The Influence Of Emotional Intelligence Dissertation Sample

Introduction To The Influence Of Emotional Intelligence On Effective Leadership In The Hotel Industry.

1.1. Research problem

Leadership plays a vital role in maintaining employees' satisfaction so that their performance or workplace commitment can be increased. This further increases the attraction or retention of customers as a constant interaction among the leaders and the team members working in a particular company can help meet the targeted audience's changing needs for an extended period (Emerson, 2019). However, due to the increase in the demand from the potential customers in the hospitality industry in the post-pandemic period, the leaders cannot maintain efficient performance and stay emotionally stable in the workplace. Some of the main reasons in this case, including the poor management of time, lack of interpersonal skills, poor communication skill, and improper decisiveness, also damages the mental health of the leaders that further leads to an increase in workplace stress, anger or anxiety (Sehgal, 2023). Thus, building a solid emotional intelligence, or EI, is becoming significant in effective leadership in the hospitality industry because it can drive self-awareness in the workplace and foster positive relationships with the diverse workforce. In addition to this, emotional intelligence helps leaders become more accountable in the workplace so that they can understand the changing emotions and perceptions of the team members through which an empathetic workplace is created (Sehgal, 2023). This can also promote high performance standards in the companies that can further ensure a high brand image or position in the hospitality industry.

Research aim/ purpose

The study's main purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of emotional intelligence (EI) in improving the leadership demographics so that the productivity of the hospitality industry can be increased in the long run. The research will also determine the impact of emotional intelligence adopted by the leaders on the satisfaction of the employees or effective teamwork so that the overall structure of the hospitality companies can be improved. The objectives of the study are provided below:

• To discuss the efficiency of adopting emotional intelligence by the leaders working in the hospitality industry
• To evaluate the impact of emotional intelligence on the practices maintained by the leaders
• To determine the impact of emotional intelligence adopted by the leaders on employee engagement, motivation, and commitment
• To discuss the main components of emotional intelligence that the leaders can adopt
• To recommend specific strategies that can help leaders stay emotionally intelligent in the workplace

Research questions

1. What are the benefits of adopting emotional intelligence skills by the leaders of hospitality companies?
2. What is the impact of the leaders' emotional intelligence skills on the company's performance?
3. How can emotional intelligence skills help leaders boost employee engagement, motivation, and satisfaction of the employees working in the hospitality industry?
4. What are the main components of emotional intelligence? What are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting EI by the leaders of the hospitality industry?
5. Mention some strategies that can ensure a high level of emotional intelligence among the leaders working in the hospitality industry.

Literature Review

Emotional intelligence skills and its efficiency

The concept of emotional intelligence was developed in 1990 by John Mayer and Peter Salovey, considered famous workplace researchers. In this case, emotional intelligence can refer to understanding the emotions of different individuals and manage personal mental health around diverse groups of people. Currently it is considered as EQ and is one of the most accurate metrics used for maintaining strong relationships with the potential workers of a company because it helps to resolve workplace conflicts and support the needs of the employees efficiently, as per the study of Sehgal (2023). However, a lack of emotional skills in the workplace can lead to misunderstandings, poor employee engagement, improper communication and poor mental presence of the employees for an extended period.

In addition, there are four main components of emotional intelligence, as noted through the study of Sehgal (2023). This includes self-management, self-awareness, creating awareness in the social environment,, and managing strong relationships. Self-awareness, in this case, is the ability of individuals due to which they can analyze personal strengths, motivations, weaknesses, and opportunities. This further helps the individuals to develop their skill sets so that the potential gaps can be filled and they can ensure proper teamwork in the internal structure of the company. According to the study by Landry (2019), around 95% of individuals think they can stay emotionally stable in the workplace. Still, only about 15% of individuals can resolve the issues of employees by visiting calm. Self-management, on the other hand, refers to the ability of the individuals to ensure high performance during unexpected situations. This can help individuals to maintain high valuations in the workplace. It can further provide workplace creativity and flexibility. These concepts can help improve the leaders' efficiency by 40% so that proper workplace engagement can be achieved (Landry, 2019).

Significance of emotional intelligence to the leaders

Emotional Intelligence is quite significant for the leaders working in the hospitality industry because the sector is facing a massive increase in the demand from potential customers in the post-pandemic era, which has also contributed to the rise in the workload of the employees. This further leads to a high employee burnout rate with a decrease in their retention. Despite adopting appropriate communication or collaboration skills, the leaders shall also opt for emotional intelligence to manage a complex internal structure and promote high profit or growth of the hospitality companies within developing and emerging economies as per Pandey, (2023). Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is helpful for the leaders because it can help enhance the workplace culture and further support the companies to attract new talents from the labour market and retain existing employees. It can also initiate the industry's growth as positive communication and feedback sessions without any stress issues can lead to workplace innovation. This can help the company meet the changing needs of the customers and can boost the overall reputation of the company in the competitive environment (Pandey, 2023).

EQ can also help the company enhance workplace motivation so that the team members can address the changes in the marketing environment without any issues of an increase in operational costs. In this case, leaders implementing EQ can also assure proper and timely training of the employees that ensures growth opportunities in the workplace, as per Pandey (2023). This further helps the companies to retain skilled talents for the long run. In addition to this, emotional intelligence skills can also help the leaders working in the hospitality industry to make informed and active decisions so that the customers can stay loyal even with an increase in the number of new entrants in the industry. Lastly, it assures a strong bond between the employees and the leaders to maintain an open workplace culture.

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Team dynamics and emotional intelligence

Reaching shared goals that are advantageous to the group and its members depends heavily on the team's efficacy (Klein, 2009). Improving team relations is essential for success in the hotel industry's dynamic, competitive business climate, and to foster a vibrant work atmosphere and boost team productivity, emotional intelligence is crucial. It helps people control their egos, wants, and awareness of other team members' needs (Macht, Nembhard & Leicht, 2019). Effective communication inside the company is facilitated by emotional intelligence, which enhances cooperation and teamwork (Tantriana, 2015).

Research Gap

Although some studies indicate that emotional intelligence is necessary for effective leadership, few have specifically looked at how it impacts team dynamics, employee engagement, and overall organizational effectiveness in the setting of the hospitality sector (Bayighomog et al., 2022). Emotional intelligence and leadership have been the subject of several research topics. This study will close this research gap by concentrating on the effects of emotional intelligence on collaboration, worker engagement, and overall organizational success in the hospitality industry.

Research Methodologies

The researcher will follow the Saunders Research Onion model to gather the data and analyze them appropriately. The different stages in the model are further discussed below:

Figure 1: Saunders Research Onion model

(Source: assignmentdesk.co.uk)

Research Philosophy

The researcher will use interpretivism philosophy to present knowledge according to the social sciences so that a proper understanding of the perceptions, beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and reasoning of the participants involved in the interview sessions can be provided to meet the requirements of the predetermined aims or questions. It can also help to interpret the main idea behind a particular dataset so that the challenges related to adapting emotional intelligence skills by the leaders of different companies operating within the hospitality sector. It is more efficient than the positivist approach because it can help the researcher focus on the chosen topic's main context. Lastly, interpretivism will ensure the researcher gains access to real-time data or understanding of the impact of emotional intelligence skills on the workplace that will happen through the help of social interaction between the interviewee and interviewer.

Research Approach

The researcher will also use an inductive approach that will further help generate new theories based on the gathered information on the topic. In this case, the primary process adopted by the researcher to implement the inductive approach includes collecting data with the appropriate focus, finding relevant patterns to analyze the objectives of questions determined in the proposal, and developing a theory so that the readers' interest can be maintained. This can also help the researcher to draw accurate conclusions based on the participants' responses, and it also ensures proper reasoning of the arguments, which is not possible with the use of the deductive approach.

Research Strategy and time horizon

The researcher will use a qualitative strategy to analyse the non-numeric data collected from the primary sources. The qualitative data will be gathered in the form of personal interaction with the participants like audio and text responses that can help to gain relevant information on different concepts or aspects related with the emotional intelligence skills and its efficiency on the leadership styles can be evaluated. It will also help the researcher to maintain a deep-insight into the particular topic so that new strategies for implementing emotional intelligence can be adopted by the leaders. Qualitative approach can also help the researcher to understand the current issues faced by the leaders working in the hospitality industry that ensures high flexibility in the study.

Research choice

The choice of method outlined in the study will be a mono-method that involves the application of a single approach for the collection as well as analysis of the study. a mono-method will be useful for the researcher as it can avoid confusions or misrepresentation of data (Esther & Awilda, 2013). It can also save time for the researcher as the application of mixed methods can lead to the application of both qualitative and quantitative data that involves the selection of huge databases.

Time horizon

On the other hand, the researcher will use a cross-sectional time horizon to complete the entire study within the appropriate period (Draper, Liu, & Young, 2021).

Data collection

Primary methods of collecting the datasets will be adopted by the researcher to gather relevant knowledge on the particular topic from first-hand sources like gathering data from personal research on the performance of the leaders or hospitality companies. The primary data collection method is on the costlier side, but it can help the researcher to maintain updated or real-time data on the impact of emotional intelligence on the efficiency of the leaders. Primary datasets, in this case, can also help to analyze the impact of emotional intelligence on the engagement of the workers.

Sampling method and population

In association to population, semi-structured interviews will be used by the researcher to collect important data on the topic. Thus, the researcher prepared a set of 6 questionnaires and will involve around 5 participants that will be the leaders of different companies within the hospitality industry so that the presented information can be connected with the main questions. However, the researcher will include a snow-ball sampling method that helps to select the participants randomly with the help of non-probability techniques. The interview sessions will also help the researcher to maintain a thematic structure that can ensure proper comparison between normal leadership and advanced leadership (including emotional intelligence skills) styles. In this case, open-ended questions will be asked by the participants that are further limited to the scope of the topic.

Data analysis

Thematic analysis will be used by the researcher to relate the findings with the literature review and questions determined in this proposal. It will also help to determine the similar patterns gathered from the respondents invited to the interview sessions so that appropriate themes can be generated. Thematic data analysis is also known as a reflective framework that can help to examine the concepts of emotional intelligence closely with the help of the experience of the workers or the leaders associated with the hospitality industry. In addition to this, the use of exploratory design will also be used in this particular study to interpret new insights or concepts related to the topic.

Ethical considerations

To conduct a successful research, the researcher has maintained appropriate ethics that helped to protect the rights of the participants and promote a valid study on the selected topic. In this case, the researcher provided voluntary choice to the potential participants so that they were not forced to join the interview session. This also ensured that the participants could opt out from the interview test anytime. Apart from this, the researcher will also provide an overview on the aims and questions associated with the study to ensure that the participants agree to entire terms and conditions. Thus, a participation consent form is provided at the end of the study with the set of questionnaires (see the appendix). The consent form will also help the participants to acknowledge the risks and the positive aspects of participation so that their interest can be maintained appropriately. In addition to this, the researcher also secures the personal information of the participants so that their name, address, or email-id will not be disclosed at any phase or section of the entire study. Lastly, the use of biased knowledge will also be discarded in the study so that an honest opinion on the particular topic can be promoted in different chapters of the study.

Limitation

As the scope of the study is limited to the efficiency of emotional intelligence in the leadership activities of the hospitality industry, other skills that can help to enhance the performance of the leaders are not provided. In association to this, the metrics of customer relationship management with appropriate leadership styles are also not provided in this study that can ensure high profit margins of the hospitality industry in different regions around the world. Lastly, different types of leadership qualities like collaboration or time management and their impact on productivity of the hospitality companies are not presented in the study. These aspects can further be used in future research.

Reference

• Bayighomog, S. W., & Arasli, H. (2022). Reviving employees' essence of hospitality through spiritual wellbeing, spiritual leadership, and emotional intelligence. Tourism Management, 89, 104406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104406
• Draper, J., Liu, Y., & Young, L. (2021). Research methods, data collection, and data analysis in meetings, expositions, events, and conventions journals. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 22(5), 429–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2021.1906373
• Emerson, J. (2019, October 14). 10 Key Hospitality Management Leadership qualities. Career Charge | USF CTPE Blog. https://corporatetraining.usf.edu/blog/10-key-hospitality-management-leadership-qualities#:~:text=Poor%20understanding%20of%20circumstances%2Fchallenges%20A%20hurry-up%20approach%20that,on%20the%20part%20of%20the%20manager%20and%20employees
• Esther L. Gil, & Awilda Reyes. (2013). International Business Research?: Strategies and Resources. Scarecrow Press.
• Klein, R. R. (2009). A review of Becoming a Resonant Leader (McKee, Boyatzis, and Johnston): contextualizing the place of Emotional Intelligence skills with respect to team leadership and group dynamics. Organization Management Journal (Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.), 6(1), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1057/omj.2009.3
• Kumar, N. (2015). Leveraging Emotional Intelligence for the Enhancement of the Organizational Effectiveness -- Paradigms and Paragons. Integral Review: A Journal of Management, 8(2), 72–80.
• Landry, L. (2019, April 3). Emotional intelligence in leadership: Why it's important. Business Insights Blog. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership
• Leigh, C. (2012). Examining the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Styles of U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Leaders (Order No. 3528923). Available from ProQuest One Business. (1052114715). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/examining-relationship-between-emotional/docview/1052114715/se-2
• Macht, G. A., Nembhard, D. A., & Leicht, R. M. (2019). Operationalizing emotional intelligence for team performance. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 71, 57–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2019.02.007
• Pandey, N. (2023, November 2). Why emotional intelligence in leaders is essential: Emeritus India. Emeritus. https://emeritus.org/in/learn/why-emotional-intelligence-is-important-in-leadership/
• Rahman, M., Islam, R., Wan Husain, W. R., & Ahmad, K. (2019). Developing a hierarchical model to enhance business excellence in the hotel industry of Bangladesh. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(4), 1836–1856. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2018-0110
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• Sehgal, S. (2023, July 31). Council post: Why emotional intelligence is crucial for effective leadership. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/07/25/why-emotional-intelligence-is-crucial-for-effective-leadership/?sh=38b6130e4478
• Tantriana, I.G.Y. & Subudi, M. (2015). The Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership on Employee Job Satisfaction in the Kerobokan Traditional Village LPD. E-Journal Management, 4(8), 2269-2285.
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