An organisation’s emotional climate is a set of organisational characteristics that are determined by the way the organisation deals with those in both its internal and external environments, through the subtle interplay of human factors and organisational factors. It is a constant feature of the social and relational environment and has a dramatic impact on organisational life, learning processes and performance outcomes. Emotional climate is closely related to the behaviour of organisational members, and particularly to policies and behaviour of top management (i.e. behaviours which are rewarded by management). It strongly effects individual motivation, job satisfaction, attitudes, expectations and behaviour in organisations. A positive emotional climate acts as an incentive, stimulating creativity, growth and professional development, while a negative emotional climate stunts growth and stifles initiative. Emotional climate appears to be a significant contributor to overall staff morale, performance and productivity, and to the organisation’s ability to apply creative problem solving in response to environmental demands. It is a crucial factor when considering supportive contexts for organisational learning and knowledge management.
Published in Chapter:
The Role of Emotional Capital in Organisational KM
Kerry Tanner (Monash University, Australia)
Copyright: © 2011
|Pages: 14
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-931-1.ch133
Abstract
In the intellectual capital and knowledge management (KM) literatures, emotional capital has been a neglected dimension. From the late 1980s into the 1990s, there was burgeoning interest in intellectual capital, which had a substantial impact on the early development of KM. Over the past decade, social capital theory has sparked a new wave of thinking in KM. The concept of emotional capital has the potential to further enrich the knowledge base of the KM discipline. This article explicates the concept of emotional capital and provides a framework for understanding its role in organisational KM.