To explore, not ignore, the role that emotions play in how people respond to circumstances is vital. Only then can companies secure insights that lead to success. Being better able to decide among options that aren’t being viewed through only rational perspective is the key. At the same point of time, however the motivations that compel people to act are also important. Without taking motivations into account, it is as of those emotions supposedly arisen without cause or reason for being. When executives understand emotions and the context in which they are experienced, companies can plan for and better manage the behavior linked to them. Unlike rational thoughts, emotions are action –oriented. Not only are emotions messy, but so are the discussions involving them. Look closely at the business writings and research or strategic Planning models attempt to address emotions and what do we find? Confusion .People rarely knows what they’re talking about when they refer to emotions. Too often, the discourse gets cloudy with terms that aren’t emotions at all but rather, business objectives masking as feelings. There are three universal qualities that characterize emotions:

• A feeling Component – Physical sensations, including Chemical changes in the brain;
• A thinking Component- Conscious or intuitive “thought” appraisals
• An action Component- expressive reactions(like smiles or scowls), as well as coping behaviours (think fight or flight)

What the academic research indicates about is how emotions influence a handful of key recurring business-oriented behaviours. Related to attention is what kind of outcome orientation people have based on the emotion they are feeling.

The choice is basically carrot or the stick, reward or the Punishment. Here happiness, anger and sadness are related because all three of these emotions involve being strongly focused on getting the reward (happiness is the best because the reward we seek is either in sight or already in hand). The polar opposite is disgust, where avoiding the punishment of a negative condition is everything. Research indicates that only happiness or surprise ensures a high attention level. Losing hope and interest as reflected by sadness or disgust brings about the lowest attention level.

When it comes to getting something done, each emotion also involves a different action bias. Four of the six emotions under study here drive people to action, but the type of action varies. Feeling happy or surprised? We’ll strive for results. Angry? We’re seeking revenge. Disguised? We can’t get away fast enough. Fear and Sadness are in contrast, the emotions that slow us down.

For employees alike, risk tolerance is the major consideration. The mantra “No Pain, no gain” only makes sense to an audience that feels as if the mantra is right for them. We’ll take the risk of trying to secure gain more often if we’re happy, angry or sad. The difference tends to take a risk even if the reward is low. With fear, the risk is considered low because danger already exists. With sadness we feel like we’ve got nothing to lose.

Finally decision–making styles also vary by emotion. Feelings provide information. They also influence how we process information. If we’re feeling happy, angry or disguised, we go quickly- because we are unconcerned (happy), impatient (angry) or discouraged (disgusted). In contrast, feeling surprise, fear or sadness leaves us more paralyzed.

Overall, these findings indicate why business world needs to take emotions seriously. They shouldn’t be ignored because they influence and at times, even dictate outcomes.  Moreover, simply describing a person as feeling positive or negative isn’t good enough either. As we have seen from these five behavioural results, two negative emotions like anger and sadness, for instance, can lead to very different outcomes.

Faculty economics

Veena Panjwani