ABSTRACT
So we come to the last chapter of our book. The question that we ask at this juncture is, What are the management tools that come out of all this? Indeed, one of our key objectives in compiling this collection of papers is that the focus should be on “managing” emotions, rather than on “research, theory, and practice,” as in our first book (Ashkanasy, Härtel, and Zerbe 2000a). Papers from the Second Conference on Emotions and Organizational Life were selected for this book on the basis of quality and on the basis that they had something to say specifically about the management of emotions in workplace settings. Have we succeeded in producing a practical guide for managers? After all, the study of emotions in workplace settings is a relatively recent phenomenon and has only really been going at full steam since Ashforth and Humphrey (1995), the establishment of the Emonet discussion list in 1997, and the first Conference on Emotions and Organizational Life in 1998. Nonetheless, research to date is beginning to provide some important information that practicing managers ought to be considering in their day-to-day management practices. In this respect, the chapters in this book, including our own linking chapters (4, 8, 12, and 16), can be seen to provide a substantial list of “emotion management tools” that astute managers may wish to apply in their organizations.
