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Analyzing the Change Management Case of Nissan through the Lens of

Emotional Intelligence

Article in SSRN Electronic Journal · November 2016

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2865027

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 Analyzing the Change Management Case of Nissan
through the Lens of Emotional Intelligence
Aeron Zentner
The direction is an essential component for leadership effectiveness
and organizational success as without it; organizations would
maintain stagnant. Direction, vision, and communication of an
organization are similar to the neural network in the human body,
as a simple misfire could trigger major implications. An emerging
strategy throughout many industries and setting is building
effective connections and relations to support cohesive
organizational movement. The following paper examines the
attributes of the Nissan case study of organizational change and
outlines how leadership behaviors of the study align with the
framework of emotional intelligence.
Keywords—Emotional Intelligence, Communication, Leadership
Development, Change Management
I. INTRODUCTION
Edinger (2002) described emotional connection as being
related to establishing human connections and is executed
through giving undivided attention, keep a supportive and
positive attitude when interacting with others, and have the
ability to reach out and connect with others. Additionally, Kinni
(2003) posited that connecting through emotion can strengthen
communication strategies and lead to more optimal
performance. Madrid, Totterdell, and Niven (2016) found that
leadership engagement through a positive and affective presence
can motivate employees to be creative and work effectively.
Therefore, one could postulate that fostering an environment of
positive emotional connection can be a vehicle to connect with
individuals or groups to create organizational movement. The
following paper will examine the attributes of the Nissan case
study of organizational change and outline how the leadership
behaviors of the study align with the framework of emotional
intelligence.
II. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Goleman (1995) described emotional intelligence as a
collection of essential attributes in the development and
enabling of an effective leader Bradberry (2015) suggests that
emotional intelligence is strengthened through different
behaviors which includes acknowledging others’ feelings,
showing care, managing emotions, having sufficient rest, and
avoiding the use of derogatory terminology. By understanding
and embracing the aspects of one’s perceptions, strengths, and
challenges, leaders can effectively surround themselves with
complementary individuals that can provide a different scope
and allow for a more cohesive interactions and movement.
Kinicki and Kreitner (2013) explained the construct of
emotional intelligence as encompassing the elements of self-
awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship
management. Goleman, Boyattzis, and McKee (2013) defined
the characteristics and behaviors of self-awareness as
centralized around the themes of emotion through appreciation
of one’s emotions and the understanding influence of one’s
behavior, the objective evaluation of one’s strengths and faults,
and having an awareness of one’ self-worth. The behavior of
self-management is comprised of the ability to maintain one’s
emotional composer throughout different situations, adopting
and executing standards of integrity, having the ability to be
flexible and agile to accept and foster change, and having the
desire to seek and attain excellence. The social awareness
behavior includes understanding the climate of the organization,
having the ability to notice and understand the feelings of others,
and being able to identify trends and respond to consumer needs.
Relationship management consists of providing foresight and
inspiring individuals to develop, support, and achieve goals, to
advocate for the development of others through appreciative
input and growth opportunities, having the ability to persuade
others, conceptualizing and exercising the capability to
introduce and incorporate new strategies to shift mindsets and
behaviors, the ability to resolve issues, having the capacity to
establish, cultivate and sustain relationships and exhibiting the
ability to create an atmosphere of collaboration that is built on a
foundation of openness and respect.
III. CASE OF NISSAN
The Nissan Motor Company operated under the Keiretsu
system which focuses on organizations building strong
associations with suppliers (Aoki & Lennerfors, 2013). The
philosophy of Nissan was to develop a value chain that
personified loyalty and cooperation with local suppliers which
reflected in the over four billion dollars in stock shared in
hundreds of companies. However, due to the Asian financial
crisis there was a tern percent decrease in exchange rate of yen
to the United States dollar that resulted in a major decline in
Nissans stock price and investment health. An organizational
shift led to the hiring chief operating officer (COO), Carlos
Ghosn who faced the challenge of a tradition embedded in
organizational culture which did not embrace radical change
(Millikin & Fu, 2005).
A. Cultural Shift
The history of the organizational culture was reflective
of the social structure of power and responsibility was associated
based on an individual’s age, education levels and years of work
service at the company. The theory of this approach as a
culmination of these variables would factor to great experience organization
and knowledge. As reputation was a highly valued asset, previously
political practices or pre-assessment was conducted prior to operated.
routine meetings to determine the strength of an idea. This
approach, though brought about consensus, stifled risk-taking Social Awareness Meeting with This allowed
and innovation and melded with the financial downturn, resulted everyone influenced people to be open
in seven of eight years of operating losses for Nissan. These the behaviors of other to learn and be
challenges blended with poor organizational performance led to executive leadership. creative through
Utilizing employee collaboration.
internal fighting and a disgruntled work environment (Millikin
ideas and suggestions There was
& Fu, 2005). for change. increased
Through short-term evaluation, Ghosn was able to detect Established cross transparency and
barriers within the constructs of vision, focus, operations, and functional teams to respect among
sense of urgency as aspects that plagued the forward momentum tackle a range of employees
of the organization. In response, Ghosn strategized to foster an operational
environment to openness, cultural respect, and optimism which challenges.
drew attention to the principles of transparency, execution and
Relationship Walked around the The development
communication. To execute this approach, Ghosn developed Management entire organization of cross-functional
different layers of communication and interaction to and met individually teams helped build
engagement employee and support organizational cohesiveness with employees. The relations between
to solve problems and facilitate change. To effectively execute development of cross employees and
positive and diverse ideation, Ghosn mobilized cross-functional functional teams to departments and
teams to identify challenges in communication and motivation work together. increased
throughout the organization. The emphasis of this strategy was motivation
to move individuals outside the operational aspects of their work throughout the
environment and regional scope toward a much larger organization.
perspective. The teams were able to tackle a range of issue which
expanding the organizational ability to grow and thrive (Millikin
& Fu, 2005). V. DISCUSSION
Emotional intelligence has been found to be correlated to job
IV. CROSS WALKING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TO performance (Bailey, 2015). The result of the Nissan case study
GOSHEN’S BEHAVIORS affirmed that applying emotional based strategies can lead to
Table 1 provides a cross walk of Goshen’s behaviors in relation positive outcomes in creativity, innovation, and productivity.
to the associativity to the emotional intelligence. Additionally, Nissan reflected through the result of new cross-functional and
the table presents an emotional response of the employees as effective mechanism for facilitating movement, which resulted
outlined in the case study. in releasing eight new models and found a 12 month turnaround
Table 1 Emotional Intelligence Cross Walk to creating profit for the organization and receiving accolades
(Millikin & Fu, 2005). The implications for practice would
Emotional Goshn’s Strategies Employee include that leaders would gauge emotional intelligences and
Intelligence Responses use the information to improve upon practices that would foster
Behavior building group relationships and engagement strategies to drive
Self-Awareness Meeting with The employees motivation, performance, and change.
hundreds of mangers were engaged to
to strengthen the discuss and
ideation process. champion these References
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