Role of Emotional Intelligence in Agile Supply Chains

Introduction

The agile supply chain (Oliveira-Dias et al., 2022) necessitates that all businesses place a high value on so-called “personal qualities.” Technical competence and intellect (IQ) alone may not ensure success, and in the battle to be quick, they may just be one qualifying element rather than the winning factor (Razmak et al., 2022). The organization's emotional intelligence (EQ) is crucial in facilitating agility (Ma et al., 2022). The needs for these high-level talents are highlighted in our preliminary study.

An individual's emotional intelligence (EQ) is divided into five categories:

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  Self-awareness is the ability to recognise one's own internal states, preferences, resources, and intuitions (Klussman et al., 2022). This includes the capacity to recognise one's emotions and the repercussions of those emotions, as well as understanding one's talents and limits and having a strong feeling of self-worth and potential.

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  Self-control is the ability to control one's internal states, urges, and resources (Tang et al., 2022). This necessitates controlling disruptive impulses and emotions, upholding a high level of honesty and integrity, accepting responsibility for one's own performance, being adaptable to change, and being at ease with creative, inventive ideas, methods, and new information.

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  Motivation of emotional inclinations that lead or assist in the achievement of objectives (Hur et al., 2022) This necessitates the abilities of always seeking to improve or meet a level of excellence, aligning with the group or organization's goals, being ready to act on opportunities, and persevering in pursuing goals despite hurdles and disappointments.

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  Empathy is the ability to understand and empathise with the feelings, needs, and problems of another (Alzayed et al., 2022). This necessitates the ability to sense others' feelings and perspectives, as well as taking an active interest in their concerns; the ability to sense others' development needs and coach their abilities; the ability to anticipate, recognise, and meet customer needs; the ability to cultivate opportunities through various types of people; and the political awareness of reading a group's emotional currents and power relationships.

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  The social skills are the ability to elicit desired reactions from others (Teglasi et al., 2022). This necessitates persuasion skills, such as the ability to listen openly and send persuasion messages; conflict management skills, such as the ability to negotiate and resolve disagreements; the ability to inspire and guide individuals and groups; the ability to initiate and manage change; and team capabilities, such as the ability to create group synergy in pursuing collective goals.

The preliminary outcomes of agility study (Sharma et al., 2022) support the requirement for the aforementioned abilities. Social skills, empathy, and drive are all important when developing a network. The requirement to be 'virtual' necessitates employees developing all five areas in order to sustain relationships that are critical to their existence. Market awareness necessitates a high level of client empathy. Process integration necessitates the development of all five areas.

A new poll conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management emphasises the importance of emotional intelligence in attaining a competitive edge. The survey looked at a group of top organisations that were chosen based on their profitability, cycle times, volume, and other important performance indicators (Schlaegel et al., 2022).

They discovered that the best organisations have the following skills in managing their “people assets”:

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  Organizational conviction in and adherence to core strategy.

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  Establishing open lines of communication and creating trust with all internal and external stakeholders.

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  A desire to create ties both inside and outside the company where they might provide a competitive advantage.

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  Resource sharing, collaboration, and assistance.

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  An environment that encourages risk-taking and collaborative learning.

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  A desire to compete and develop on a regular basis.