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Need assistance with bolded italic questions: 1.0 TOPIC 1.1…
Need assistance with bolded italic questions:
1.0 TOPIC
1.1 Introduction
Employee performance and disengagement are hampered due to retail business executives’ lack of emotional intelligence (EI) during significant organizational change (Ojo et al., 2021). Businesses have lost 7% of their annual revenue since 2020 when they fail to embrace change (Blanchard, 2020). After an organizational transformation in 2022, approximately 32% of employees feel engaged, while 18% feel actively disengaged (Gonzales, 2023). Since 2020, there has been an annual increase in active disengagement (Gonzales, 2023). Leaders must act as catalysts for change by inspiring and motivating their teams to initiate and implement organizational changes (Sampson et al., 2021). Leaders are entrusted with overcoming obstacles and instituting change within their organization or institution, but they need more EI (Issah, 2018). EI enables leaders to assess group members’ feelings and take the appropriate steps to enhance performance (Sampson et al., 2021).
Businesses have an opportunity to develop EI in their leaders to navigate organizational change effectively (Issah, 2018). Leaders need help with the ability to leverage EI; specifically, CEOs and other top levels of an organization must provide their leaders with the right skills to implement changing strategies effectively (Schiuma et al., 2021). EI involves an openness to new ideas, an acceptance of learning, and an ability to take calculated risks. EI also consists in being humble enough to ask for help and advice at the appropriate times (Issah, 2018). Leaders must cope with the stress and uncertainty accompanying change, maintain a positive attitude, and remain focused on the organization’s vision despite differences (Eliot, 2020; Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Organizational success depends on its ability to adapt to change, as organizations that do not change leadership practices are likely to experience high turnover rates, corporate growth, and unethical work practices, ultimately leading to adverse workplace events (Yanchus et al., 2020).
1.2 Problem of Practice
The general problem is that organizations struggle to adapt to changes in their working environment, which results in their failure to meet strategic goals (Harsch & Festing, 2020). Due to intense competition, unpredictable consumer demands, and rapid technological development, organizations face difficulties sustaining their competitiveness and are hesitant to change, directly affecting meeting their results (Singh, Goel, et al., 2022). A culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement is essential for leaders to ensure their organizations remain competitive in the future (Olughor, 2023; Zighan & Ruel, 2023). Organizations must change their procedures, structure, and culture to adapt. These changes are laborious, time-consuming, and expensive (Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Organizational leaders may also oppose change internally, making adjusting harder (Harsch & Festing, 2020; Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Business leaders require support adapting to rapid business changes. Organizational leaders must find ways to manage the change that will be concurrent with meeting their strategic goals (Mamouni Limnios et al., 2014).
The specific problem is low EI among retail business executives, which lowers their ability to navigate complex organizational change, resulting in decreased employee performance and engagement (Ojo et al., 2021). Leadership affects employee retention, customer satisfaction, and productivity (Slezak, 2023; Smedley, 2021). In 2021, Employee disengagement significantly impacted a company’s bottom line, with a 10% boost in customer ratings and a 20% improvement in sales outcomes (Smedley, 2021). Low employee involvement and morale suggest a problem and low confidence lowers employee performance (Slezak, 2023). In 2023, disengaged employees will cost organizations $450 to $500 billion annually, and only 30% of U.S. workers will be engaged and inspired (Slezak, 2023). A high-engagement company is 87% less likely to lose its employees in 2023 than its competition (Slezak, 2023). Without leadership, employees might feel overwhelmed and disengaged during organizational transformation, which lowers productivity and morale (Ojo et al., 2021). Organizational change requires better leadership (AlNuaimi et al., 2022). Businesses that lack effective leadership suffer revenue, market share losses, and decreased consumer loyalty (Frankiewicz & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2020; Ojo et al., 2021).
1.3 Gap in Practice
The gap in practice is that retail business leaders need more EI to deal with complex organizational changes, which necessitates interventions to enhance their leadership abilities (Holbeche, 2019; Naong & Naong, 2022). Many company executives need EI to cope with complicated transitions and receive proper training to boost their chances of success, resilience in the face of setbacks, and openness to learning new skills through upskilling initiatives (Naong & Naong, 2022; Ojo et al., 2021). Therefore, decreased employee performance and disengagement hinder the organization’s ability to adapt to new situations and achieve its goals (Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Practitioners have noted that leaders must improve their skills to manage change, develop mindfulness and compassion, embrace resilience, and demonstrate that to their teams (Aránega et al., 2023; Eliot, 2020; Levey & Levey, 2019). COVID-19 has altered how an organization must operate in our turbulent times, causing inflation and job losses, and with technological advancements and digital transformation, many companies are downsizing to remain competitive and profitable (Giunta, 2023). Developing leaders’ capabilities of inspiring and leading their teams through change, maintaining a positive attitude, and effectively managing the process can benefit organizations (Holbeche, 2019). EI leaders are resilient, motivated, unlikely to burn out, and have better social interactions and fewer workplace conflicts (Kumari et al., 2022). Interventions and strategies are necessary to enhance the strength of leaders within organizations, bridging the gap and improving organizational performance during times of change (AlNuaimi et al., 2022).
Organizational leaders like the CEO and higher-level leaders must provide adequate support and guidance to ensure themselves and their managers develop the right skills to navigate complex organizational change effectively, leading to better decision-making and reduced organizational inefficiency (Lo et al., 2020; Ngayo Fotso, 2021). Additionally, corporate leaders must create an environment that enables employees to take risks and innovate, ultimately leading to the advancement of the organization (Lo et al., 2020). Addressing the gap in practice of this capstone study will potentially alleviate the problem that business leaders need to leverage EI to enhance their skills to navigate complex organizational change. Ultimately tackling the specific business problem of this capstone project will result in increased employee performance and engagement and provide strategies for the problem of corporate leaders who find it challenging to adapt to changes in their operating environment, which results in their inability to achieve strategic goals (Harsch & Festing, 2020; Ojo et al., 2021).
2.6 Synthesis of Literature
Based on the scholarly and practitioner literature, EI enables leaders to better guide their teams through transition and change (Aksoy, 2022; Colwell, 2019; Jimenez, 2018; Kolomboy et al., 2021). Leaders can better comprehend how the change will affect their workforce, communicate about it effectively, and gain employee support with leverage EI (Pirvu, 2020; Sharma & Singh, 2021). Employee engagement and performance can be enhanced during times of transition. EI is one of the most significant factors contributing to effective change management (Blanchard, n.d.; Guruleva, 2021; Liao et al., 2023). With the business problem of retail leaders having low EI struggling with navigating organizational change, higher EI can have various benefits for leaders in several ways. These benefits include possibly comprehending and controlling their feelings to a certain extent in times of change (Jurado et al., 2022; Suleman et al., 2020). When leaders recognize the feelings of others and respond appropriately to them when providing guidance and direction, it only helps gain people’s trust by connecting with them (Shen & Lei, 2022). With higher EI, leaders can communicate clearly and concisely at all times and ultimately accept and embrace change and their team through the transition (Aziz et al., 2019; Jin et al., 2020). With the synthesis of practitioners and scholarly research, it will also be essential to call out the similarities and differences with themes of EI.
Scholars and practitioners have similar conclusions that EI has been proven essential in successful change management (Bjekic et al., 2021; Jurado et al., 2021). The research establishes how important it is for leaders to possess specific EI abilities to manage change effectively (Raman et al., 2021; Shen & Lei, 2022). To help leaders adapt, be resilient, and navigate through change, they need to possess a high ability to leverage self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills to be successful (Blanchard, n.d.; Jurado et al., 2022; Saif et al., 2018; Suleman et al., 2020). The literature also illustrated differences in the impact of EI.
The differences between practitioner and scholarly research lie in how there is a different focus on various aspects of the effects of emotional intelligence on the performance of managers, as well as studies that examine the impact of emotional intelligence on the performance of employees (Cahyadi et al., 2022; Shen & Lei, 2022). There are a variety of different methodologies that are utilized in the research investigations. As a result of the large number of research studies conducted, there have been three main types of research: observational studies, experimental studies, and self-report surveys (Issah, 2018; Pirvu, 2020). Most researchers found that leaders with high EI are better equipped to guide their teams through challenging transitions and produce positive results.
Few studies have examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational change (Hasan & Muafi, 2023; Jelaca et al., 2022). There is a need for empirical research to assess the emotional intelligence of leaders and their influence on change. Longitudinal studies should investigate how passionate intelligence develops and whether training or interventions can boost it (Al-Fawaeer & Alkhatib, 2020). In addition, there is a lack of agreement regarding the specific components of emotional intelligence necessary for navigating organizational change, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (Saif et al., 2018). In addition, research should investigate contextual factors that may impact the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational change. Overall, there are several gaps in research regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational change, which validates exploring it in this study to address the business problem. One consistent theme with the authors is that training and development can develop and enhance EI (Clarinval, 2022; Dogru, 2022). EI is also widely believed to have positive implications for everyday life by practitioners and scholars.
A lack of education and professional development is associated with a decline in occupational performance (Ainiyah et al., 2021; Masaldzhiyska, 2019). EI is associated with improved health outcomes, reduced stress, and better organizational commitment. Leadership behaviors, adaptability to change, and intelligent decision-making are among the characteristics of executives with greater EI (Wang et al., 2022). Incorporating EI into change management philosophies can increase the productivity and performance of employees by enhancing change management philosophies (Udod et al., 2020). EI is associated with optimism, decreased depression, and increased impulse control, leading to greater job satisfaction and organizational loyalty (Udod et al., 2020; Gunduz, 2017). It has been found that leaders with EI tend to receive higher merit increases, hold higher positions within companies, and receive higher ratings for interpersonal facilitation and stress tolerance (O’Connor et al., 2019). A significant role of EI is managing organizational change and improving employee performance (Feri, 2021). Studies have shown that EI training and interventions can improve personal and professional outcomes, making it a trainable skill that positively impacts leaders and organizations (Joyce et al., 2021; Zhao, Li et al., 2022). The investment of EI from an organizational perspective is imperative.
A literature synthesis only confirms the need for EI in today’s retail business. As retail organizations face increasing complexity and challenges, EI will remain indispensable to leadership success. Leadership skills that foster innovation, creativity, and adaptability will be crucial for retail leaders. EI can be enhanced by taking an EI test, studying EI through various resources, and using EI skills. Retail leaders can assist their teams in navigating change more effectively by understanding their own emotions and those of those around them.
The gap in practice provides you with the justification to conduct the project and serves as a guide for you to select the appropriate project outcomes. If no gap in practice exists, then you have no need to conduct the project; therefore, a clearly articulated and grounded-in-literature gap in practice is essential to justify the necessity for the project.
show a critical analysis, evaluation, and understanding of the literature regarding the gap in practice.
Critical analysis requires critical reading and critical thinking.
Questions to ask when conducting a critical analysis of the gap in practice:
What is the context and background of the gap in practice?
Do the authors of the literature offer credible, valid, trustworthy evidence to support the existence of a gap in practice?
Who is affected, involved, and interested in the gap in practice, and why?
How, when, where, and why does the gap in practice exist?
What was the progression of the gap and why did the progression occur?
What are the implications resulting from the gap in practice?
What can be learned from evaluating the gap in practice?
How might the findings of this project inform the gap in practice?
Provide support for and ground the gap in practice using the scholarly and practitioner literature. In peer-reviewed journal articles and published dissertations, you will find sections labeled “Recommendations for Further Research” or “Future Research Recommendations,” or some variation that is the authors’ call for further research on the topic and problem studied.
Oftentimes, you can find a clear description of a gap in practice in these “future research needed” sections. After completing your discussion, analysis, and evaluation of the gap in practice, reflect on and clearly note whether changes are needed to Section 1.3 Gap in Practice and other foundational project elements (i.e., problem statement, purpose statement, project question because of your new understanding of the gap in practice that emerged after reviewing the literature.
