Running head: CONCEPTUAL PAPER 1

Conceptual Paper

Students Name

University/College
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Introduction

Organizational performance is essential to the success of a business in the context of

United Arab Emirates (UAE). Organizational performance involves the potential for future

success of the company. This will rely on effective implementation of strategies to achieve the

targets and objectives of the organization. Organizational performance relies on several variable

such as effectiveness, resistance, efficiency, and outcomes in the workplace (Boyatzis, 2009;

Boyatzis & Franco Ratti, 2009). Primarily, the employee and organizational performance

depends on the leadership competency, and this is a differentiating factor among leaders in an

organization.

The external and internal environments of the organization affect the management of

human resources in the organization. It is imperative to understand these influences. In the

context of the UAE, many multinational companies have established themselves in the country.

The culture of the shareholders will often be influenced by the local culture in the UAE. There is

a cultural dimension in the performance of the organization (Wilson, 1983; Taylor, 2006). Many

cultural constraints are an obstacle to the implementation of performance management in the

organization. The climate of belief and management attitude in the company is affected and

maintained by many variable in the organization. Some cultural constraints, as the case with the

UAE have emerged as a setback to the implementation of the performance management.

Discussions on employee performance and organizational performance rely on the leadership. It

involves the leaders knowledge on processes in the organization.

It is the leaders role to guarantee the success of the organization. Leadership greatly

relies on the individuals knowledge. The leader plays a role in the success of the organization

and employees. The knowledge inherent in the leader is often passed to the employees in the
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context of the organization in this regard, a skilled leader will ensure that the performance of

employees is improved, leading to a productive workforce (Stubbs & Koman Steven B. Wolff,

2008; Slaski & Cartwright, 2002). The leader is also involved in determining challenges within

the workforce, and coming up with suggestions on how to make changes that would be of benefit

to the employees.

Literature Review

Cognitive Competencies and leadership competencies

The body of research in regards on organizational performance and employee satisfaction

has been growing over the years. The organizational efficiency and productivity often relies on

cognitive competencies and leadership competencies. Mukherjee, Lahiri, and D. Mukherjee

(2012) look at leadership, and the link with cognitive, social, and behavioral capabilities.

Cognitive competencies often involve global knowledge resources that allow the organization to

achieve a competitive advantage. Leadership is seen in the context of virtual teams (VT) where

leadership is important for the success of the organization. This is often the case in the UAE

where many organizations rely on VT. The teams in an organization apply innovative resources

and dispersed knowledge that ensures the leader is able to coordinate and facilitate activities in

the organization. Leadership is essential for the success of the VT (Pech, 2003; Hopkins &

Bilimoria, 2008; Petrides & Furnham, 2006). The cognitive process is considered as a leadership

capability. The cognitive abilities are essentially, what allows the leader to judge, contemplate

and think. It also allows the leader to synthesize information that allows them to encourage

others to make decisions on a voluntary basis. The cognitive capabilities can involve either

transactional leadership or transformational leadership. The transactional leader will be involved

in monitoring deviations in an organization. In the context of the UAE, this entails looking at
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changes, and making the necessary decisions to ensure that positive output is achieved. The

transactional leader also sets goals and standards in the organization. This will prove beneficial

in the success of the organization. On the other hand, a transformational leader s involved in

coming up with ways of inspiring the employees (Boyatzis, 2006; Amagoh, 2009; Boyatzis,

2009). They will also stimulate them to work, and would determine the needs of the employees.

This is important that guarantees the effectiveness of the leadership.

The success of the leader greatly depends on the cognitive abilities. Essentially, this is a

stage that the leader selects the virtual team. They are involved in establish the purpose of the

team, and the level of virtuality that will enable this team to meet its goals (McClelland, 1973;

Salovey, et al., 2004). The cognitive process enables the leader to balance the issues that arise

from establishing the team and meeting the interests of the organization and employees. The

cognitive processes consider the knowledge processes and structures inherent in the leader. The

knowledge processes involve identification of learning and training needs. It also applies in

curriculum development. Cognitive competencies deal with knowledge. Knowledge facilitates

performance in the organization, and can be transferred based on differing circumstances and

situations that are connected and organized (Bell & Kozlowski, 2002; Boyatzis, et al., 2002;

Judge, et al., 2002). In many organizations, improved performance often arises from possessing

abilities and having the necessary knowledge. This leads to high levels of competence.

Emotional Intelligence Competencies and leadership competencies

Fowlie & Wood (2009) look at the different in emotional intelligence between males and

females. The research shows that there is a significant difference between the two genders. This

is often the case in the UAE, where males and females have different roles in the workplace.

Despite this, male leaders were often characterized with better emotional intelligence and were
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more successful in comparison to female leaders. Moreover, the more successful males and

females and specific attributes that differentiate them for their typical counterparts. A high

degree of emotional intelligence is linked to outstanding performance in an organization.

Emotional intelligence means the capacity to understand and manage emotions both between

others and between ourselves. In the context of an organization, the leaders competencies

depend on gender. This means that there are differing characteristics between male and female

leaders (Boyatzis & Argun Saatcioglu, 2008; Fowlie & Wood, 2009; Goleman, 2001). For

instance, female leadership is characterized with demands for conflict resolution, consensus

decision making and the development of work environments that are team oriented. Additionally,

they have a higher level of emotional intelligence in comparison to male. They also have better

emotional skills. On the other hand, men are visionary. They also follow a democratic style of

leadership. Women tend to have more expectations to sow emotional intelligence since their

behavior is characterized with soft skills that are common among women.

The leader is expected to be emotionally competent. This means that they have the

emotional capacity and can develop social capital leading to effectiveness. The leader is directly

responsible for the level of the emotional intelligence in the team. The leader is responsible for

both the emotions of the team and their own emotions. This means that they have the ability to

move and influence people in the organization. This is an essential ingredient in improving the

performance of the organization. Moreover, the organization culture also affects the emotional

intelligence especially the leaders behavior (Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005; Sharpe, 2000). This, in

turn, affects the teams emotional intelligence.

Social Intelligence and Leadership competencies

Social intelligence is also linked to leadership competencies. It is often applicable in the

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second stage of VT that deals with organizational performance. According to Boyatzis (2009),

social intelligence arises in the context of UAE where the leader encourages innovation among

the members, and knowledge management within the group. In this case, the leader can directly

control the team members thorough directive leadership. The second strategy involves

delegative leadership. The leader confers some of their powers to the team members allowing

them to make decisions quickly (Emrich, 1999). Finally, social competency relies on shared

leadership that plays a role in self-managing teams. This allows more people to play the

leadership role, meaning that resolution of issues and communication among members will be a

major challenge. It is important to encourage feedback among the members, leading to greater

degree of commitment and identification among the team members. Accordingly, Boyatzis and

Ratti (2009) consider that the social capabilities are linked to performance management in

comparison to cognitive capabilities.

According to Hopkins, social intelligence is the ability to be intelligent about our

relationships, and in them. Based on gender, women demonstrate higher levels of social

intelligence. Gender discrimination is prevalent in the workplace. In UAE, this significant factor

leads to the differences in social intelligence between male and women leaders in the workplace.

In this regard, it takes longer for women to achieve leadership competencies, especially in upper

management, in comparison to men. They are often not recognized as high performing personnel

(Brown & Roberts, 1992; Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005).

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Figure 1: Model to show relationship between cognitive, emotional intelligence and social

intelligence competencies

Cognitive
Competencies
Employee
Performance

Emotional Intelligence
Competencies Leadership Competencies

Organizational
Performance
Social Intelligence
Competencies

Description of model

The model above was proposed, as it is able to show the link between leadership

competencies and other variables in the context of organizations in the UAE. Essentially,

cognitive competencies emotional intelligence and social intelligence is important to achieve

leadership competencies. A leader will require a balance of the three variables to become

effective, and ensure the success of the organization. The end product is employee performance.

The leader plays an integral role in the success of the organization, and the performance of the

employees (Robert & Spencer, 2009). This would mean that is the leader lacks the three

variables, and then the employee performance will be negatively affected.

Employee performance and organizational performance arise from leadership

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competencies. Moreover, organizational performance also relies on employee performance. In

this regard, an improved employee performance will translate to improved organizational

performance. Achieving organizational performance is the ultimate goal of the process. High

level of competence is a derivative of the skilled individuals (Mukherjee, et al., 2012; Pech,

2003). The skilled individuals are often placed in leadership positions, and are characterized with

a rapid access to and efficient use of the organized body of procedural and conceptual

knowledge.

The level of cognitive competency also depends on the nature of the organization. This is

linked to the leadership competencies, where their characteristics depend on the organization.

Specifically, it affects the coherence, competence, and quality of internal representation. It also

determines the efficiency of additional thinking by the leader. The leader is often considered as

an expert in their particular field. They have a carefully learned and organized knowledge

structure. This is then applicable to building the leadership capabilities. It will affect the

organizational and employee performance (Brown, 1994; Robert & Spencer, 2009).

The performance of the organization depends on the performance of the employees.

Performance involves the knowledge and skills necessary to perform certain leadership

functions. Moreover, the performance of the leader looks at the abilities of the individuals. It

requires the specific knowledge, skills, and capabilities that are applicable in the context of

complex leadership performances. Social and emotional intelligence competencies are also

linked, as they are both vital to achieve success in an organization. Gender is sometimes seen to

moderate the relationship between social and emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is

directly linked to the leadership competencies. In this regard, it means that the leader is

emotionally intelligence, and is able to ensure group intelligence among the employees
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(Kussrow, 2001).

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership competency is an important variable in the success of the

organization. Based on the model detailed above, leadership competencies can be improved

through consideration of three variables. They are cognitive competency, social competency, and

emotional intelligence. These competencies determine the effectiveness of the leader. The

variables make it easier to identify the most effective leaders, and how to address the human

resource needs of an organization (Konradt & Hoch, 2007). Additionally, it makes it easier to

understand the challenges faced by executives and manager as they seek to improve performance

in organizations.

Emotional intelligence is directly linked to individual performance and leadership

competencies. It influences the cognitive tasks of leaders, whether working as a single individual

or within teams. Teams are often working as a social activity, and the emotions of the team

members will play a factor in the output of the team. In this regard, the leader is expected to be

emotionally competent to ensure the success of the organization. They are able to encourage

employees to perform to the best of their ability.

Social, emotional, and cognitive intelligence competencies can also be developed in

adults, even though they can also be destroyed by destructive organizational practices. Graduate

and training management education is often applicable in preparing individuals to be leaders,

managers, and professionals. The model is appropriate as a human talent model. It is relevant to

understanding the needs of an organization, and the strategies that would be beneficial to

achieving the overall organizational goals.

Implications
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The implication of the model provides a way to ascertain the importance of emotional

intelligence, cognitive competencies and social intelligence on organizational performance. It is

importance that an organization has creative and skilled employees to prevent the wasteful use of

resources in the organization. This will lead to increased performance and efficiency. The model

shows the importance of improving the three variables to ensure that the leader is competent.

This is achievable through training (Judge, et al., 2002; Kramer & Hess, 2002; Kussrow, 2001)

Training influences the success of the organization, and improves the information and

knowledge among the leaders. This ensures that the leader will effectively interact with the

employees and organization as a whole.

Future research will also have to consider the impact of leadership capabilities on team

development. Cognitive process of setting goals and standards play a role in the preparation

stage while emotional intelligence and social capabilities are vital in motivating and inspiring

followers during the training and performance strategies. This would provide an understanding

of the most effective leadership style that would lead to improved organizational and employee

performance.

The implications also entail understanding the different measures of success. Being

successful has many differing characteristics based in the organization. Additionally,

stereotypical beliefs affect the measure of success among male and female leaders. In many

organizations, males are often more successful in comparison to females (Jordan & Troth, 2004;

Johnson, 1990; Kotter, 1995). The research has also shown the importance of emotional

intelligence. The leaders emotional intelligence affects the emotional intelligence among the

employees. Essentially, it is imperative to have the three levels of competencies to guarantee that

the organization can perform well and be successful.

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