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Emotional Intelligence and Ethical Behavior

Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Ethical Behavior in a Customer Service Environment

A Capstone Action Project

Submitted to Claremont Lincoln University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Organizational Leadership – Ethics Concentration Masters Degree Program

Claremont, CA

Meredith Sime

September 15, 2019

Emotional Intelligence and Ethics

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Abstract

According to Salovey & Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence represents the ability to

understand and manage our own emotions and the emotions of others. This is a crucial skill for

customer service agents who serve as the interface between the customer and the company.

Rude and disrespectful employees who lack emotional intelligence can harm the company’s

brand, alienate customers, and create a poor customer experience. Additionally, employees

with low emotional intelligence tend to act less ethically compared to employees with high

levels of emotional intelligence. The overall goal of this project is to provide emotional

intelligence training to customer service agents to positively impact their ethical behavior and

customer interactions. Due to time constraints, this action research project is limited to

validating the emotional intelligence methodology that will be used for the larger project.

Twelve participants were recruited to take an emotional intelligence assessment, participate in

emotional intelligence training, and engage in ethical decision-making exercises. Results

indicate slight differences in emotional intelligence and ethical decision making in the pilot

group. Although the overall change in emotional intelligence is not significant, participants

mention new insights into their emotional intelligence and are more aware of how their

emotions influence their ethical decision making. Following the pilot study, the same

emotional intelligence assessment tools and training will be introduced to customer service

representatives in a call center environment. Success metrics for the agents include overall

improvement in emotional intelligence, operational performance metrics and company-

proprietary ethical behavior scores.

keywords: emotional intelligence, ethical decision making, customer experience


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Acknowledgements

Thank you to all the amazing and wonderful professors who helped me grow as a person and

leader during this incredible fifteen-month journey.

A special thanks to my colleagues and classmates in this program who supported me as we

balanced work, school, and personal commitments. Things would have been much harder and

less fun without their encouragement along every step of the way.

A huge shout out to my parents, editors extraordinaire, for their suggestions, support, and

feedback throughout the capstone writing process.

Finally, with a heart full of love and gratitude, I must thank my husband for his unfailing faith in

me. He supported me through every late night as I worked to complete assignments, encouraged

me when I felt bogged down in anxiety, and celebrated with me as I successfully progressed

through each step in the program. Now that we made it, we are on to our next adventure in life -

stronger, wiser and closer for having taken this journey together.


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Table of Contents

Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................ii

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... iv

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi

CHAPTER 1 - Introduction to Project ....................................................................................... 1

Purpose and Scope .................................................................................................................... 1

Guiding Values and Project Significance ............................................................................... 2

Limitations ................................................................................................................................. 3

Definitions of Terms ................................................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 2 - Literature Review and Initial Stakeholder Dialogue ....................................... 5

Introduction to Literature Review .......................................................................................... 5

Past Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence .......................................................................... 5

Current Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence .................................................................... 7

Future Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence ...................................................................... 9

Stakeholder Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence ........................................................... 10

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 3 - Methods Determined with Participants .......................................................... 12

Project Goal Determined by Researcher and Participants ................................................. 12

Project Methods Determined by Researcher and Participants .......................................... 17

Project Measurements Determined by Researcher and Participants ................................ 20

CHAPTER 4 - Results: Evidence of Change through Project Implementation ................... 21

Measurements of Results ........................................................................................................ 22

Communication of Results to Participants ........................................................................... 31

Assessment of Goal Achievement .......................................................................................... 32

CHAPTER 5 – Final Reflections and Recommendations ....................................................... 34

Overall Project Summary ...................................................................................................... 34

Project Impact on the Participants ....................................................................................... 36

Overall Project Assessment .................................................................................................... 37

Project Impact on the Researcher ......................................................................................... 38

Recommendations for Future Projects ................................................................................. 39

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 40

APPENDIX A: Ethical Guidelines ............................................................................................ 44


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APPENDIX B: Stakeholder Collaboration Log ....................................................................... 46

APPENDIX C: TEIQue-SF ........................................................................................................ 47

APPENDIX D: The Trolley Problem ........................................................................................ 48


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List of Tables

CHAPTER 3 – Methods Determined with Participants

Table 1. Emotional Intelligence Types ………………………………………………..18

CHAPTER 4 - Results: Evidence of Change through Project Implementation

Table 2. Capstone Class Action Log: Weeks 1-10 ……………………………………21

Table 3. Recoded TEIQue-SF Questions ……………………………………………..22

Table 4. Recoding Chart for TEIQue-SF Responses ………………………………...22

Table 5. Overall Emotional Intelligence Aggregate Results ………………………...23

Table 6. Overall Emotional Intelligence Individual Results …….....………………..23

Table 7. TEIQue-SF Trait Calculations ...….………………………………………...24

Table 8. Well-Being Aggregate Results ……..….…………………………………... 25

Table 9. Well-Being Individual Results ……..………………………………………..25

Table 10. Self-Control Aggregate Results …….……………………………………...26

Table 11. Self-Control Individual Results ……..…………………………...………...26

Table 12. Emotionality Aggregate Results ……..………………………………….....27

Table 13. Emotionality Individual Results ....………………………………………...27

Table 14. Sociability Aggregate Results ……..………………………………………..28

Table 15. Sociability Individual Results ……..………………………………..……...28

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CHAPTER 1 - Introduction to Project

Customer service agents represent the company’s brand. When customers contact companies

for assistance, customer service representatives provide answers and set the tone for the

interaction. If agents are rude, inattentive to the customers’ needs, or demonstrate a lack of

integrity, their behavior reflects poorly on the company. Negative interactions may result in lost

revenue and harm to the brand as customers leave the business.

One potential explanation for inappropriate agent behavior involves low emotional

intelligence, specifically a lack of self-awareness and self-management. Equipping agents with

the skills necessary to understand and manage their emotions while recognizing the emotional

responses of others should enable them to respond positively to customers. Not only will strong

emotional intelligence skills help agents understand and manage their emotions as they interact

with customers, but also, it will help foster greater ethical decision making.

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this action research project is to assess and design emotional intelligence

training programs for customer service representatives to enhance their ethical decision making.

Unfortunately, this effort will not be completed within the 10-week time frame of the capstone

course. Therefore, this capstone project focuses on validating the Trait Emotional Intelligence

Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and highlighting the relationship between emotional

intelligence and ethical behavior. For this validation effort, twelve participants voluntarily

completed the emotional intelligence assessment and training program while attending a women-

only retreat. The participants range in age from 23 to 84 years, and half the participants are

currently employed in customer facing roles, while the other half are retired. During separate


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occasions, males were also asked to participate in the pilot study; however, all declined.

Guiding Values and Project Significance

Customer service representatives must operate with integrity and do the right thing for

customers, shareholders and each other. Without this trust, customers lose respect for the

business, employees leave the company, and shareholder value declines. Examples of poor

customer experiences in which customers question the integrity of the customer service

representative include: being placed on excessive holds, failing to resolve the customer’s issue,

hanging up on the customer, transferring the customer to avoid helping them, using rude or

condescending language, unwilling to follow through on a commitment, not resolving a

complaint, and refusing to provide information about a product or service.

Unfortunately, most everyone can recall a poor customer experience where they felt

mistreated or the agent failed to meet their needs. One well-publicized example of poor customer

service occurred in June 2018 at a McDonald’s in Muskego, Wisconsin. According to Crystal

Hill (2018), the Olszewski family was in a McDonald’s drive-through, and after 15 minutes of

waiting for their order, they asked for a refund. The manager refused to refund their money and

verbally abused the family, telling them to “move your crappy car” and “get the (expletive) out

of line” (Hill, 2018, para. 2).

Another viral poor customer service example in 2018 involved MoviePass. Dorothy

Wickenhiser of Livermore, California, received word that her MoviePass account was cancelled.

“After hours of trying to figure out how to reach an actual person at the company”, the customer

service agent falsely accused Wickenhiser of violating the terms of her agreement (Finney, 2018,

para. 6). Instead of working with Wickenhiser to figure out what happened and resolve the issue,

the customer service agent refused to restore her pass or issue a refund for the unused tickets.


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According to Wickenhiser, “I didn’t do what they said I did and it is frustrating. There is

absolutely no way to get them to consider your case” (Finney, 2018, para. 19).

Both the McDonald’s and MoviePass examples highlight the lack of emotional intelligence

and integrity the employees conveyed when interacting with their customers. Not only were the

employees rude, they also failed to address the customers’ concerns in a way that demonstrated

respect and integrity for their customers, themselves, and their jobs. This capstone project

addresses and helps prevent these types of poor customer experiences by improving employees’

emotional intelligence, which, in turn, will provide the tools necessary to act more ethically

when interacting with customers.

Limitations

A major limitation of this capstone project is the relatability of the pilot study to the actual

customer service environment. Although the TEIQue-SF emotional intelligence assessment used

in this pilot study will also be used in the customer service organization, the subsequent training

and ethical assessments will differ. The emotional intelligence training in this pilot is limited and

narrower in scope compared with the anticipated corporate training program. Additionally, the

ethical scenarios shared with the customer service agents will be tailored to their job

responsibilities, whereas the ethical scenarios used in this pilot study are more general in nature.

A second limitation involves a potential bias in the pilot study results. Given the participants in

this pilot study are all female, the results may contain a gender bias that skews the results.

Finally, context is important when looking at the corporate environment. Although the findings

may demonstrate a positive relationship between high levels of emotional intelligence and ethical

behavior is this particular organization, it does not mean the results can be generalized to all

customer service environments.


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Definitions of Terms

Understanding that emotional intelligence may not be a familiar concept to all audience

members, definitions are provided.

Emotional Intelligence.

Peter Salovey and John Mayer (1990) define emotional intelligence as the ability to identify,

assess, and control emotions, for the self and others. They expand on this definition to include

four key elements of emotional intelligence that are widely used today: self-awareness (the

ability to accurately perceive your own emotions and emotional triggers), self-management (the

ability to regulate and control your emotional responses), social awareness (your ability to

understand or empathize with the emotions of others), and relationship management (your ability

to successfully interact with others and manage conflict) (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). These four

emotional intelligence components work together to help individuals understand their emotions

and how they impact behavior.

Ethical Behavior.

The word “ethics” is derived from the Greek word for “ethos”, which means character or

custom. When assessing ethical behavior in an organization, Ronald Sims (1992, p.506), defines

this behavior as “that which is morally accepted as “good” and “right” as opposed to “bad” or

“wrong” in a particular setting”. For customer service representatives, this means putting the

customer’s needs first, doing what is right, and operating with integrity.


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CHAPTER 2 - Literature Review and Initial Stakeholder Dialogue

Introduction to Literature Review

Ethical behavior in the workplace is crucial for customers, employees and shareholders.

Without it, trust collapses and businesses will likely face financial, social, and legal

consequences. Recent public examples of unethical employee behavior include Wells Fargo,

Volkswagen, Facebook, and Uber, as well as previous examples of Enron and Worldcom. Faced

with repeated examples of ethical failures across multiple industries, the question must be asked:

What drives employees to act unethically? One potential theory involves varying degrees of

emotional intelligence, which influences employees’ ability to recognize the impact their

behavior has on themselves and others.

This Capstone Action Research project attempts to determine how emotional intelligence

influences employee ethical behavior. To support the action research, this literature review

incorporates book chapters and articles in peer reviewed research journals, all exploring some

aspect of emotional intelligence and ethical behavior in the workplace.

Past Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence

Salovey and Mayer (1990) first coined the term “emotional intelligence” in their journal

article with the same name. In this seminal article, Salovey and Mayer (1990) expand the

concept of social intelligence - the ability to understand and manage others - to include the

awareness of one’s own emotions when making decisions. Specifically, the authors define

emotional intelligence as, “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to

discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (p.

189). When developing their framework, Salovey and Mayer (1990) define three components of

their model: (1) appraising and expressing emotions in self and others, (2) regulating emotions in


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self and others, and, (3) using emotions in adaptive ways. They argue that people differ in their

abilities to perceive emotions, thus leading to an emotional intelligence scale.

In 1995, Daniel Goleman popularized this early work by Salovey and Mayer (1990) by

expanding on the emotional competency model. His book further defines Salovey and Mayer’s

(1990) four fundamentals of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social

awareness, and the ability to manage relationships. More importantly, Goleman (1995) applies

these emotional intelligence dimensions to success across a variety of relationships. His book on

emotional intelligence highlights how people develop emotional intelligence to improve spousal

relationships, workplace interactions, and doctor/patient communications (Goleman, 1995).

Continuing his work on emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman published Working with

Emotional Intelligence in 1998, which moves beyond relationships and demonstrates how

emotional intelligence can be used to improve success in the workplace. He writes about

emotional competencies and how they play a fundamental role in customer service and peer

relationships. Specifically, Goleman (1998) aligns the emotional intelligence dimensions with

workplace performance by associating self-management with acting in accordance to one’s

values and principles, and relationship management with working well with others. Ultimately,

Goleman represents a link between scientific research and its applicability in corporate

environments by encouraging companies to dedicate resources to formally applying emotional

intelligence to workplace behavior.

Although Salovey and Mayer (1990) and Goleman (1995, 1998) effectively define emotional

intelligence as a framework for understanding how emotions impact behavior, they do not offer

any suggestions for how people can improve their emotional intelligence skills. Travis Bradberry

and Jean Greaves (2009) fill this gap by publishing Emotional Intelligence 2.0, a step by step


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action plan to improve emotional intelligence skills. To achieve this, they map out basic, easy to

follow strategies for enhancing self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and

relationship management competencies. In practical terms, their book is designed to help people

develop their emotional intelligence and apply these skills in daily life.

Current Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence

The impact of Salovey and Mayer’s 1990 article defining a framework for emotional

intelligence has spawned interest in the predictive capability of emotional intelligence across

various behaviors. Particularly, these include the relationship between emotional intelligence,

organizational culture and ethical decision making. Daniel Goleman (2001) also contributes to

this widening of the field by including works that document a relationship between leadership

emotional intelligence and organizational climate. He suggests that leaders with high levels of

emotional intelligence foster a work culture that encourages employees to perform well. Similar

to Goleman’ (2001) approach, Nona Momeni (2009) explores the impact of manager emotional

intelligence on cultural climate. She shares that over 70% of an employee’s perceptions of the

organizational climate is attributed to their manager’s behavior and mood (Momeni, 2009), thus

demonstrating an important relationship between manager emotional intelligence and workplace

culture.

Subsequent research by Deshpande and Joseph (2009) expands Momeni’s (2009) work on

the emotional intelligence of managers in a cultural setting by focusing on peer groups and how

that relationship impacts culture. They report that peer emotional intelligence has an equal or

greater impact on ethical climate and employee behavior when compared to leadership behavior

(Deshpande & Joseph, 2009). Additionally, they identify a relationship between emotional

intelligence, the ethical behavior of co-workers, and the ethical behavior of oneself.


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Research by Nikolaou and Tsaousis (2002) also shows a relationship between workplace

environment and ethical behavior. Instead of examining the direct peer to peer relationship as

documented by Deshpande and Joseph (2009), the authors analyze the impact of emotional

intelligence on occupational stress and organizational commitment. They reveal that employees

with higher emotional intelligence display lower levels of workplace stress and have greater

engagement with their job and the company as a whole (Nikolaou & Tsaousis, 2002).

In terms of this capstone project, Deshpande and Joseph (2009) identify the importance

of the peer-to-peer relationship in emotional intelligence, whereas Momeni (2009) focuses on

manager emotional intelligence when assessing ethical behavior in the workplace. Additionally,

both stress that the overall cultural climate will likely be enhanced when employees display

high emotional intelligence. Likewise, Druskat and Wolff (2001) write that performance

improves and group effectiveness is enhanced with higher levels of emotional intelligence. To

demonstrate this, they define a model for enhancing group emotional intelligence by building

trust, increasing collaboration, and boosting creativity. According to Butler and Cantrell (1984),

these attributes, particularly building trust, are key components of ethical behavior.

Linking these findings together, there is evidence to associate emotional intelligence with

ethical decision making. Specifically, Mesmer-Magnus, Viswesvaran, Joseph, and Deshpande

(2008) focus on how emotional intelligence influences individual and peer perceptions of ethical

decision making. They observe that higher levels of emotional intelligence are correlated with

interpreting the ethical behavior of others. Specifically, employees who report higher ethical self-

tendencies demonstrate a greater awareness for the ethical tendencies of others. Additionally,

they tend to view themselves as more ethical when compared their peers (Mesmer-Magnus, et

al., 2008). Furthermore, they write that employees with high emotional intelligence are less


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likely to be influenced by peer’s unethical acts. As such, these employees tend not to use the

unethical behaviors of others as justification for their own unethical actions (Mesmer-Magnus, et

al., 2008). Based on these finding, there is evidence to suggest a benefit to training employees on

emotional intelligence. As the work by Mesmer-Magnus, et al. (2008) shows, highly emotionally

intelligent employees tend to act more ethically, identify unethical behaviors in peers, and take

responsibility for their own ethically questionable behavior.

Following in the footsteps of others, Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel (2011) also support a link

between emotional intelligence and ethical behavior. In their book Moral Intelligence 2.0, they

start by defining self-awareness as recognizing feelings and understanding how those feelings

impact behavior (Lennick and Kiel, 2011). From there, they discuss how different emotions drive

different thoughts and behaviors, emphasize the importance of self-control, and finally, provide a

framework to cultivate interpersonal effectiveness for engaging in emotional responses that will

foster positive relationships and ethical behavior in the workplace (Lennick and Kiel, 2011).

Future Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence

Despite all the research and evidence demonstrating a positive relationship between

emotional intelligence and ethical behavior, Michael Segon and Chris Booth (2014) argue that

employees scoring highly across multiple emotional intelligence competencies can still act

unethically. They point to Kenneth Lay of Enron fame and Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme

as two leaders who score high in emotional intelligence, yet behave unethically. Emotional

competencies are not enough they argue. Instead, employees must possess virtue ethics, defined

as having strong moral character and engaging in “right”, or “moral”, behavior (Segon & Booth,

2014, p. 796). As a result of their research, they expand the Salovey and Mayer (1990) emotional

intelligence model to encompass ethical management as a new competency, which reflects the


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centralized dimension of ethical knowledge and virtuous behavior (Segon & Booth, 2014). This

updated emotional intelligence model adds a new dimension of virtue ethics to the relationship

between emotional intelligence and ethical behavior.

Stakeholder Perspectives on Emotional Intelligence

When approaching corporate stakeholders for this capstone project, previous research linking

emotional intelligence and ethical behavior proved useful. Being able to demonstrate high levels

of emotional intelligence help increase sales, drive greater employee engagement, and contribute

to better ethical decision making, enabled stakeholders to recognize the value in the proposed

emotional intelligence assessment and training program. Key stakeholders of this effort include

the organizational leadership teams, business unit managers, and representatives from the legal,

labor and human relations (HR) departments. Because each stakeholder, from their perspective,

has unique concerns regarding the emotional assessment and training program, interviews were

conducted separately. Although each stakeholder group shared multiple concerns, the most

common issue involved the potential use of the results in the agent performance reviews.

Stakeholders adamantly believe any data should be used for developmental purposes only. Ways

to address this concern and others raised by the stakeholders are discussed in more detail in

chapter three of this capstone research paper.

Conclusion

Ultimately, customer service agents have the power to create loyal customers through

exemplary customer service. This includes treating the customer with respect, being honest, and

resolving their issue during the initial contact. Unfortunately, agents may cause dissatisfaction by

being rude, disrespectful, or generally ambivalent to resolving customer needs. Agents


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demonstrating high emotional intelligence are more likely recognize the emotional needs of the

customers and respond appropriately to those feelings.

Starting with the foundational work of Salovey and Mayer (1990), the study of emotional

intelligence has taken many forms. Joseph et al. (2009), Mesmer-Magnus et al., (2008), and

Nikolaou and Tsaousis (2002), demonstrate the relationship between emotional intelligence and

ethical behavior. Additionally, Goleman (1995) popularized the benefits of emotional

intelligence in the workplace. This capstone research leverages their work and implements an

emotional intelligence assessment and training program in a customer service environment to

enhance agent ethical behavior. When sharing this plan with stakeholders, they recognize the

potential benefits, yet need to be assured their concerns are addressed. By collaborating and

engaging in open, constructive dialog, issues were discussed and resolved.


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CHAPTER 3 - Methods Determined with Participants

Much thought and collaboration goes into the development of research methodology. As a

way to ensure the end results meet stakeholder needs, it is important to capture and incorporate

their interests into the data gathering process. The following chapter outlines the collaborative

stakeholder process and defines the mutually agreed upon methodological steps included in this

action research. This collaborative dialogue helps ensure a fully participatory and successful data

collection effort.

Project Goal Determined by Researcher and Participants

The goal of this research project is to enhance the emotional intelligence of customer service

representatives and increase their ethical decision-making skills. However, the scope of this

effort is beyond the 10-week time frame of this capstone project. Therefore, this specific action

research represents a pilot study of the emotional intelligence questionnaire and methodology

that will be incorporated into the corporate setting. For clarity and to help distinguish between

the two projects, details surrounding the pilot study will be presented first, followed by the

corporate initiative.

Pilot Study.

Twelve women ranging in age from 23 to 84 years old agreed to participate in the study. The

women were told that their participation would be part of a capstone research project as partial

fulfillment of a masters degree in organizational leadership – ethics concentration at Claremont

Lincoln University. Specifically, the women learned that their participation included the

completion of an emotional intelligence questionnaire, emotional intelligence training, and

discussions around various ethical dilemmas.


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Prior to their agreement to participate in the study, the particpants asked questions and

expressed their concerns. Primarily, they wanted assurance that their emotional intelligence

responses would be confidential and they would not be asked to engage in role-playing exercises

to evaluate their emotional intelligence. Once assured their individual results would be

anonymous and confidential, and the emotional intelligence training would not involve role-

playing exercises, they agreed to participate in the pilot study. As an added protection, each

participant randomly drew a participant number out of a hat. This number represents their

participant code and identifies their responses to the emotional intelligence questionnaire. This

procedure helps ensure the participant’s anonymity from each other and the researcher. Finally,

after securing verbal agreement to participate in the study, all twelve participants were asked to

read and sign an informed consent document to ensure they understood their rights as research

participants. An example of the informed consent document can be found in Appendix A.

After collecting data from the twelve female participants, attempts were made to include

males in the pilot study. Unfortunately, none of the men who were asked to participate agreed to

do so. As a result, there is a potential risk for a gender bias in the pilot study results. Fortunately,

both male and female customer service representatives will be included as participants in the

corporate project, thus eliminating the risk for a gender bias in the organizational study.

Customer Service Environment.

Once hired, customer service representatives undergo extensive training to learn the

organizational operating systems and proper methods and procedures for resolving customer

issues. The vast majority of this training is task-based and is designed to teach agents “how” to

do their job. Unfortunately, this type of training fails to address “why” some agents respond

inappropriately when interacting with frustrated or irate customers. Generally speaking,


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companies spend little time training agents to recognize their emotional triggers, effectively

manage their emotional responses, and empathize with customers (Culham, 2013). These types

of behaviors encompass emotional intelligence skillsets, and are arguably equally as important as

knowing how to submit a product order or schedule a technician visit. Without these emotional

intelligence skills, agents may alienate customers by arguing with them, or worse, acting

unethically by failing to resolve the customer’s issue, despite their ability and knowledge to do

so.

To help assess the emotional intelligence of customer service representatives, agents will

complete an emotional intelligence questionnaire. The questionnaire will be the same TEIQue-

SF included in the pilot study. Results will be aggregated and analyzed to determine gaps in

agent emotional intelligence. Based on the identified opportunities, emotional intelligence

training will be developed and provided. To determine the improvement of enhanced emotional

intelligence on ethical behavior, several performance measurements will be assessed on a

monthly basis. These metrics include sales, disconnects, employee attrition, customer service

feedback survey results, and a proprietary quality measurement.

However, prior to assessing agent emotional intelligence, corporate stakeholders need to be

engaged for concurrence to implement the initiative. The first step involves conversations with

Legal, Labor and Human Resource departments. These partner organizations are key members of

the collaborative team and help ensure the training program meets the needs of the business as

well as the agents. Because agents are bargained employees and supported by Labor unions, any

activities involving the agents must be approved by the Labor liaisons. Therefore, these partners

are fully integrated into the collaborative team. Primary concerns of the HR, Legal and Labor

departments include the need to protect the employee’s privacy and whether or not assessment


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results can be used in performance evaluations. To address their concerns, the emotional

intelligence assessment is anonymous and results are aggregated at the team level. Participation

in the survey is voluntary and findings will be used for developmental purposes only.

Additionally, these Legal, Labor and HR partners serve as consultants, utilizing their knowledge

and expertise to help resolve any potential negative impacts or contract violations that arise

during the project.

After securing Legal, Labor and HR support, senior leadership was engaged. Return on

investment (ROI) is the major concern at this level. Since organizational leaders have ultimate

responsibility for the performance results and customer experience scores of the customer service

representatives, their involvement in the approval process is crucial for success. To be approved,

leadership expressed that the project needs to demonstrate how business value outweighs the

costs of the study. Anticipating this concern, data highlighting the benefits of increased

emotional intelligence in the workplace was shared during the collaborative conversations. This

data demonstrates a return on investment in the form of increased sales, lower employee attrition,

and greater customer loyalty (Kannaiah & Shanthi, 2015; Kapur, 2018). To ensure the

anticipated value is present in the customer service environment, the decision was made to

launch the emotional intelligence assessment and training program within a small subset of the

organization, targeting approximately 250 agents. Provided the results with that team

demonstrate the desired benefits, the project will be implemented across the entire organization.

The next stakeholder team includes mid-level managers, who are concerned about loss of

productivity while employees complete the assessment. To address this, the emotional

intelligence assessment is designed to take no more than ten minutes to complete. Ultimately, by

communicating that the capstone project is focused on helping customer service agents enhance


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their interpersonal skills and better manage their emotional triggers, thse mid-level managers

agreed to support the effort.

Finally, collaborative conversations were held with corporate compliance. Although a

collaboration with corporate compliance is not required, it is beneficial to include them for the

training development. Corporate compliance owns a mandatory, annual training program that

includes code of business conduct and ethics courses. A long-term strategy for this project is to

augment existing ethical training programs with this emotional intelligence content. By requiring

the training each year, employees will continue to develop emotional intelligence skills that can

be utilized at work and at home. Without the support of the corporate compliance team, these

long-term goals cannot be realized. See Appendix B for an overview of the collaborative process.

After analysis of the emotional intelligence questionnaire, stakeholders will again be engaged

to help evaluate the proposed emotional intelligence training content and identify areas of

improvement. Once the stakeholders approve the training program, next steps will include

collaborations with the training teams to implement the training program. This will take

coordination with other organizations to ensure the training programs do not overlap or conflict

with one another. Due to the heavy training schedule and the large number of customer service

representatives, once scheduled, it is likely the emotional intelligence training program will take

four to six weeks to complete.

Once complete, analysis begins. Again, stakeholders will be engaged to review performance

data across the organization. Success will be achieved if there is an improvement in the agent’s

performance results after the completion of the emotional training. This improvement should

translate into more ethical decisions and a better customer experience.


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The final step in the collaboration process will be to partner with all stakeholders to

collectively identify initiatives and action plans to expand emotional intelligence and ethical

training within the customer service environment. Some ideas include the integration of the

emotional intelligence training in new hire classes, as well as potentially adding an emotional

intelligence criterion to the overall hiring process. Additionally, performance metrics will

continue to be evaluated on a monthly basis to ensure long term benefits of the project.

The purpose of this collaborative effort is to ensure agents have the appropriate emotional

skills to manage their own negative emotional responses while supporting the customers’ needs.

Continued partnership and collaboration with various business units and corporate teams, will

ensure the emotional assessment and training program will achieve these goals.

Project Methods Determined by Researcher and Participants

As previously mentioned, the same emotional intelligence questionnaire is utilized in both

the pilot study and the customer service organizational environment. When selecting the

emotional intelligence assessment tool, multiple factors were considered. These factors include

timeliness, question clarity, ease of analysis, and tool validity. Based on a review of the

literature, the questionnaire that met all the criteria is the Trait Emotional Intelligence

Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) (Cooper & Petrides, 2010). The TEIQue-SF is a

simplified version of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire originally developed by

Petrides (2009), and includes 30 questions measuring four emotional intelligence traits: well-

being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability. See Appendix C for the TEIQue-SF.

For the pilot study, the questionnaire was administered in person, via paper and pencil. After

completing the TEIQue-SF, the women in the pilot study participated in a short emotional


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intelligence training session. Participants were educated on the four types of emotional

intelligence, as described in Table 1.

Table 1

Emotional Intelligence Types (Goleman, 1995)

Personal Competence Social Competence

Self-awareness Social-awareness

Self-management Relationship-management

Although all four emotional intelligence types were defined, only the two personal

competencies, self-awareness and self-management, were discussed in depth as part of the

training program. In case participants want to learn more about emotional intelligence outside the

pilot study, the training materials are heavily patterned on the emotional intelligence

improvement strategies shared by Bradberry and Greaves (2009) and available in their book,

Emotional Intelligence 2.0.

Self-Awareness.

The self-awareness training in the pilot study emphasizes the idea that highly self-aware

people know their emotional state at all times, are able to align their emotions with their actions,

and understand their emotional strengths and weaknesses (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009).

Participants were asked to spend several minutes privately reflecting on their level of self-

awareness and identifying their emotional triggers. After this reflection period, participants were

encouraged to be mindful of their emotions and emotional reactions as they engage with others.

Specifically, they were asked to associate their actions with their emotions as a way to learn why

they acted the way they did in specific situations, and to observe how their emotions impact


19

others. The key lesson for this portion of training focuses on understanding emotions and

aligning them with behaviors. The more aware participants become of their emotions, the better

able they are to understand themselves.

Self-Management.

Self-management is all about controlling emotional responses. Specifically, people with

strong self-management resist emotional outbursts, rarely succumb to verbal attacks, and do not

make rash decisions based on emotions (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). Again, participants were

asked to silently reflect on their self-management skills and identify situations where they

allowed their emotions to rule their behavior. After reflection, participants were encouraged to be

mindful of their emotional states, pause before acting or speaking, and engage others for

additional perspective on their emotions and reactions.

Ethical Decision Making.

After completing an overview of emotional intelligence and sharing strategies to improve

their self-awareness and self-management, participants engaged in dialogue around “the trolley

problem”, an ethical thought experiment first devised by Oxford moral philosopher Phillipa Foot

(1967), and later enhanced by American philosopher Judith Thompson (1976). See Appendix D

for the full description of the trolley problem. The purpose of this exercise was to encourage

participants to recognize the ethical implications of their actions and defend a moral position.

The participants also explored how their emotions and emotional tendencies influence their

decisions in the various scenarios.


Although the TEIQue-SF will be utilized in the customer service environment, the emotional

intelligence training and ethical behavior evaluation will differ from the pilot study. In that


20

environment, emotional intelligence training will be based on gaps or areas of opportunity found

in the emotional intelligence results of the agents. Additionally, the training will be developed by

professional training designers and implemented as a leader-led program throughout the

organization. Likewise, the ethical behavior assessment will be quantitative and evaluate

customer service representative’s performance pre and post training.

Project Measurements Determined by Researcher and Participants

As previously mentioned, emotional intelligence for the pilot study and customer service

environment is captured using the TEIQue-SF, which utilizes a Likert 7-point scale. For the pilot

study, ethical behavior is evaluated through discussions regarding the trolley problem.

Participants share what they would do in each scenario and why they would choose that

particular course of action. In comparison, when assessing ethical behavior in the customer

service environment, pre and post training performance scores will be evaluated. These metrics

include number of sales, customer churn (% of customers no longer purchasing or using a

company’s products), overall agent satisfaction, and a propriety quality score that serves as a

proxy for ethical performance.


21

CHAPTER 4 - Results: Evidence of Change through Project Implementation

Analysis for the pilot study includes both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative

measurements are based on results from the 7-point Likert scale used in the TEIQue-SF. The

higher the score, the higher the trait emotional intelligence is for the participants. Participant pre

and post responses are analyzed using a two-tailed, paired T-Test, which measures the difference

between means. Simply stated, the T-Test will determine if participant responses on the first

questionnaire are statistically different from the answers they provide after the emotional

intelligence and ethical decision-making training. Qualitative results are captured through a

discussion and verbal inquiry regarding the usefulness of the moral dilemma dialogue.

Actions Taken by Researcher and Participants

Prior to the actual data collection activity, many logistical steps are needed to ensure the

project’s success. Table 2 highlights the 10-week process for setting up the project, collecting

and analyzing the data, and finalizing the results and recommendations for change.

Table 2

Capstone Class Action Log: Weeks 1-10

Date Actions Taken

Jul 8-14 Capstone Poster 1st Draft

Jul 15-21 Prepare participant materials

Jul 22-28 Gather data; Draft capstone chapters 1 & 2

Jul 29-Aug 4 Analyze data results

Aug 5-11 Draft capstone chapters 3 & 4

Aug 12-18 Revise and edit chapters 1-4


22

Aug 19-25 Draft recommendations and next steps

Aug 26-Sep 1 Continue capstone revisions

Sep 2-8 Capstone and program learning reflections

Sep 9-15 Submit final capstone project

Measurements of Results

Emotional Intelligence.

Before the T-Test can be performed, several TEIQue-SF questions need to be rescaled to

ensure consistency in the responses. Specifically, the negative questions require recoding so they

are aligned with the positive responses. Table 3 highlights the recoded questions, and Table 4

identifies the recoding methodology used to align the responses.

Table 3

Recoded TEIQue-SF Questions

TEIQue-SF Questions Requiring Recoding

Q 2 Q 10 Q 18

Q 4 Q 12 Q 22

Q 5 Q 13 Q 25

Q 7 Q 14 Q 26

Q 8 Q 16 Q 27

Table 4

Recoding Chart for TEIQue-SF Responses

TEIQue-SF Recoding Chart


23

If Response = 7, Recode = 1 If Response = 6, Recode = 2 If Response = 5, Recode = 3

If Response = 1, Recode = 7 If Response = 2, Recode = 6 If Response = 3, Recode = 5

After recoding the questionnaire responses, the data was analyzed individually and in the

aggregate. As can be seen in Table 5, when assessing the overall emotional intelligence results in

the aggregate, no differences were found.

Table 5

Overall Emotional Intelligence Aggregate Results

Pre-Questionnaire Post-Questionnaire T-Test

4.88 4.82 .33

Note: Significant at the p<.05 level.

Although the difference in means for the overall, aggregated emotional intelligence

scores are not significant, the results are more promising when viewed individually. As seen in

Table 6, two of the twelve participants (P7 and P10) demonstrate a significant change in overall

emotional intelligence following the training.

Table 6

Overall Emotional Intelligence Individual Results

Participant Pre-Questionnaire Score Post-Questionnaire Score T-Test

P1 5.93 5.80 0.25

P2 5.27 5.13 0.21

P4 3.83 3.93 0.63

P6 4.87 4.83 0.83

P7 4.17 3.57 0.01*


24

P8 5.03 5.03 1.0

P10 4.87 4.43 0.01*

P11 4.93 4.83 0.54

P12 5.27 5.07 0.21

P13 4.23 4.53 0.31

P14 5.33 5.37 0.77

P15 4.83 5.30 0.10

*Note: Significant at the p<.05 level.

As previously mentioned, the TEIQue-SF includes four distinct emotional intelligence traits:

well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability. Table 7 defines which TEIQue- SF

questions are included in each factor as well as the trait calculation.

Table 7

TEIQue-SF Trait Calculations

TEIQue-SF

Well-being (Q5 + Q20 + Q9 + Q24 + Q12 + Q27) / 6

Self-control (Q4 + Q19 + Q7 + Q22 + Q15 + Q30) / 6

Emotionality (Q1 + Q16 + Q2 + Q17 + Q8 + Q23 + Q13 +Q28) / 8

Sociability (Q6 + Q21 + Q10 + Q25 + Q11 + Q26) / 6

Each factor was analyzed separately, at the individual and aggregate level. Tables 8 an 9

highlight the results for well-being; tables 10 and 11 showcase findings for self-control; tables 12

and 13 reflect the emotionality results; and tables 14 and 15 provide an overview of the

sociability results.


25

Table 8

Well-Being Aggregate Results


5.74 5.75 .80


Table 9

Well-Being Individual Results


P1 5.86 5.57 0.17

P2 4.00 4.14 0.36

P4 4.43 4.71 0.36

P6 5.86 5.71 0.36

P7 5.43 4.86 0.10

P8 5.43 5.43 1.0

P10 4.71 4.71 1.0

P11 5.29 5.43 0.36

P12 5.71 5.71 1.0

P13 5.00 4.71 0.68

P14 5.57 5.71 0.36

P15 5.29 6.00 0.36



26

Table 10

Self-Control Aggregate Results


5.54 5.54 1.0


Table 11

Self-Control Individual Results


P1 5.86 5.71 0.61

P2 5.43 5.14 0.17

P4 4.29 4.71 0.41

P6 5.14 5.29 0.61

P7 4.43 3.57 0.23

P8 4.29 4.71 0.30

P10 5.29 5.00 0.47

P11 5.86 5.00 0.08

P12 5.29 5.57 0.17

P13 3.86 4.71 0.08

P14 5.29 5.43 0.61

P15 5.00 5.14 0.61



27

Table 12

Emotionality Aggregate Results


5.77 5.71 0.55


Table 13

Emotionality Individual Results


P1 5.89 5.89 1.0

P2 6.89 6.78 0.35

P4 4.33 4.33 1.0

P6 4.89 4.78 0.76

P7 4.44 4.33 0.73

P8 5.33 5.56 0.52

P10 5.78 5.11 0.05*

P11 4.67 5.00 0.20

P12 5.44 5.00 0.28

P13 4.56 4.56 1.0

P14 5.89 5.89 1.0

P15 4.89 5.00 0.87



28

Table 14

Sociability Aggregate Results


5.21 5.19 0.82


Table 15

Sociability Individual Results


P1 6.0 6.0 1.0

P2 5.14 5.0 0.61

P4 3.71 3.57 0.61

P6 4.14 4.14 1.0

P7 4.0 3.57 0.20

P8 5.57 5.14 0.08

P10 4.14 3.86 0.36

P11 5.0 5.0 1.0

P12 4.86 4.29 0.10

P13 3.86 4.71 0.28

P14 4.71 4.86 0.36

P15 4.57 5.29 0.004*



29

According to the results across the four TEIQue-SF traits, participants score highest on well-

being and emotionality. Their lowest scores are in sociability. Unfortunately, there are no

significant differences in the aggregate results across the four dimensions. However, there are a

few significant differences at the individual level. Specifically, P10’s emotionality post-

questionnaire score is significantly lower than her emotionality pre-questionnaire results. Stated

differently, Participant 10 feels that, after the emotional intelligence training, she is better able to

understand her emotions and the emotions of others. Additionally, as a result of the training

excercises, P10 is more confident in her ability to control and communicate her feelings to

others. Demonstrating the opposite effect, P15’s sociability score is significantly higher in her

post-questionnaire when compared to her pre-questionnaire results. In other words, after the

emotional intelligence training, Particpant 15 now believes she is not as proficient as she first

thought when managing complex emotional situations or influencing the emotions of others. A

potential rationale for this decrease in emotional confidence is shared with the participants in the

communication they received regarding the pilot results, and is decribed later in this chapter.

Ethical Decision Making.

As a reminder, the trolley problem represents a situational ethics thought experiment where

people are forced to choose between taking an action or doing nothing. No matter what choice

they make, someone will die. In the first scenario, participants choose between doing nothing

and killing five people on the tracks, or pulling the trolley lever to divert the train and kill one

person on the other track. Under these conditions, the particpants unanimously agreed they

would pull the trolley lever and kill the one person to save the other five. However, the

discussions regarding the second scenario were much more complex, with participants

expressing different actions based on their moral reasoning. In this scenario, particpants had to


30

choose between doing nothing, in which the five people would die, or throw a man off a bridge

to stop the train, which would result in the death of the man they threw over the bridge. Although

the man would die, that action would spare the lives of the five people on the track. Ultimately,

their decisions followed two lines of moral reasoning, a more utilitarian approach or a more

Kantian view of morality.

Utilitarian moral reasoning is predicated on the idea that the end result is more important

than the means taken to produce that outcome. In other words, consequences matter and morality

is based on those actions which maximize the outcomes of the majority over the few (McManus

& Perry, 2018). Given this moral reasoning, participants with a more utilitarian moral philosophy

would throw the man off the bridge and kill the one to save the five. For them, the most ethical

course of action is one that “brings about the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of

people” (McManus & Perry, 2018, p. 41). Therefore, protecting the lives of five people is the

ethical choice because it preserves more lives than it takes, thus maximizing the outcome for the

majority.

On the other hand, participants with a more Kantian moral philosophy refused to throw the

man over the rail. This is because Kant’s morality is based on the notion that people have a

responsibility, or “duty”, to do what is right. Furthermore, “right” is defined as an “absolute,

universal moral imperative” that refers to “unconditional principles we must always follow

despite any natural desires or inclinations we may have to the contrary” (Cervantez, 2018, p. 18).

This morality is in direct opposition to utilitarianism, because for Kant, the motives we use (i.e.,

the means) to achieve an outcome are far more important than the outcomes themselves. When

viewed in the context of the trolley problem, particpants who follow a more Kantian view of

morality believe that killing another human being is categorically wrong and reflects one such


31

moral absolute that should never be violated. As a result, participants with a Kantian moral

philosophy believe it is unethical for them to kill the man by throwing him off the bridge, even if

it means sacrificing the five on the tracks. By taking no action, participants recognize the five

people will die; however, participants felt they did not actively kill them. Whereas, by pushing

the man off the bridge to save the five, they are deliberately killing him, which violates their

moral belief.

Communication of Results to Participants

Analyzed results are shared with the participants via email. This email contains all data tables

with aggregate and individual results for the overall emotional assessment score as well as the

aggregate and individual results for each of the four traits. Participants understand that the higher

the score, the higher their emotional intelligence for that particular trait. The communication also

includes a possible explanation for why some post-questionnaire scores declined when compared

to the pre-questionnaire results. This seemingly counter-intuitive result could be explained by the

over-confidence bias. Basically, the over-confidence bias is a behavioral tendency to over-

estimate one’s own abilities or skills (Stankov & Lee, 2014). In this case, prior to receiving

emotional intelligence training, participants may have over-estimated their emotional intelligence

in the pre-questionnaire. After reflecting on their own behaviors and emotional intelligence

skills, participants were potentially able to more accurately assess their levels of emotional

intelligence. This communication also explained the differences between Utilitarian and Kantian

moral philosophies and how these views of morality influenced their decisions in the trolley

problem. Any additional questions the participants had regarding the findings were addressed

through personal emails or phone calls.


32

Assessment of Goal Achievement

Pilot Study.

Overall, the participants enjoyed the emotional intelligence training and moral dilemma

discussions. As a whole, they commented that they found the project interesting, learned more

about what influences their emotions, and why they respond the way they do in certain

situations. Although the majority of the TEIQue-SF results were not significant, directional

changes in the pre and post scores demonstrated a newfound awareness of their emotions. The

emotional intelligence training and emphasis on actionable strategies to improve their emotional

intelligence resonated with the participants. As part of the training exercises, they became more

mindful of their emotional triggers and how their emotional responses impact others.

Likewise, participants mentioned they especially enjoyed conversations involving the trolley

problem. When encouraged to take an ethical position, the participants asked for time to reflect

on their values and decide how they would react in each scenario. This mindfulness regarding

their beliefs, values, and sense of right and wrong demonstrated a new level of engagement and

reflection in their lives. Furthermore, in the debriefing session, participants expressed they have a

newfound appreciation for the difficulty in making moral judgements. One participant

commented that she will now approach her annual corporate ethics training differently, looking

for how emotions may impact ethical decisions. Overall, the participants felt the project was

successful in that they learned new emotional intelligence skills and have a better appreciation

for the complexity of moral dilemmas.


Success in the organizational setting will be measured through a before and after analysis of

key performance indicators (KPIs) used to assess agent ethical behavior. These KPIs include


33

number of sales, number of lost customers (customer churn), customer satisfaction, agent

satisfaction, and a proprietary quality score that measures ethical behavior. Agent performance

will be documented three months prior to the emotional intelligence training, and these scores

will serve as the agent’s baseline performance. Post-training, KPIs will be measured at three, six-

and nine-months intervals. These results will then be compared to the agent’s baseline scores.

Success will be identified through an improvement in agent KPIs.


34

CHAPTER 5 – Final Reflections and Recommendations

According to the principles of virtue ethics, people act ethically when they choose to behave

in a good or virtuous manner (Sowcik & Council, 2018). Furthermore, people who exhibit

strength of character and continually work to improve themselves are viewed as moral.

Fortunately, virtuous behavior can be taught. As Aristotle sets forth in book three, chapter three

of his Nicomachean Ethics (350 B.C.E., para. 3), “man is a moving principle of actions; now

deliberation is about the things to be done by the agent himself, and actions are for the sake of

things other than themselves”. Basically, Aristotle is saying that people constantly and

deliberately learn new things and apply this knowledge to their actions. He goes on to state “the

same thing is deliberated upon and is chosen, except that the object of choice is already

determinate, since that which is decided upon as a result of deliberation that is the object of

choice” (Aristotle, 350 B.C.E. para. 4). In other words, after people learn what it means to act

ethically, they must choose to behave that way. This capstone project teaches customer service

representatives to act with greater emotional intelligence so they may choose to behave ethically

when interacting with their customers and peers.

Overall Project Summary

Customer service representatives demonstrating high emotional intelligence and strong

ethical tendencies foster loyal customers by treating them with respect, resolving their issues,

and recommending solutions to meet their needs. This capstone research project explores why

emotional intelligence is critical to successful customer interactions and how it can be used to

promote agent ethical behavior. Although the ultimate goal of this research focuses on improving

emotional intelligence and ethical performance in customer service representatives, timing

precluded their inclusion in the 10-week time frame of the capstone project. Instead, the lessons


35

learned during the pilot study will be applied to the corporate emotional intelligence and ethical

training program.

Key observations include the particpants’ general lack of awareness around the concept of

emotional intelligence, their keen interest in learning more about how emotions drive behavior,

and the difficulty they experience when making tough moral decisions. Particularly, participants

in the pilot study could identify many of their emotions and recognize they sometimes allowed

emotions to dictate their behavior. However, prior to the training session, they did not understand

the concept of emotional intelligence. Fortunately, once trained on the four distinct types of

emotion (e.g., self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social management),

participants were better able to associate various actions and reactions with specific emotional

drivers. As a result, participants expressed interest in learning more about how they could

improve their emotional intelligence to better respond in emotionally difficult situations. Lastly,

participants appreciated the relationship between emotional intelligence and ethical decision

making. Dispite this, they remained reticent when asked to take a moral position when discussing

the trolley problem.

Although participants appreciated the emotional intelligence training and enjoyed the

complexities involved in discussing the trolley problem, the results of this study are not

conclusive. Even with emotional intelligence training, there was very little movement in

participant emotional intelligence scores. In this regard, more in depth research in a corporate

environment should produce a stronger correlation between emotional intelligence and ethical

behavior.


36

Project Impact on the Participants

According to Joshua Greene (2016), a neuroscientist studying emotional areas of the brain,

people allow their emotions to influence their moral decisions, especially when they are

personally impacted by the ethical dilemma. This became apparent when participants were

discussing what they would do in the two trolley scenarios. Although there was almost

unanimous agreement to pull the lever in the first scenario, responses in the second scenario were

far from definitive. During the course of the conversation, participants were emotionally invested

in the discussion and felt more strongly about what was morally appropriate. Ultimately, the

conversation narrowed to a single question: is it morally appropriate to deliberately kill one to

save five? As discussed in Chapter four, participants espousing a utilitarian moral philosophy

said “yes”, whereas supporters of Kantianism emphatically said “no”. As the discussion became

more heated between the participants, the proverbial “light bulb” flashed for one participant who

recognized the impact emotions were having on the conversation. This realization shifted the

conversation from emotional grandstanding in support of a particular point of view to a

recognition of why the trolley scenarios were part of the study methodology. Specifically,

participants directly experienced the impact emotions have on actions and how a better

awareness of their emotional triggers helps mitigate inappropriate or unethical behavior.

When extrapolating the pilot results to a corporate environment, stakeholders can also apply

Greene’s (2016) results to their employees. As agents become personally involved or frustrated

with their customers, they may allow those emotions to impact how they respond. As a result,

customers will likely have a very poor customer experience. Hopefully, with the proposed

emotional intelligence training, agents will better manage their emotions and prevent them for

influencing their interactions with customers.


37

Overall Project Assessment

Overall, the project is a success. Participants learned about their behavioral tendencies, were

able to apply them to a moral dilemma, and agreed to be more mindful of their emotions and

how they impact their actions. Through the practical application of the trolley problem,

participants demonstrated how their emotions dictated their actions and shaped their perceptions

of how ethical their fellow participants were behaving. Considering the literature reviewed in

Chapter 2 of this paper, these findings align with the research by Lennick and Kiel (2011), which

states emotional intelligence influences how ethical people behave. Additionally, these results

also support the claim by Mesmer-Magnus, et al., (2008) that emotional intelligence is a useful

predictor of ethical behavior in one’s self as well as perceptions of ethical behavior in others.

Unfortunately, a glaring weakness of this project revolves around the actual participants

included in the pilot study. Without male participants, it is impossible to extrapolate the findings

beyond the parameters of this project. Likewise, the degree of emotionality and the resultant

impacts on ethical decision making in the trolley example may be very different with the

influence of male perspectives in the discussion. This gender bias could significantly alter the

pilot study findings. Similarly, the small sample size of the pilot study calls into question the

reliability and validity of the pilot results. Assuming a population of 500 people, 217 participants

are needed in a study to ensure a 5% confidence interval with a 95% confidence level (CRS,

2012). Clearly, including only twelve participants in the pilot study fails to meet the desired level

of significance for the pilot. Fortunately, the target sample size in the corporate study exceeds

250 customer service participants, thus ensuring a reliable sample size at the 95% confidence

level.


38

Project Impact on the Researcher

This capstone research project helped solidify the Claremont Lincoln University core

curriculum objectives into a unified lesson. Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment

and attending to surroundings without judgement. Moreover, practicing mindfulness enabled me

to objectively identify the topic for this capstone project. By observing customer service

interactions, I was able to observe how agent emotional responses influenced their actions and

why their emotions led them to make inappropriate decisions in some instances. Furthermore, the

stakeholder meetings showcased my newfound collaboration skills. Partnering with each

stakeholder to work together to achieve common objectives and goals for the research

methodology strengthened the quality and significance of the project. Without their valuable

input and guidance, the final capstone results would be much less relevant and impactful. My

newfound dialogue skills enabled me to successfully navigate the emotionally charged

participant interactions during the trolley problem exercise. By being able to set aside any

preconceived ideas of what is moral, I was able to be present in the moment and objectively

listen to the participants and recognize how their emotions influenced their decisions in each

trolley scenario. As a result, conversations focused on the moral implications of the scenario

instead of personal attacks on each other for having different points of view. Finally, writing the

capstone paper enabled me to affect change and help participants as well as customer service

agents develop new emotional intelligence skills and apply them to their ethical decision-making

behavior. Ultimately, this program has helped me grow as a person and a change agent, and I am

incredibly grateful and honored to be part of such an introspective and socially rewarding

curriculum.


39

Recommendations for Future Projects

With the completion of the pilot study, attention now turns to the corporate environment.

Thankfully, eight customer service centers have agreed to participate in the initial emotional

intelligence questionnaire. Combined, these centers include approximately 500 employees which

should be a sufficient sample to generate the minimum 217 volunteers need for reliable results.

Upon completion of the questionnaire, stakeholders will be engaged to help identify potential

emotional intelligence gaps that could benefit from targeted training. Provided ethical and

organizational performance metrics for the customer service representatives improve with

emotional intelligence training, the next step will be to expand the emotional intelligence

questionnaire and training program to other centers within the organization. As previously

mentioned, the long-term plan is to collaborate with corporate compliance to incorporate

emotional intelligence training across the entire company. Doing so will help ensure customer

service agents continuously enhance their emotional intelligence skills and deliver exemplary

customer service through their ethical interactions. Once all customer service agents complete

the emotional intelligence training, this project can be implemented with management and

leadership employees.


40

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APPENDIX A: Ethical Guidelines

Prior to participating in the pilot study, all participants were required to read and sign the

participant consent form. Questions were addressed to ensure participants were fully

knowledgeable of the project goals and their expectations as participants.

Participant Consent Form

Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Ethical Behavior

Consent to take part in research

I………………………………………………………. voluntarily agree to participate in this

research study.

I understand that even if I agree to participate now, I can withdraw at any time or refuse to

answer any question without any consequences of any kind.

I understand that I can withdraw permission to use data from my interview within two weeks

after the interview, in which case the material will be deleted.

I have had the purpose and nature of the study explained to me and I have had the opportunity to

ask questions about the study.

I understand that participation involves…completing an emotional intelligence questionnaire,

learning about emotional intelligence and participating in a discussion on moral dilemmas.

I understand that I will not benefit directly from participating in this research.

I understand that all information I provide for this study will be treated confidentially.

I understand that in any report on the results of this research my identity will remain anonymous.

This will be done by changing my name and disguising any details of my interview which may

reveal my identity or the identity of people I speak about.

I understand that if I inform the researcher that myself or someone else is at risk of harm, they

may have to report this to the relevant authorities - they will discuss this with me first but may be

required to report with or without my permission.

I understand that signed consent forms will be retained in the researcher’s personal computer

until the completion of the term – September 30, 2019.

I understand that under freedom of information legislation I am entitled to access the information

I have provided at any time while it is in storage as specified above.


45

I understand that I am free to contact any of the people involved in the research to seek further

clarification and information.

Signature of research participant

---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------

Signature of participant Date

Signature of researcher

I believe the participant is giving informed consent to participate in this study

---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------

Signature of researcher Date


46

APPENDIX B: Stakeholder Collaboration Log

Date Purpose Participants Actions/Outcomes

March 2019 Secure partner

organization support

for emotional

training. Without

their agreement, the

training will not be

possible.

Legal, Labor, and

Human Resources

Identified risks or concerns

the training may have on

agent performance.

Collaborated with teams to

ensure participation is

voluntary and results will be

anonymous and confidential.

June 2019 Secure my

leadership approval

and support for

project.

Integrity Officer No risks were identified.

Support was given to present

proposal to the senior

leadership team.

July 2019 Share initiative

purpose and

projected outcome

and sought

permission to move

forward with project.

Senior Executive Vice

President and Direct

Reports

Gained senior leadership

approval to implement

emotional training assessment

with customer service agents.

Agreement was provided with

the understanding that the

results will be used for

developmental purposes only

and not tied to performance.

July 2019 Introduce emotional

training program to

VP teams and

request help

identifying

participants.

Business Unit Chiefs

of Staff and

Communication Leads

Reviewed project scope and

purpose; shared leadership

approval. Answered logistical

questions on timing, duration,

methodology and

expectations. Requested help

identifying participants.

August 2019

(tentative)

Engage customer

service agents, thank

them for their

participation, and

describe the purpose

of the assessment.

Customer Service

Agents

Gather emotional intelligence

data.

October

2019

(tentative)

Seek support to

integrate training

program in existing,

mandatory ethics

training program.

Corporate Compliance Standardize the emotional

training content and integrate

it into the ethics and

compliance training courses.


47

APPENDIX C: TEIQue-SF


48

APPENDIX D: The Trolley Problem

Scenario 1.

There is a trolley coming down the tracks and ahead, there are five people tied to the tracks and

are unable to move. The trolley will continue coming and will kill the five people. There is

nothing you can do to rescue the five people EXCEPT that there is a lever. If you pull the lever,

the train will be directed to another track which has one person tied to it. You have two choices:

a) Do nothing and the five people will die

b) Pull the lever and save the five people, but that one person will die

Scenario 2.

There is a trolley coming down the tracks and ahead, there are five people tied to the tracks and

are unable to move. The trolley will continue coming and will kill the five people. However, in

this situation, you are standing on a bridge above the train tracks and you can see the train

coming. There is a man standing next to you, who is so enormous and heavy that if he places

himself in front of the oncoming train, it will hit him and kill him and the train will stop. You

have two choices:

a) Do nothing and the five people will die

b) Push the large man over the bridge. He will be killed but you will save the five people

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