Emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial orientation

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of managers' emotional intelligence, organizational climate and employees' creativity on industrial small to medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs') entrepreneurial orientation.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey methodology was adopted to collect data from industrial SMEs' owner‐managers in Jordan. A sample of 317 managers from 418 SMEs, located at three Jordanian industrial estates, was used. Data were analyzed using AMOS 16.0 to determine the interactions between the various factors.FindingsEmpirical findings confirmed that managers' emotional intelligence, organizational climate and employees' creativity had a positive direct effect on industrial SMEs' entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, managers' emotional intelligence had a positive direct effect on organizational climate. In turn organizational climate had a positive direct effect on employees' creativity.Practical implicationsThe current study could be useful to managers to understand the role of emotional intelligence, organizational climate and employees' creativity, as important antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation, in encouraging entrepreneurial culture towards enhancing the company's entrepreneurial orientation level, and the possible positive effect it could have on their organizations' success.Originality/valueThis study advanced the literature in the field of entrepreneurship by testing a new model of entrepreneurial orientation that links between managers' emotional intelligence, organizational climate and employees' creativity as antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation in the context of industrial SMEs. While such perspective is considerably new and relevant to general marketing literature, the fact that this paper is one of few papers that focus on entrepreneurial orientation in Jordan adds to its originality.