Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Leadership, over the years, has changed due to the rise of new technology,
globalisation of markets and increased shareholders' tempo. Leaders are expected to
accomplish projectsfaster and with fewer resources. Therefore, to be able to respondto
these rapid changes in organisations and the market place, leaders are faced with the
challenge of changingthe way people work together. The typical ways of relatingto one
another seem more ineffective with each changing day. Organisationsshould therefore
face the fact that, today, the quality of relationships is as importantto business success
as the quality of products and services produced. Working with people involves some
degree of skills in the realm of feeling, along with whatever cognitive elements are at
play. This process stands in sharp contrast to purely cognitive competencies, which a
computer can be programmed to execute about as well as a person can do it.
Emotional intelligence skills, however, are synergistic with cognitive ones, and star
performers will have both.
The new measure that organisations make use of and take for granted, is that
employees will have enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to get the job
done. Their focus has moved to personal qualities such as initiative, empathy,
adaptability and persuasiveness. It has been found that corporations that seek to
employ MBA graduates are looking for capabilities such as communication skills,
interpersonal skills and initiative when employing. Research supports the claim that Emotional Intelligence is a form of intelligence, in that it encompasses a set of skills
which are coherent and can be measured.
Emotional intelligence competencies, such as persuasion, motivation, focus and
leadership, can be acquired or learnt. Emotional intelligence should further be seen as
an acquired skill that can enhance intellectual performance. Emotional intelligence
management therefore gives individuals the opportunity to further their knowledge of
people. Emotional intelligence training is mostly about behavioural change: through
repeated experiences, people's minds are programmed to react in a certain way when
faced with feared encounters or stressors. Old mind patterns keep forcing people to
revert to using preset reactions, even though this may be unintentional. Emotional
intelligence training will therefore take time and commitmentfrom both the student's and
the lecturer's perspectives.
Most higher education programs, however, do not focus on emotional intelligence
training as part of their curricula, and therefore a serious void exists in terms of essential
skills required for success in the workplace, used for piloting their careers and for
leadership. Even though more statistical research needs to be done to prove the
relative significance of emotional competencies as compared to cognitive abilities,
analyses indicates that emotional intelligence translates into hard results within the
workplace. For example, sales people can create better and more trusting relationships
with clients, customer care representatives can handle customers more effectively, and
engineers are able to not only deal with the technical skills required by their positions, but are able to relate to co-workers in a more constructive manner. Taking into
consideration that researchers within the field of emotional intelligence believe that
emotional intelligence is a more reliable predictor of success in the workplace, it would
therefore make sense to start including emotional intelligence training in higher
education programs. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Leierskap het oor die jare verander, as gevolg van faktore soos vooruitgang in
tegnologie, globalisering van markte en versterkte druk van aandeelhouers. Daar word
verder verwag van leiers om projekte te realiseer met minder hulpbronne en in korter
periodes. Ten einde opgewasse te wees teen hierdie veranderinge, word leiers inherent
gekonfronteer met die uitdaging om die manier waarop mense in groepe saamwerk te
verander, omrede die bestaande wyses waarop mense met mekaar betrokke is, meer
en meer as oneffektief bestempel word. Dit is 'n realiteit dat die kwaliteit van
hedendaagse werksverhoudinge net so belangrik tot 'n suksesvolle besigheid is, as die
produkte en dienste gelewer. Wanneer daar met mense omgegaan word, behels dit
beide 'n gevoels- en kognitiewe element. Hierdie proses is in direkte kontras met suiwer
kognitiewe vaardigheid, wat net soveel 'n kwaliteit van 'n rekenaar as die van 'n mens is.
Emosionele intelligensie is egter in sinergie met kognitiewe intelligensie, en uitblinkers
besit beide kwaliteite.
Die nuwe maatstaf wat deur organisasies gebruik word gaan van die veronderstelling uit
dat werknemers voldoende tegniese vaardigheid besit om die taak na wense te verrig.
Daar is klaarblyklik 'n fokusverskuiwing wat homself meer leen tot kwaliteite soos
inisiatief, empatie, aanpasbaarheid en oorredingsvermoë. Daar is verder bevind dat
besighede wat MBA gegradueerdes wil aanstel, meerendeels op die uitkyk is vir
individue met kommunikasievaardighede, interpersoonlike behendigheid en inisiatief.
Navorsing is dit verder eens dat emosionele intelligensie 'n daadwerklike vorm van intelligensie is, gesiene dat dit gemeet kan word en dat dit bestaan uit 'n stel
samehangende vaardighede.
Emosionele intelligensie vaardighede, soos oorreding, motivering, fokus en leierskap,
kan verder aangeleer word. Dit behoort dus gesien te word as 'n verworwe vaardigheid
wat 'n persoon se intellektuele kapasiteit versterk. Die bestuur van emosionele
intelligensie skep ook die moontlikheid van verdere geesteswetenskaplike studie, en
opleiding in emosionele intelligensie omvat meerendeels gedragsverandering. Deur
herhaalde blootstelling word die brein geprogrammeer om op spesifieke maniere te
reageer wanneer vrese gekonfronteer word. Selfs al word daar gepoog om anders te
reageer, word daar teruggeval op ingebedde gedragspatrone. Opleiding in emosionele
intelligensie neem dus tyd en toewyding van beide die dosent en sy student. Die meeste
tersiêre opvoedingsprogramme fokus egter nie op emosionele intelligensie as deel van
die kurrikulum nie, en daar is dus 'n ernstige leemte in die voorbereiding van studente
betreffende voldoende vermoëns wat deur leierskap in 'n beroep vereis word.
Alhoewel verdere statistiese navorsing benodig word om die relatiewe belangrikheid van
emosionele behendigheid teenoor kognitiewe vaardigheid te bepaal, is daar indikasies
dat emosionele intelligensie wel bepalend kan wees in die werksomgewing.
Verkoopspersoneel kan byvoorbeeld sterker en meer vertrouenswaardige verhoudings
bewerkstellig met kliënte, kliëntedienste kan meer effektief hanteer word en ingenieurs
kan bemagtig word om in meer as slegs die tegniese aspekte van hulle werk met
medewerkers om te gaan. In ag genome dat menige navorsers dit eens is dat emosionele intelligensie 'n getroue voorspeller van sukses is, maak dit dus sin om
opleiding in emosionele intelligensie in tersiêre opleidingsprogramme te vervat.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/53660 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Groenewald, Anna Margaretha |
| Contributors | Denton, M., Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences . Graduate School of Business. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | Unknown |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 124 p. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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