Emotional Intelligence and Leadership – A Case for Quality Assurance Managers in Kenyan Universities

The notion of quality is hard to define precisely, especially in the context of tertiary education where institutions have broad autonomy to decide on their own visions and missions. Any statement about quality implies a certain relative measure against a common standard; in tertiary education, such a common standard does not exist. Various concepts have evolved to suit different contexts ranging from quality as a measure for excellence to quality as perfection, quality as value for money, quality as customer satisfaction, quality as fitness for purpose, and quality as transformation (in a learner) (SAUVCA 2002). Some institutions have adopted the International Standards Office (ISO) approach in some of their activities. Depending on the definition selected, quality implies a relative measure of inputs, processes, outputs or learning outcomes. Institutions, funders, and the public need some method for obtaining assurance that the institution is keeping its promises to its stakeholders. This is the primary goal of quality assurance. The leadership of the quality assurance directorates in universities has therefore come into sharp focus.


Introduction
The notion of quality is hard to define precisely, especially in the context of tertiary education where institutions have broad autonomy to decide on their own visions and missions. Any statement about quality implies a certain relative measure against a common standard; in tertiary education, such a common standard does not exist. Various concepts have evolved to suit different contexts ranging from quality as a measure for excellence to quality as perfection, quality as value for money, quality as customer satisfaction, quality as fitness for purpose, and quality as transformation (in a learner) (SAUVCA 2002). Some institutions have adopted the International Standards Office (ISO) approach in some of their activities. Depending on the definition selected, quality implies a relative measure of inputs, processes, outputs or learning outcomes. Institutions, funders, and the public need some method for obtaining assurance that the institution is keeping its promises to its stakeholders. This is the primary goal of quality assurance. The leadership of the quality assurance directorates in universities has therefore come into sharp focus.
The emergence of theories of emotional intelligence has added a new dimension to thinking about leadership. Its importance in the work place has been highlighted (Cooper and Sawaf, 1997;Morris, 1999;Mayer and Salovey, 2002) particularly in terms of work success (Goleman, 1998;Higgs and Dulewicz, 1999;Pickard, 1999;Cherniss, 2000) through the management of own and others' emotions in the working environment (Caruso and Wolfe, 2001). While it has been noted that successful people in a variety of careers develop emotional intelligence skills they have learnt intuitively and often use without conscious awareness (Merlevede et al., 2001) there is little evidence on how emotional intelligence impacts on leaders in university settings in Kenya. This led to this study on the usefulness of emotional intelligence on the leadership of quality assurance directorates and how this can help them manoeuvre the uncharted terrain of ensuring quality of teaching and evaluation in Kenyan universities.

Description of the instrument used to develop the Bar-On model (the EQ-i)
To better understand the Bar-On model of emotional social intelligence (ESI) and how it developed, it is important to first describe the Emotional Quotient Inventory (the EQ-i) which has played an instrumental role in developing this model. For the purpose of the present discussion, it is also helpful to stress that the Bar-On model is operationalized by the EQ-i.
The EQ-i is a self-report measure of emotionally and socially intelligent behavior that provides an estimate of emotional-social intelligence. The EQ-i was the first measure of its kind to be published by a psychological test publisher ( Bar-On, 1997a), the first such measure to be peer-reviewed in the Buros Mental Measurement Yearbook (Plake & Impara, 1999), and the most widely used measure of emotional-social intelligence to date ( Bar-On, 2004). A detailed description of the psychometric properties of this measure and how it was developed is found in the Bar-On EQ-i Technical Manual (Bar-On, 1997b) and in Glenn Geher's recent book titled Measuring Emotional Intelligence : Common Ground and Controversy (2004).
In brief, the EQ-i contains 133 items in the form of short sentences and employs a 5-point response scale with a textual response format ranging from "very seldom or not true of me" (1) to "very often true of me or true of me" (5). A list of the inventory's items is found in the instrument's technical manual (Bar-On, 1997b). The EQ-i is suitable for individuals 17 years of age and older and takes approximately 40 minutes to complete.
The individual's responses render a total EQ score and scores on the following 5 composite scales that comprise 15 subscale scores: Intrapersonal (comprising Self-Regard, Emotional Self-Awareness, Assertiveness, Independence, and Self-Actualization); Interpersonal (comprising Empathy, Social Responsibility, and Interpersonal Relationship); Stress Management (comprising Stress Tolerance and Impulse Control); Adaptability (comprising Reality-Testing, Flexibility, and Problem-Solving); and General Mood (comprising Optimism and Happiness). A brief description of these emotional-social intelligence competencies, skills and facilitators measured by the 15 subscales is found in the Appendix as was previously mentioned.
Scores are computer-generated. Raw scores are automatically tabulated and converted into standard scores based on a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15. This resembles IQ (Intelligence Quotient) scores, which was Bar-On ,intention when he coined the term "EQ" ("Emotional Quotient") during his doctoral studies (1988). Average to above average EQ scores on the EQ-i suggest that the respondent is effective in emotional and social functioning. The higher the scores, the more positive the prediction for effective functioning in meeting daily demands and challenges. On the other hand, low EQ scores suggest an inability to be effective and the possible existence of emotional, social and/or behavioral problems.
The EQ-i has a built-in correction factor that automatically adjusts the scale scores based on scores obtained from two of the instrument's validity indices (Positive Impression and Negative Impression). This is an important feature for self-report measures in that it reduces the potentially distorting effects of response bias thereby increasing the accuracy of the results.

Mayer-Salovey-Caruso model of emotional intelligence
Credited for inventing the term emotional intelligence, Salovey and Mayer (1990: 189) describe it as 'a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions'. Taylor and Bagby (2000: 45) referred to this definition as 'encompass[ing] emotional self awareness and empathy', stating it did not take into account 'thinking about feelings', although they recognized that 'the definition clearly refers to the ability to use emotional information to guide cognition and behaviour'. Emotional quotient (EQ), the term used in relation to the assessment of emotional intelligence, was originated by Bar-On (1985). Taylor and Bagby (2000: 45) summarized a more detailed definition by , which consisted of four constructs: 'the perception, appraisal and expression of emotion; emotion facilitation of thinking; understanding and analysing emotions, and employing emotional knowledge; and reflective regulation of emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth'. This definition has also been described as having 'four branches: (a) perceiving emotions, (b) using emotions to facilitate thought, (c) understanding emotions, and (d) managing emotions' (Salovey and Pizarro, 2003: 263) and forms the framework for the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) which has been used as a tool in this study. The Ability model of EI was first constructed by Salovey and Mayer (1990) and begins with the idea that emotions contain information about relationships and whether these relationships are actual, remembered, or imagined, they coexist with emotions -the felt signals of the relationship's status (Mayer, Salovey, Caruso, & Sitarenios, 2001). Salovey & Mayer's four branch Ability model of EI facilitates an ability to recognise the meanings of emotions and their relationships, and employ them to enhance cognitive activities (Mayer et al., 2001). The Ability model divides EI into four branches: (1) perceiving emotions, (2) using emotions to facilitate thought, (3) understanding emotions, and (4) managing emotions in a manner that enhances personal growth and social relations (Dulewicz & Higgs, 2000;Mayer et al., 2001;. The model has undergone continual improvement since its construction and the most recent version is offered by Caruso, Mayer, and Salovey (Caruso et al., 2002), represented in Table 1.

Ability skills
The Perceiving branch addresses the perceptual skills of self-identification of emotions in thoughts, identifying emotions in other people, accurate expression of emotions, and the ability to differentiate and discriminate between accurate/real and inaccurate/phoney emotions . The second branch, Using Emotions, advocates their use in prioritising thinking by directing attention to important events/factors, to generate emotions that assist judgement and facilitate decision making, to utilise self-mood swings to change perspective, and to use different emotional states to promote different means to problem solving . The third branch, Understanding Emotions, is based on the ability to understand complex emotions and emotional 'chains', the transition of emotions through stages, the ability to understand relationships among emotions, and interpret the meanings emotions convey . The fourth branch, Managing Emotions, encompasses the ability to reflectively monitor emotions and stay open to them, and the ability to engage or detach from emotions. The branch also advocates the ability to determine whether an emotion is clear or typical, and the ability to solve emotion-based problems without necessarily suppressing the negative emotions .  (Caruso et al., 2002, p. 57) Definitions of emotional intelligence tend to encompass long lists of personal attributes and it is perhaps inevitable that to fully understand emotional intelligence, there needs to be an understanding of emotion. Russell and Barchard (2002) commented that we are all able to recognize emotions when we see them but the distinction between emotions and nonemotions are less clear. In essence, emotions are either about something or directed at something with behaviour change depending on the emotion. Goleman (1995) helped popularize emotional intelligence through his book of the same name. He emphasized its importance and cited Thorndike (1920), Sternberg (1985) and Salovey and Mayer (1990) as psychologists who have recognized that it has a part to play in life, indicating that if you are able to manage your emotions, you are more likely to be successful. Many have developed measurement tools to test for emotional intelligence, such as Bar-On's (2000) emotional quotient inventory (EQ-I) as previously noted, the 360-degree evaluation method (Jacobs, 2001), the EQ map (Cooper and Sawaf, 1997), the emotional competence inventory (ECI) (Boyatzis, Goleman and Hay/McBer, 1999) and the MSCEIT (Mayer, 2001) as previously referred.

Emotional intelligence and the leadership process
Leadership is a process of social interaction where the leader's ability to influence the behaviour of their followers can strongly influence performance outcomes (Humphrey, 2002;Pirola-Merlo et al., 2002). Leadership is intrinsically an emotional process, whereby leaders recognise followers' emotional states, attempt to evoke emotions in followers, and then seek to manage followers' emotional states accordingly (Humphrey, 2002). Pescosolido (2002) argues that leaders increase group solidarity and morale by creating shared emotional experiences. The ability of leaders to influence the emotional climate can strongly influence performance (Humphrey, 2002). EI is a key factor in an individual's ability to be socially effective (George, 2000;Mayer et al., 2000b) and is viewed in leadership literature as a key determinant of effective leadership (Ashkanasy and Tse, 2000;Boal and Hooijberg, 2000;George, 2000). George (2000) argues that emotionally intelligent leaders can promote effectiveness at all levels in organisations. The EI of the leader plays an important role in the quality and effectiveness of social interactions with other individuals (House and Aditya, 1996). Mayer et al. (2000a) hypothesized that employees who have high levels of EI may have smoother interactions with members of their work teams. Salovey et al. (1999), found that individuals who rated highly in the ability to perceive accurately, understand, and appraise others' emotions were better able to respond flexibly to changes in their social environments and build supportive networks. Mayer et al. (2000b) proposed that a high level of EI might enable a leader to be better able to monitor how work group members are feeling, and take the appropriate action.

Why do leaders need emotional intelligence?
The Ability model of EI provides a suitable medium for examining why leaders need emotional intelligence through asking why leaders need to be able to (1) identify, (2) use, (3) understand, and (4) manage emotions. Caruso, Mayer, and Salovey (2002) report that studies have found that the ability for a leader to identify emotions and feelings within themselves also allows them to accurately identify the emotions of peers and groups, to express emotions accurately, and to differentiate between honest and phoney emotional expressions. Empathy, the ability to understand and experience another person's feelings or emotions, is an important component of EI and facilitates a leader's social support and positive inter-personal relationships (George, 2000).
In their study comparing emotional and cognitive competencies as a basis of subordinate perceived effective leadership, Kellet, Humphrey and Sleeth (2002) report that empathy (a substantial EI component) bore the strongest correlation with perceived effective leadership. This suggests that perceiving others' feeling and empathizing with them may establish an affective bond that is beneficial for leadership. Leaders use of emotions can enhance cognitive processes and decision making (George, 2000), and allows leaders to understand and motivate others by making emotions available, engaging in multiple perspectives that facilitate more flexible planning, and more creative, open-minded, and broader thinking and perspectives George, 2000). George (2000) reports research findings that when people are in positive moods they tend to be more optimistic and have more positive perceptions and perspectives, compared with negative moods, that result in the converse of pessimism and negativism.
Understanding EI provides functional insights into human behaviour and perceptions. This understanding includes the ability to recognise relationships between emotions, determine emotions' underlying meaning, comprehend complex feelings and recognise and accept emotional fluctuation . Identification, use and understanding of emotions facilitates effective management of emotions. In a longitudinal study of 382 team members comprising 48 self-managing teams, Wolff, Pescosolido, and Druskat (2002), found that empathy is the foundation for the cognitions and behaviours that support the emergence of leadership. Overall, they conclude their results suggest that emotional www.intechopen.com Emotional Intelligence and Leadership -A Case for Quality Assurance Managers in Kenyan Universities 105 intelligence, particularly empathic competency, is a dominant factor of the leadership emergence in self managed teams. Managing emotions allows leaders to dissipate and alleviate the effects of negative events and provide redirection and focus towards more positive events and moods George, 2000), termed by Salovey (1997, cited in George, 2000) as meta-regulation of mood. Lewis (2000) reports that her laboratory study found that the emotional tone of a CEO level leader has a significant effect on follower affect and perception of leader effectiveness. Indeed EI leadership prescribes not just the ability to manage self-feelings and moods, but ability to manage moods and emotions of others (George, 2000). In a field study on the emotional dynamics of 20 selfmanaged groups, Pescosolido (2002) reports that emergent leaders within groups adopt the role of managing the group's emotional state. They use their emotionally intelligent behaviour, (empathy, emotional perception of self and others, emotional management of self and others, emotional expression, emotional communication, inspirational leadership, role modelling) to communicate messages to group members regarding group performance and contextual events. Resultantly, group members read their leader's behaviour and crafted emotional interpretations of the situation, which then guided their own behaviour. This empirical evidence has demonstrated the strong relationships between emotional intelligence and performance, the existence of a relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership style, and the need to combine emotional intelligence abilities and competencies with leadership skill. Goleman et al. (2002) provide this linkage with the EI based model of leadership.

Quality in higher education
Quality of higher education and the need for effective quality assurance mechanisms beyond those of institutions themselves are becoming priority themes in national strategies for higher education. This is driven by the importance attached to higher education as a driver of growth and in achieving the MDGs, on one hand, and the emergence of new types of higher education providers (beyond public institutions), on the other. At the institutional level, increasing demand for accountability by governments, other funders and the public, coupled with the desire to be comparable with the best in-country and internationally is pushing HEIs to pay more attention to their QA systems. Structured QA processes in higher education at the national level are a very recent phenomenon in most African countries but the situation is changing rapidly. Existing QA agencies are young, the majority having been established within the last 10 years. Currently 16 countries have functioning national QA agencies. The emergence of private tertiary institutions and the need to regulate their activities appears to have been the main trigger for the establishment of formal QA agencies in most countries. Perhaps because of this historical fact, the main purpose of QA agencies in Africa has been regulation of the development of the sector rather than to enhance accountability and quality improvement. Several countries have now changed their laws to make accreditation of public institutions mandatory.
quality assurance practices can be observed: institutional audits, institutional accreditation, and program accreditation. But irrespective of the approach taken, a convergence among these methodologies is becoming apparent. Evidence from country case studies shows that all QA agencies follow the same basic approach-which is similar to that followed by QA agencies in developed countries. This approach entails an institutional (or program) selfassessment, followed by a peer review and transmission of findings to the institution, the government and even to stakeholders. This tends to be the norm regardless of whether it is an audit or accreditation. When conducted properly, this is a rigorous process which produces useful data that can be used for strategic planning and other purposes. However, experience from the case study countries shows that the methodology demands a high level of human and financial capacity. In a situation where the pool of qualified human resources is already strained, not all countries can afford to set up a full scale national agency. In fact, it is not justifiable for countries with small tertiary education systems.
The process is as important as the outcome. Experience from institutions within case study countries shows that the self-assessment process (at institutional or unit level) has positive effects on the culture of quality within an institution or unit. Because it is conducted within a collegial atmosphere without any pressure from an external body, the self-assessment fosters social cohesion and teamwork among staff and also enhances staff accountability of the results of the process. More concretely, self-assessment also helps institutions to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, while generating awareness of key performance indicators. The process of self-assessment is widely seen as the most valuable aspect of quality assurance reviews because it helps institutions to build capacity from within. This capacity-building function of self-assessment is valuable in any context, but it is particularly important in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa where capacity remains very weak. Selfassessment is also less costly than accreditation and can be conveniently planned within an institution's annual calendar. Thus, irrespective of whether a country has a full-scale national QA agency or not, regular self-assessments at the institutional and unit levels are the backbone of a viable quality assurance system. This therefore calls for very effective quality assurance managers to be able to harness the human resource capacity of their directorates. This effectiveness will call for innovative approaches such as the application of emotional intelligence in the management of the directorate units in the various universities. The standards being applied by national QA agencies are mainly input-based with little attention being paid to process, outputs and outcomes. However, in almost all countries, no link between quality assurance results and funding allocations can be found. The most common QA standards in the case studies are mission and vision, academic programs, library resources, physical and technological resources, number and qualifications of staff, number of students and their entry qualifications, and financial resources (relative to number of students). The study found no evidence of output standards such as through-put ratio (percent of a cohort that graduates within a specified time) or volume and quality of research. There was also no evidence of any link between quality assurance results and funding allocations to institutions or units.

Why quality higher education is so important in Africa
Increasing importance of tertiary education to competitiveness and economic development cannot be overstated. Changes brought about by the transition to a knowledge economy www.intechopen.com have created a demand for higher skill levels in most occupations. A new range of competences such as adaptability, team work, communication skills and the motivation for continual learning have become critical. Thus, countries wishing to move towards the knowledge economy are challenged to undertake reforms to raise the quality of education and training through changes in content and pedagogy. Recent studies have demonstrated that for developing countries, higher education can play a key "catch-up" role in accelerating the rate of growth towards a county's productivity potential (Bloom, Canning, and Chan 2006). The international community is also paying increased attention to this new thinking. The World Bank's Africa Action Plan (2005)  Higher Education is critical to achieving the EFA and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Higher Education institutions educate people in a wide range of disciplines which are key to effective implementation of MDGs. These include the core areas of health, agriculture, science and technology, engineering, social sciences and research. In addition, through research and advisory services, they contribute to shaping national and international policies. Supporting other levels of education and buttressing other skill levels.
Higher education plays a key role in supporting other levels of education (Hanushek and Wossmann 2007). This ranges from the production of teachers for secondary schools and other tertiary education institutions, to the training of managers of education and conducting research aimed at improving the performance of the sector. According to a recent study, low quality or lack of a critical mass of graduates at the secondary school level reduces the productivity of tertiary-educated workers and dampens the overall incentives for education investments (Ramcharan 2004). The study also shows that the presence of tertiary-educated workers in the workplace raises the productivity of medium-skills workers. Increasing the value of investments to expand access. The challenge for Africa in creating knowledge economies is to improve the quality of tertiary education and at the same time increase the number of people trained at high quality levels in appropriate fields. The record to date in this area is not particularly good. Examples abound of rapid growth in the number of students in higher education while at the same time higher education quality drops substantially.

Quality assurance within higher education institutions
Within institutions of higher learning, use of external examiners, self-evaluation and academic audits are the most common forms of quality assurance processes. Institutions readily accept self-assessment because it empowers them and their staff to take charge of the quality of their performance without the pressure usually associated with an external review. Self-assessment also helps institutions to identify their own strengths and weaknesses, while generating awareness of key performance indicators. As noted above, it is the process of self-assessment that is widely seen as the most valuable aspect of quality assurance processes. The capacity-building function of self-assessment is particularly important in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa where capacity remains very weak. In a few institutions (for example, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania), these processes existed even before the stablishment of national QA agencies. At present, self-evaluation is increasingly being done as preparation for accreditation (for example, in Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania). However, expertise in conducting self evaluation/academic audits is limited within Africa. Strengthening professional capacity (through initiatives involving capacity development in EI) in these areas is a major recommendation of this study.
The shortage of qualified personnel is one of the major constraints to developing widespread and effective quality assurance practices in the region. Some outputs of higher education are more easily measured than others. The challenge addressed in this study is to consider how to embed a quality culture within a university that is manifested by a university-wide commitment to a shared vision and a desire for continuous improvement (Ayiro,2011) and then identify indicators that show this has been achieved. Gauging this is far more problematic than, for example, assessing whether explicitly stated learning outcomes have been achieved or whether the occupancy rates of university buildings are increasing. In order to lay strategies that could lead to the successful embedding of a quality culture, issues related to quality assurance and quality enhancement will be examined and effective leadership provided beyond shear management. It will be argued that there should be a concentration on one of the core activities of universities, i.e. teaching and learning, in order to have greater success in achieving quality improvements and embedding a quality culture. The directors of quality assurance must therefore embrace innovative approaches of management in pursuit of quality in the universities. As Mayer et al. (2000b) proposes a high level of EI might enable a leader to be better able to monitor how work group members are feeling, and take the appropriate action. It is the argument of this paper that embracing emotional intelligence constructs will enhance leadership in this area of quality assurance.

Participants
The study involved administering the Mayer Salovey Caruso emotional intelligence test (MSCEIT) EI test to 75 Quality Assurance Managers in Kenyan universities. There were 25 female and 50 male. Ratings of managerial leadership effectiveness were assessed via junior staff ratings on an attitude survey detailing questions relating to manager performance. Altogether data were collated from a total of 150 (with an average age of 42.7 years with 45 percent having earned a postgraduate degree) survey responses.

Measures
The MSCEIT measures an individual's overall level of EI and their ability levels in relation to the four branches of the model: perceiving emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and managing emotions.
The MSCEIT consists of 141 items that provide 15 scores: total EI score, two area scores, four branch scores and eight task scores. Research has suggested the MSCEIT has good reliability (Brackett and Mayer, 2003;Lopes et al., 2003;Mayer et al., 2004) and a supported factor structure (Day and Carroll, 2004;Mayer et al., 2000b). Altogether 75 quality assurance managers took the MSCEIT in a pencil and paper format. A total of 150 employee survey www.intechopen.com Emotional Intelligence and Leadership -A Case for Quality Assurance Managers in Kenyan Universities 109 responses were accumulated for data analysis. The employee response per supervisor ranged from 1 to 2.

Procedures and Data Analysis
Part of the survey involved deploying attitude surveys to assess employee perceptions of among other things managerial performance of quality assurance officers. Validity and reliability evidence was provided by a pilot test before full-scale university wide implementation occurred. Each survey was identical and contained 12 questions under the section headings of "managerial leadership" "working conditions" and "training". High response rates were realized (over 79 per cent) and therefore reduced potential bias due to non-respondents. The attitudinal survey adopted a 5-point Likert-type scale ("1 = strongly disagree" to "5 = strongly agree"), and consisted of several questions relating to the perceived performance effectiveness of their respective Quality Assurance Managers.

Results
A stratification of the MSCEIT scores is necessary to allow for the hierarchical nature of the construct. For example, experiential EI comprises both the perceiving emotions and using emotions branches. Figure 1 shows the hierarchical levels of the MSCEIT factor structure.  The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is a measure of the linear relationship between two variables and is the most frequently used measure of association between variables. As expected a number of positive correlations were found between MSCEIT scores and manager ratings (e.g. perceiving emotions, r = 0.53, p, 0.01; using emotions branch, r = 0.57, p, 0.001). Of Interest was the fact that both the understanding and managing emotions branch scores, and their corresponding reasoning EI domain, did not reflect a significant relationship in so far as manager ratings by the employees was concerned.

Discussion
Data analysis found that the total EI score displayed a strong positive correlation with manager ratings (r = 0.41, p, 0.001). The results indicate that 16.8 per cent of the variation in supervisor ratings can be attributed to the supervisor's total emotional intelligence score. The American Psychological Association's (APA) taskforce on psychological testing asserted that psychologists studying highly complex human behaviour should be rather satisfied with correlations in the r = 0.10 to 0.20 range, and that these outcomes of correlations in the region 0.25-0.35 are indeed convincing (Meyer et al., 2001).
As far as the MSCEIT domain scores are concerned, the Experiential Emotional Intelligence (EEI) score was found to be highly correlated with manager ratings (r = 0.56, p, 0.001), whereas the Reasoning Emotional Intelligence ( REI ) score displayed no significant correlation (r = 0.082). These results indicate that the EEI limb of the MSCEIT accounts for almost all significance in the relationship between Total EI (TEI) and manager ratings. The r ² value rises from 16.8 per cent for TEI at MSCEIT factor level 1, to 31.4 per cent for the EEI at MSCEIT factor level 2. This suggests that whereas the TEI score can predict 16.8 per cent of the variation in manager ratings the EEI score alone can predict 31.4 per cent of the variation. This increase, along with the lack of any significant statistical relationship found between REI scores and manager ratings (REI: r = 0. 08 2), indicates that the REI value does not possess any significant predictive power in regards to manager ratings. Indeed, these findings suggest that when the REI score is added to the EEI score (to create the overall TEI value) the REI score dilutes the overall level of correlation with the dependent variable, thus we witness a reduction in the value of r ².
The perceiving emotions branch refers to the ability to recognize how an individual and those around the individual are feeling and this involves the capacity to perceive and to express feelings (Mayer et al., 2002, p. 19). Perceiving emotions branch scores displayed a high positive correlation with manager ratings (r = 0.53, p, 0.001). The r 2 value indicates that managers' respective perceiving emotions branch scores can account for 28.1 per cent of the variance in manager ratings. These findings indicate that the individuals they manage view managers who are adept at perceiving emotions as more effective in their managerial role. The using emotions branch of the MSCEIT involves using emotions to enhance reasoning (Mayer et al., 2001). The branch aims to measure how much a respondent's thoughts and other cognitive activities are informed by their experience of emotions. Using emotions branch scores displayed a highly significant positive correlation with manager ratings (r= 0.57, p, 0.001). Indeed, the regression coefficient for the using branch was more significant than all other branches (r 2 = 0.281; Table 1). Perceiving emotions and using emotions had the greatest overall impact on manager ratings. The understanding emotions branch assesses an www.intechopen.com individual's ability to understand emotions and to reason with emotional knowledge . High levels of emotional understanding enable superior comprehension of the advantages and disadvantages of future actions , andmore effective self-management of emotions, particularly negative emotions (Mischel and DeSmet, 2000). Surprisingly, understanding emotions branch scores had a nonsignificant positive correlation with manager ratings (r = 0.34). These findings indicate that the level of managerial emotional understanding, as measured by the MSCEIT, has little bearing on employee perceptions of manager effectiveness. Matthews et al. (2002) propose that expert knowledge of appropriate emotional behaviour does not necessarily translate into the actual application of emotionally appropriate behaviour. They argue that an emotionally inept scholar of emotion is not an oxymoronic amalgam of expertise and action. This study suggests that an individual's greater understanding of how emotions may change over time and a greater emotional vocabulary does not necessarily translate into superior emotional behaviour. Swift (2002) found that an individual's increased awareness of the potentially negative impact of their behaviour had little impact on the actual behaviour they subsequently displayed. Therefore, it seems an individual may be able to identify the most socially effective behaviour to engage in but may be unwilling or unable to pursue such a course of action.
The managing emotions branch is viewed as the most advanced emotional ability within the ability-based model (Mayer et al., 2000), and therefore, has the potentially greatest impact on the management function (George, 2000). However, the actual results of the data analysis on the managing emotions branch scores are contrary to expectations. Correlation analysis identified no significant correlations between managing emotions branch scores and manager ratings (r = -0.11). The correlation, though non-significant, was also in an opposite direction than expected (negative instead of positive). The managing emotions branch and corresponding tasks were the only factorial components of the MSCEIT to display a negative relationship with manager ratings. Measuring an individual's ability to manage emotions is intrinsically more difficult than other branches of the ability model. Earlier branches of the MSCEIT are easier to assess as they have fewer parameters to consider (Mayer et al., 2004) and are accompanied by an established body of related knowledge, such as coding emotional expressions for perceiving emotions (Ekman and Davidson, 1994), how emotions impact on cognition for using emotions (Salovey and Birnbaum, 1989) and delineating emotional understanding for understanding emotions (Ortony et al., 1988). Mayer et al. (2004) believe that test items within theMSCEIT can be operationalised in such a fashion that there are more-or-less correct answers. However, Lopes et al. (2003) accede that ability tests of EI cannot encompass all the skills that contribute to people's capacity for emotional regulation. Emotional regulation includes both reactive and proactive coping requiring all sorts of skills, including analytical, creative, and practical competencies (Frijda, 1999). The managing emotions branch tasks are, in principal, closer to a self-reporting format than any other section of the MSCEIT. Whereas the other tasks focus on an individual determining what they thought was the "right" (i.e. correct) answer, the managing emotions tasks asked respondents to place themselves within a situation and identify which behaviour would be most socially effective to engage in. An individual's ability to regulate their emotions is not truly tested. The individual is to a large extent detached from the actual emotional stimulation the situation would invoke, allowing the individual to answer questions from an "emotional vacuum". Thus, the Managing Emotions branch seems vulnerable to similar criticisms applied to other self-report tests, that is, selfreported ability and actual ability are only minimally correlated in the realm of intelligence research (Davies et al., 1998;Mayer et al., 2000b). However, it must be noted that there is a lack of research supporting this proposition.

Implications of EI for Human Resource Development (HRD) research and practice in higher education
The implications of EI for HRD research and practice are captured under this section in addition to aspects of the effect of HRD and EI on individual and organizational productivity, EI and leadership development, and the relationship between EI and job performance. The need for organizations such as universities to invest in people through HRD programs, EI activities, and promotion of the development of social capital to remain competitive and succeed in the current knowledge-based economy characterized by uncertainty and inevitable change is critical. The research linking HRD and performance improvement is a relatively new body of literature and has endeavoured to integrate economic theories, psychological theories, and systems thinking models (Nafukho, Hairston, & Brooks, 2004;Nafukho & Hinton, 2003;Pate, Martin, Beaumont, & McGoldrick, 2000;Swanson, 1999). The current literature specifically linking HRD, EI, social capital, and organizational productivity is limited at best (Brooks & Nafukho, 2006). Although a universally accepted definition of HRD is nonexistent, several scholars have attempted to identify its essential elements. For instance, McLagan and Suhadolink (1989) grouped organization development, training and development, and career development as the primary foci of HRD. Swanson and Holton (2001) define HRD as "a process for developing and unleashing human expertise through organization development and personnel training and development for the purpose of improving performance" (p. 4). This definition is more inclined toward individuals, organizations, and work groups or teams. An exploratory study of the definitions of HRD concluded that HRD's definitions were culturally influenced and varied internationally in scope of activities, intended audiences, and beneficiaries (McLean et al., 2003;McLean & McLean, 2001;Weinberger, 1998). Social capital theory has emerged from sociology as a potential influence on performance at the individual, process, and organizational levels. Social capital can be expressed as "the resources embedded in social networks accessed and used actors . . . and can also be envisioned as investment by individuals in interpersonal relationships useful in the markets" (Lin, 2001, p. 25). Coleman (1990) explains that in social capital, the social relationships are relations with predictive capacity and can be used to create something of value. Unlike human capital and traditional organizational assets, social capital is unique in that it is developed by and is a result of meaningful social relationships that individuals invest in creating together over time (Storberg-Walker, 2002). In her excellent review of the evolution of social capital theory, Storberg-Walker (2002) indicates that like human capital theory and HRD, conflicting definitions and rationale for its measurement can be found in the management, sociology, and HRD literature. However, Lin (2001) suggested that although definitions may differ, most scholars agree that social capital "benefits both the collective and individuals of the collective" (pp. 11-13).
During the past 15 years, new technology has allowed breakthroughs in brain research that have increased our understanding about the mutual interaction between feelings (affect) and cognition (thought). Defining the nature and significance of this interplay between thought and emotion is at the heart of the emerging research on EI. HRD professionals continually grapple with the issues associated with organizing, motivating, enhancing, and evaluating human activity; EI research can inform HRD practices to this end within organizations. Fineman (2000) noted that "feelings shape and lubricate social transactions; hence emotional intelligence as an organizational development tool is widely accepted among managers, consultants, and practitioners as a means for solving problems and enhancing social capital" (pp. 1-24).

Utilization of EI in HRD issues
Organizations continue the search for innovative approaches to increase their competitive advantage in this knowledge-based economic era, which is defined by the utilization of people's talent. According to Appleby and Mavin (2000), "the unique positioning of each individual organization provides that difference through its culture and the human resources. It is human capability and commitment which distinguish successful organizations from the rest" (p. 555). They further suggest that people, and the way they are managed and deployed, are the single most sustainable source of competitive advantage (Appleby & Mavin, 2000). As noted, other advantages, such as technology, global reach, or IT systems, can all be copied and exceeded by competitors. The current drive for differentiation is to generate ideas and innovation through the organization's human resources (Appleby & Mavin, 2000). Appleby and Mavin lastly highlighted the fact that "ideas are now the DNA of organizations and therefore learning and development of people become crucial to economic survival" (p. 555). Statements like these reinforce the importance of HRD to the strategic initiatives of the enterprise. It is widely held that we live in a knowledge age. However, there is evidence that the ideas or innovation era has emerged. In an ideas or innovation era, individuals and organizations with the capacity to create and re-create themselves and their outputs are rewarded by developing and sustaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace, and HRD becomes the delivery system of individual and organizational development on which such organizations depend.
Furthermore, just as the human pulmonary system is affected by the type of inhalants to which it is exposed, the organizational climate is reactive to the emotions that are evident within the workplace. Organizations are illustrative of open-loop systems, those systems that depend on external sources to sustain themselves (Goleman et al., 2002). At the individual level, individuals rely on others for emotional stability while subsequently influencing the emotions of others. For example, displays of toxic emotions such as rage and unbridled coercion can contribute to negativity and impede collaboration, innovation, and good performance (Ayiro, 2010). Whereas positive emotions promote collaboration and feedback, these elements are essential too for innovation and productivity and improved performance in the workplace.

The relationship between EI and job performance
One of the largest areas of contention within the EI research community appears to relate to the impact of job performance. Some researchers have argued that the currently available data on EI as it relates to job performance may demonstrate a disconnect because it represents in fact emotional competencies that affect job performance. In this vein, Abraham (2004) wrote: As emotional intelligence is the composite of 27 competencies, and as the competencies themselves never have been tested separately to determine their ability to predict superior performance, it is possible that the weak relationship between emotional intelligence and performance may result from the suppression of effects of some competencies with little or no impact on performance by others. (p. 121) Arguments such as this focus on EI's overall representation of composite emotional competencies without addressing those specific competencies that may actually be the catalyst for success. However, there is an overwhelming amount of research that supports EI's ability to predict performance. Specific measurement tools such as the MSCEIT V.02 have been designed to incorporate emotional competency (abilitybased measurement) into reports of ability branches as well as the general EI measurement score. Researchers have found that an employee's ability to perceive his and other's emotions, to understand the implications of such emotions, and to regulate and manage emotion as described by EI has a direct impact on job performance. Furthermore, current research provides evidence that EI exists independently from other forms of intelligence (Carmeli, 2006;Lam & Kirby, 2002;Rosete & Ciarrochi, 2005). A study of 126 undergraduates who were placed in stressful situations were asked to accomplish mathematical problem solving and oratory presentations. It was found that the EI levels of these students positively predicted the performance of the assigned task ithin the stressful environment (Lyons & Scheneider, 2005). Research studies have even attempted to explore relationships between EI, an employee's sense of spirituality, and workplace performance (Tischler, Biberman, & McKeage, 2002). There is great interest in thinking out of the box to discover previously untapped areas for increased organizational performance. Research thus indicates that direct links between emotion and organizational performance have been established. In a study examining the relationship between a leader's mood and its impact on organizational productivity and performance, researchers determined that the employees working under a manager with a positive mood were likely to experience positive moods. These employees also demonstrated a more positive affective tone. It was ultimately discovered that leaders with positive moods supported a more cohesive work environment and expended a great deal less energy than did leaders with a negative mood, for similar results in productivity (Sy, Côté, S., Miners, & Saavedra, 2005). Further studies have even determined that EI predicts positive increased task performance in specific areas as cognitive levels of intelligence decrease (Côté & Miners, 2006).
In a study of the predictability of EI to sales outcomes, Rozell, Pettijohn, and Parker (2006) determined that positive or negative sales productivity was significantly related to EI. The effects of psychologically based intervention programs have been the subject of research for many years. The overwhelming consensus is that psychosocially based workplace training programs can significantly increase organizational effectiveness (Guzzo, Jette, & Katzell, 1985). It should come as no surprise then that with the increase in interest in the effects and predictive abilities of EI to increase organizational performance, many studies have focused their attention on the effect of EI on leader or follower performance outcomes (Wong & Law, 2002). The fact that EI demonstrates the ability to identify and manage both one's own emotions and the emotions of others allows for the use of such concepts as goal www.intechopen.com Emotional Intelligence and Leadership -A Case for Quality Assurance Managers in Kenyan Universities 115 identification as a vital component of EI methodology in an effort to improve workplace performance levels (Brett & VandeWalle, 1999). This further strengthens the need for Quality Assurance Managers in the university to undergo capacity development in the area of EI.

Assumptions and limitations
This study sought to determine the degree of association between Quality Assurance Managers EI and the performance of the Quality Assurance Managers as rated by their immediate subordinates. It is assumed that the university councils whose mandate is to recruit university staff has ensured that any Quality Assurance Manager working in the university has satisfied the required academic and professional certifications and requirements to be placed in his or her current position as the Quality Assurance Managers. It was further assumed that the academic and training programs from which these Quality Assurance Managers received their administrative training were of even and global standards. There are multiple factors that may affect a quality directorate to do well (Ayiro, 2010). A Quality Assurance Manager's cognitive abilities would have an impact on university success with regard to quality imperatives. Specific aspects of a Quality Assurance Manager such as previous educational and training experiences will influence university success levels. Other factors may include variations in the macroeconomic context in the country/ university at any given time. This study did not address the Quality Assurance Managers' staff on issues such as experience, education, or interest, and/or motivation to be creative in helping the directorate achieve desirable quality attainments for the university.
Depending on the university's operational systems, Quality Assurance Managers do have varying degrees of interactions with students, management, and staff, which could have had an impact on the success of the quality function in the university. Issues of support for the Quality Assurance Managers were also not explored within this study. The final limitation of the study is the restricted scope of variables measured. There are several competencies not related to EI that are extremely important to leadership success that were not measured. Variables such as motivation, technical skills, experience, and extent of one's network can all lead to increased levels of success in leadership in various situations and these competencies were not accounted for in this study. The small size of the sample studied also limits the generalization of the findings of the study.

Conclusion
The aim of this investigation was to determine the relationship between managerial EI of personnel in the quality assurance directorates (as measured by the MSCEIT) and a rating of their effectiveness (by their subordinates). The overall results of the data analysis indicate that an individual's EI may indeed be a key determinant of effective leadership. Employee perceptions of manager effectiveness are strongly related to the EI of the manager. The results suggest that half of the MSCEIT scores may act as significantly large predictors of manager ratings Mayer et al., 2000;Meyer et al., 2001). This being the case then the results supports the inclusion and consideration of a manager's level of EI within the recruitment and selection and the training and development process for managerial personnel for the quality assurance departments in the universities.
Even in the absence of external accreditation, institutional academic reviews (academic audits) are an effective way to introduce a culture of quality into an institution. A necessary pre-requisite is training of staff in self-evaluation and peer-reviewing. The need for investment in EI development in the quality assurance managers in the universities is therefore necessary. Involvement of peer reviewers from other institutions within or outside the country in self-assessment exercises can enrich the process, but selection must be done carefully to justify the high costs involved. Experience from the case studies shows that establishment of a dedicated quality assurance unit within an institution helps to ensure monitoring and evaluation of QA processes, maintains institutional memory and ensures implementation of recommended quality improvement measures.