Business schools: still in the dark during the ‘Age of enlightenment’

Eric Van Genderen*

 

ABSTRACT: With the establishment of emotional intelligence (EI) and EI testing, psychology has offered the business world a powerful and invaluable tool capable of predicting success in the workplace. The most progressive organizations are already employing such tests in their HR selection/promotion processes. The business school industry maintains a vital interface with the various industry sectors, providing companies with their ‘senior executives of the future’. However, even given the highly competitive environment in which business schools operate; attracting top MBA candidates, and later placing their graduates with prestigious companies, they continue utilizing an outdated, IQ-based, standardized test (the GMAT) as a critical, and often times deciding criterion within their graduate selection processes. The recognized limitations of IQ, as well as its failure to predict professional success, remain a catalyst for the popularization of EI. The author proposes that, in conjunction with top recruiting organizations, business schools initiate an EI-based ‘soft skills’ admission test that would compliment, or even subsume the existing Graduate Management Admission Test.

Key words: Emotional Intelligence, Business Schools, GMAT, Cognitive Testing, Selection, Management

 

 

Título: As escolas de Gestão ainda no “escuro”

RESUMO: Com o estabelecimento da inteligência emocional (EI) e dos seus testes, a psicologia ofereceu ao mundo dos negócios uma ferramenta poderosa e inestimável, capaz de prever o sucesso no local de trabalho. As organizações mais desenvolvidas já utilizam tais testes nos seus processos de selecção e promoção dos recursos humanos. A ‘indústria’ das Business Schools mantém uma relação vital com os vários sectores de indústria, fornecendo às empresas «os seus executivos seniores do futuro». Contudo, dado o ambiente altamente competitivo em que as Business Schools operam, atraindo candidatos de topo para os MBA e mais tarde colocando-os em empresas de prestígio, continuam a utilizar um teste desactualizado baseado no QI e estandardizado - o GMAT. Este teste é usado como um critério crítico e, frequentemente, decisivo no processo de selecção dos candidatos. As limitações reconhecidas do QI, assim como a sua falha em prever o sucesso profissional, permanecem um catalisador para a popularidade do EI. O autor propõe que, conjuntamente com as organizações recrutadoras de topo, as Business Schools passem a utilizar um teste de admissão sobre as «soft skills» baseado na EI - que complemente ou inclua mesmo o GMAT.

Palavras-chave: Inteligência Emocional, Business Schools, GMAT, Testes Cognitivos, Selecção, Gestão

 

 

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text only available in PDF format.

 

 

REFERENCES

 

CIARROCHI, J.; CHAN, A.; CAPUTI, P. and ROBERTS, R. (2001), «Measuring Emotional Intelligence». In J. Ciarrochi, J. Forgas and J. Mayer (Eds.), Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life. Taylor and Francis, USA.        [ Links ]

DULEWICZ, V. and HIGGS, M. (2000a), «Emotional Intelligence: a review and evaluation study». Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 15(4), pp. 341-368.

DULEWICZ, V. and HIGGS, M. (2003), «Design of a new instrument to assess Leadership Dimensions & Styles». Henley Working Paper no. 0311, Henley Management College.

GARDNER, H. A. (1983), Frames of Mind. Basic Books, New York.

GARDNER, H. and HATCH, T. (1989), «Multiple Intelligences Go to School». Educational Researcher, vol. 18(8).

GARDNER, H. (1999), «Who owns intelligence?». Atlantic Monthly, vol. 283.

GOLEMAN, D. (1998), Working with Emotional Intelligence. Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

HAIR, J. F. (2003), Essentials of Business Research Methods. John Wiley and Sons, Danvers, MA.

MAYER, J. D., CIARROCHI, J. and FORGAS, J. (2001), Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life. Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Philadelphia.

MAYER, J. D., DIPAOLO, M. T. and SALOVEY, P. (1990), «Perceiving affective content in ambiguous visual stimuli: A component of emotional intelligence». Journal of Personality Assessment, vol. 54, pp. 772-781.

MAYER, J. D. and SALOVEY, P. (1993), «The intelligence of emotional intelligence». Intelligence, vol. 17(4), pp. 433-442.

REMENYI, D., WILLIAMS, B., MONEY, A. and SWARTZ, E. (2000), Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method. Sage Publications, London.

SALOVEY, P. and MAYER, J. (1990), «Emotional Intelligence». Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, vol. 9, pp. 185-211.

STERNBERG, R. J. (1985), Beyond IQ. Cambridge University Press, New York.

STERNBERG, R. J. (2001), «Applied Emotional intelligence: Regulating Emotions to become Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise». In J. D. Mayer, J. Ciarrochi and J. Forgas (Eds.), Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life. Psychology Press, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Philadelphia.

 

 

 

*Eric Van Genderen

eric.vangenderen@zu.ac.ae

Assistant Professor and a researcher in Organizational Psychology/International Business at Henley Management College, UK. Professor at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

VAN GENDEREN, E. (2006), «An Investigation into the Leadership styles, competences, and emotional intelligence of Russian managers». Unpublished DBA thesis, Henley Management College.