand the reason as to why an individual bears certain emotions by placing himself in his position. This is entirely way off the professionalism that might be required in specific organizations. For instance, employees working in the hospitality industry are expected to be nice and friendly to clients even if the clients are not. In such a situation, a normal person would be expected to bear negative emotions given such a scenario. The rapid pace in modern technology has an introduced another perspective in the study of emotions in the workplace with the introduction of humanoid robots. Breazeal (2003) writes that there have been developed a number of computer systems that interact with people and are capable of interacting with people by “sending para-linguistic communication signals to a person, such as gesture, facial expression, intonation, gaze direction, or body posture” (p. 120). On the other hand, these robots can express predefined facial expressions. Callahan has totally ignored the emotional interaction between machines and people and has centered on face to face emotional interaction. Callahan’s paper has its strength in that it seeks to address the issue of emotions before they actually occur. His framework of emotional intelligence is preventative of emotions. He assumes that individuals understand the repercussion of emotions and hence seek to enlighten his audience on ways of avoiding being carried away emotionally rather than dealing with the consequences of emotions. However, he does not offer specific ways of dealing with emotions. In his paper he rarely gives any example of an emotion and how it can be dealt with. One of the few suggestions is punching a boxing bag in the gym though he does not go into detail how it relates into managing emotions given that the action is a common thing among boxers. Conclusion On the overall, Callahan’s framework in emotional intelligence is helpful to people and people managers. However, it offers more weight on interpersonal relationships whether between friends or coworkers. His objective in writing the paper was to add to the knowledge of understanding emotions. As such, his paper achieves an average as it fails to recognize very crucial factors in emotions and more so the inclusion of technology as the world moves towards accommodating robots in day to day life. References Transformative Mediation, (2009). International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict (Accessed online on 28th Sept 2009 from) http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/tmedtn.htm Breazeal, C. (2003). Emotion and sociable humanoid robots, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Vol. 59, No. 1, p. 119–155 Callahan, J. (2008). The Four C’s of Emotion: A Framework for Managing Emotions in Organizations, Organization Development Journal. Vol. 26, No. 2, p. 33-38 Read More