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MGT501Lesson4Presentation.pptxMGT 501 Lesson 4
Emotions, Moods, and the Trust Conditions
Objectives of This Presentation
Overview of Emotions and Moods
Emotional Intelligence
The “Trust Conditions”
Implications for the Work of Management
Emotions and Moods
Why do emotions matter?
Let’s start with some definitions:
“Affect” is a general concept that contains both “emotions” and “moods”
“Affect” refers to the fact that, when we confront some kind of information, it causes us to “feel” something, which might be good or bad.
One kind of affect is “emotion,” which the authors define as “intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.” (Robbins and Judge 2018, p. 48)
Another kind of affect is “mood,” which the authors define as “less intense feelings than emotions and often arise without a specific event acting as a stimulus.” (Robbins and Judge 2018, p. 48)
Emotions and Moods
So, why should we care about these matters?
The obvious answer is that—as you might see from reflecting on your personal experiences—emotions and moods can affect productive effort supply.
Less obvious is this: when people have to pretend to have one kind of emotion, when they are in fact experiencing another, it consumes energy, which may divert energy from their productive work.
Difference between “surface acting” and “deep acting.”
“Surface acting” means “putting on a face” even if you do not feel the way the face looks.
“Deep acting” is the modification of our feelings based on “display rules.”*
*Note: “Display rules” refer to the norms that allow (or disallow) the emotions we can display at work, and to the way we display—in our behavior—the emotions that are allowed.
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Emotions and Moods
When we are surface acting, we are doing emotional labor, and the bigger the difference between what we truly feel and what we have to display, the more emotional labor we have to do.
This drains our energy and can affect our supply of productive effort.
When we are deep acting, we actually “believe in” the emotions we are displaying, and thus it is not as much an energy drain, and might not be a drain at all
The question—which we will address later in the course, is how do we transform people from being “surface actors” to “deep actors”?
And in a real sense, a “deep actor” may no longer be acting at all.
Emotions and Moods
So, again, why do emotions matter?
When people are positively affected by their work, they tend to work harder; when negatively affected, they may (and often do) restrict their productive efforts.
When they are outraged by a management decision, they will gossip about it—and thus do not work—or brood about it (be in a “bad mood”) and restrict their efforts.
Thus, it is important for managers (and their employees) to develop “emotional intelligence.”
So what is that?
Emotional Intelligence
What is “emotional intelligence” (sometimes referred to simply as “EI” or “EQ”)?
It can be summarized as one’s ability to
Perceive emotions in self and others, which means one has to “listen”
Understand the meaning of those emotions, which means one has to “put oneself in another person’s shoes”
Regulate his/her own emotions accordingly, which means one has to consider how his or her reaction will affect the other, and then exercise self-control
All of these actions require investments of effort, especially on the part of the manager.*
*Note: In the US and UK, there is a lively industry of consultants who provide training to work groups in “EI”
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The Trust Conditions
In an earlier lecture, it was proposed that the Norm of Reciprocity is present in all cultures
Here it is proposed that the “trust conditions” are present in all cultures as well. So what are the trust conditions?
We humans are likely to trust someone if he/she meets the following minimal conditions:
His/her actions are consistent with his/her words (This is also called “integrity”)
His/her accounts (words), over time, appear to be mutually consistent (This is also called “having identifiable principles”)
The Trust Conditions
If a person meets conditions (1) and (2), we may or may not “like” them, but we will know that, if we make an agreement, they will probably honor their part of it.
But we will trust them more if
We agree on the same standards of “right” and “wrong.”
But there is one more thing...**
*Note: The basis of the “non-contractual elements of contracts” in shared norms received its first rigorous demonstration from Emile Durkheim (1933), as shown by Parsons (1937).
**Note: The Japanese example comes from the instructor’s knowledge of Japanese history and culture, but the part about Japanese corporations’ policies regarding job security is well-explained in The Art of Japanese Management (1981), by Pascale and Athos.
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The Trust Conditions
We can trust someone to do what he says he will do, adhere to his principles, and if his principles are the same as ours, we can trust him to adhere to them, too.
But does that mean that, when he makes a decision, he will take our well-being into consideration? If so, we will trust him still more...If not, we won’t trust him as much.
If we don’t trust him, we might withhold some of our effort supply. (Why?)
So, there is a fourth trust condition...
We will trust someone if he/she cares about our well-being.*
*Note: To say that a person, A, cares about another person, B, is to say that, if B is worse off because of a decision A makes, A will feel badly about it. If B is better off, A will feel good about it. (Becker, 1976).
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The Trust Conditions
Here are the Trust Conditions, all together. We will trust someone if
His/her actions are consistent with his/her words (This is also called “integrity”)
His/her accounts (words), over time, appear to be mutually consistent (This is also called “having identifiable principles”)
We agree on the same standards of “right” and “wrong.”
He/she cares about our well-being.
Implications for Management Work
So, it looks like a manager has a lot to do besides “planning, scheduling and coordinating,” doesn’t it?
Joseph Kotter wrote a book, The General Managers (1982), in which he found that general managers who graduated from Harvard Business School
Spent 70% of their time in meetings, mostly 1-1 meetings
Spent 70% of their 1-1 meetings discussing other things than “just business,” though they always got their business purposes accomplished
What else do you suppose they were doing with that time (about half their work time, if you do the math)?
Implications for Management Work
The short answer is that they were building relationships and establishing trust.
Trust, as Steven M.R. Covey argued in his book, The Speed of Trust (2008), is an investment that pays dividends. For consider, what do you do when you don’t trust someone (especially a boss)?
You “calculate” outcomes more.
You worry.
You network when you shouldn’t have to.
Your energy is drained by all of this, and though you may still do a great job, it doesn’t feel as good and maybe isn’t the greatest job you could be doing.
Implications for Management Work
The lesson here is that if your employees trust that you “care,” they will not be distracted by worrying about your “good will” towards them, they will be less distracted from doing a good job, and will supply more effort.
Plus, if you get to know them—this takes an investment of your time—you will know whom you can trust, and how much you can trust them.
In the end, it saves you time, increases their productivity, and increases yours, too.
The value of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is that it produces trust—it shows that you, the manager, care about your people.
If you care about them, they will be more likely to care about your goals.*
*Note: Consider the Norm of Reciprocity.
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Implications for Management Work
Hopefully, you will see that EI enables you to build trust, and from that, to gain efficiency (productive effort supply from your people).
End of Lesson 4—Thank You!
References
Becker, Gary S. (1976). Altruism, egoism, and genetic fitness: economics and sociobiology. Journal of Economic Literature. 14.3
Covey, Stephen M.R. (1982) The speed of trust. New York: The Free Press.
Durkheim, Emile (1933 [1893]). The division of labor in society. New York: The Free Press.
Kotter, John P. The general managers (1982). New York: The Free Press.
Parsons, Talcott (1937). The structure of social action. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press.
Pascale, Richard, and Athos, Anthony (1981). The art of Japanese management. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2018). Essentials of organizational behavior. New York, NY: Pearson
