“Emotions in Organizations: Joint Laughter in Workplace Meetings” Critical Essay

Introduction

The article ‘Emotions in Organizations: Joint Laughter in Workplace Meetings’ has it core purpose on the role of laughter in workplace especially between leaders and members. According to the authors, laughter enhances relationships between leaders and members in meetings at the workplace. The methodology employed by the article is conversational analysis, which uses participant observation to collect data.

During the research, significant findings substantiate the role of laughter in enhancing interactions between leaders and members in workplace meetings. The authors conclude by explaining some of the limitations and the roles that laughter plays in contemporary organizations.

Fundamentally, the authors have the requisite qualifications. While Kangasharju is a professor at the Department of Communication and Languages in Helsinki School of Economics, Nikko works in the same department as the director. The intended audiences influenced by the research are human resources of organizations, which comprise leaders and members.

Body

In the article, the authors present the research problem clearly and explain that organizations have downplayed the essence of laughter in interactions and workplace meetings for a long time. The authors assert the significance that laughter has in enhancing workplace meetings and interaction between leaders and members.

In addition, the article examines the role that laugher plays and becomes practical in amplifying the understanding on the various roles that laughter has in a respective organization. According to Wilder (80) as well as Hellriegel and Slocum (140), laughter is one of the core components that leaders can use to promote teamwork and achieve organizational objectives in a workplace.

To compound the significance of the article, the authors identify core issues and explain some of the terminologies that it used in the research. Some of the core variables include laugher, its role, and the context of its employment. Consequently, the appendix explains the terminologies used by the research.

The amount of literature provided by the authors in the article is substantial and adequate. It is notable to state that the authors use past studies to explain the research problem in question. Wrenn, Stevens, and Loudon, explain that smart authors employ past sources, which usually comprise secondary and primary research to present the focus of their study (71).

Therefore, by using primary and secondary sources of information that pertain to the respective field of research, the authors augment the essence of the article. The researchers use adequate literature review to create a situational position on the focus of the article.

For instance, the researchers commence by explaining the overall role played by emotion, the focus of several past research, and thereafter explain the role that laugher plays in employee and leader interactions. Through the gradual procedure used by the authors, readers can easily grasp the purpose of the research in a steady manner.

Although the researchers do not use research objectives, they use questions that follow an organized and clear design. Exceptional design and organization of research questions is evident in the use of sufficient literature review and extracts that compound the essence of laughter in workplace meetings. Since the methodology used in the article is conversational analysis, it limits the presence of research hypothesis (Hmelo-Sliver, Chinn, Chan, and O’Donnell 171; Ammon 1574).

The researchers give a succinct explanation on the methodology used in the article, a factor that results in a clear identification of the respective method. However, the authors do not provide sufficient limitations on the chosen methodology. In effect, the researchers proceed to give their findings without mentioning the limitations that the chosen methodology presents in the course of data collection.

Validity and reliability of the instruments, which comprise videos emanate from the fact that they provide information that is easy to study and understand.

Principally, the researchers give a precise elaboration of the major findings presented by the study. The findings are a reflection of the objectives and play an integral role in addressing the research questions that the article set to tackle. For instance, extract number one, which is useful in addressing the first question regarding the use of laugher in commencing a meeting and creating closeness between leaders and members (Kangasharju and Nikko 100).

As such, the research questions used in the article are critical in providing the requisite information on the issues raised by the article. To support the findings, the researchers provide data in the form of extracts collected during the study.

The extracts are a composition of conversations between leaders and members from the Finish, German, and Swedish individuals working in the sampled corporation. In essence, these extracts are important as they play a crucial role in addressing the question that the research wants to address. The results that the study collects make the conclusions of the authors valid and reliable.

Conclusion

Apparently, the research is suitable and sufficient in improvement of organizational interactions and productive meetings between leaders and members. The findings of the research and the report provided by the article demonstrate a close relationship. In effect, the close relationship transpires from the utilization of extracts that have recorded conversations on use of laughter in workplace meetings. Sensitivity in cultural aspects is also evident in the research.

When the researchers mention the nationalities of the individuals sampled by the study as well as some of the cultural elements present in their characters, the cultural components come into the limelight. As such, the article is important in the study of issues concerning the role of laugher in workplace meetings and interactions between leaders and members.

Works Cited

Ammon, Ulrich. Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Print.

Hellriegel, Don, and John Slocum. Organizational Behavior. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Hmelo-Sliver, Cindy, Clark Chinn, Carol Chan, and Angela O’Donnell. The International Handbook of Collaborative Learning. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

Kangasharju, Helena, and Tuija Nikko. “Emotions in Organizations: Joint Laughter in Workplace Meetings.” Journal of Business Communication 46. 1 (2009):100-119. Print.

Wilder, Ronald. The ABC’s of Leadership: Principles for Personal Development. New York: WestBow Press, 2015. Print.

Wrenn, Bruce, Robert Stevens, and David Loudon. Marketing Research: Text and Cases. London: Psychology Press, 2007. Print.