Perspectives

The Influence of Emotional

Intelligence on Entrepreneurial
Orientation of Enterprises
owned by Women Entrepreneur
by Shailja Dixit & Sana Moid
Abstract
Successful entrepreneurial activity is imperative for a healthy economy and is a major source for its growth and
sustainability. Though deeply researched, researchers still continue to explore the factors that why some
entrepreneurial ventures are more successful than others. Researchers have tried to unlock the secret and classified
successful entrepreneurs on their personality types and cognitive processing. It was also analysed that Intelligence
and Emotions are the two basic factors that control and influence personality traits that results in the growth of
entrepreneurial potential. In the modern world of entrepreneurs emotions are carefully crafting its niche. These
emotional skills can be cultivated into extraordinary success in the entrepreneurial world.
The increasing growth of women entrepreneurs all over the world has disapproved the myth that entrepreneurship is
associated with men. Entrepreneurial Orientation of men and women entrepreneurs owned enterprise remarkably
differentiates in terms of their personality, working style, outlook and approach towards entrepreneurial situations
and social interactions and leadership. This result in difference in the functioning and orientation of the enterprise
they own.
Women are born with innate sense of Emotional Intelligence- nurturing, care giving, teaching, and empathising with
individual and the institution. Does possessing higher degree of Emotional Intelligence the key for the success and
growth of women entrepreneurs? However, to date, the relationship between emotional intelligence, gender and
entrepreneurship success has been scarcely examined. Thus the present study tries to investigate the role of
emotional intelligence for women entrepreneurs' growth and success and explains how they strike the perfect
balance between individual and social skills, leading enterprise to new heights.

Keywords
Emotional Intelligence, Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial Success, Entrepreneurial Orientation.

Introduction
During rapid changes through communication technologies in knowledge based economy, the knowledge &
thought strength is rapidly replacing the arm strength. Human thought and emotions has been valued more than before. It
has been found that, positive emotions influence an entrepreneur's ability to turn their past experiences into present
solutions through heuristic processing and deal effectively with the persistent stress. According to Boren (2010), emotional
intelligence has implications for entrepreneurial situations and social interactions such as negotiation, obtaining and
organizing resources, identifying and exploiting opportunities, managing stress, obtaining and maintaining customers, and
providing leadership. In their study on emotional intelligence of entrepreneurs, Rhee and White (2007) found that
entrepreneurs with high Emotional Intelligence demonstrated high level of self-confidence, trustworthiness, achievement
orientation, service orientation, change catalyst, teamwork and collaboration.

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 Perspectives
The entrepreneurship experience, for men and analyse the variables involved in entrepreneur and
women both, is said to be an extreme experience with full entrepreneurial process.
of uncertainty, ambiguity and stress, where only those
with strong entrepreneurial characteristics can survive Theoretical Framework
and sustain. Recent times have seen researchers focusing Examining Entrepreneurs
on personal qualities of the entrepreneur that develop The roots of entrepreneurship can be traced
outstanding businesses. Entrepreneurs' Emotional back several centuries to 1734, when economist
Intelligence is positively related to entrepreneurs' Cantillon coined the term 'entrepreneur' to describe the
intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration risk-taking activities of farmers within the economy
and entrepreneurs' charismatic inspirational (cited in Schumpeter, 1934). While the farmers paid both
behaviours. The findings extend the literature by their landlords and farm assistants 'certain' incomes,
suggesting that entrepreneurs' Emotional Intelligence is they themselves accepted 'uncertain' in-comes for the
a “latent” emotional capability that impacts their future. Thus, the farmers were taking risks to reap future
transformational leadership orientation. It is also economic benefits, and so, they were acting as
suggested that by employing charismatic-inspirational 'entrepreneurs' (Schumpeter, 1934). The theories most
behaviours, entrepreneurs demonstrate their ability to commonly applied in research on entrepreneurship are
enlist and manage followers' emotions and hence McClelland's (1961) theory of the need to achieve, and
influence growth. Rotter's (1966) locus of control theory. McClelland's
There is increasing growth in the new ventures theory suggests that individuals with a strong need to
that are created globally. There are over 850,000 new achieve often find their way to entrepreneurship. Rotter's
businesses launched in the United States every year, and theory suggests that the locus of control of an individual
new entrepreneurs get credit for launching 84% of those can be seen as either internal or external. The internal
businesses (Price, 2006; Zimmerer, Scarborough, & control expectation is related to learning and thus
Wilson, 2007). According to World Bank report in 2012, motivates and supports active striving, while the external
an estimated 126 million women were starting or control expectation impedes learning and encourages
running new businesses in 67 economies around the passivity. An internal control expectation is usually
world. In addition, an estimated 98 million were running associated with entrepreneurial characteristics
established businesses. The important aspect is that the (Littunen, 2000).
entire new venture created does not succeed and fail in Schumpeter mentioned “The function of the
their initial stage of growth but with due course of time entrepreneur is to reform or revolutionise the pattern of
they fail or succeed. It is interesting to see whether set of production by exploiting an invention or, more generally,
personality characteristics of an entrepreneur has direct an untried technological method of producing a new
connection with the success or failure of the venture. commodity or producing an old one in new way, opening
The challenging world of entrepreneurship a new source of supply of materials or a new outlet for
demand a strong emotion for entrepreneurs to embrace products, by organizing a new industry.”, (Schumpeter
the challenges they are facing every day from the 1952, p 72).
stakeholders be their employees, customers, suppliers,
government, agencies and the list goes on. Studies have Women Entrepreneurs
shown that women entrepreneurs with higher Emotional “Female entrepreneurs are defined as those who
Intelligence tend to perform better. use their knowledge and resources to develop or create
new business opportunities, who are actively involved in
Purpose of Study managing their businesses, and own at least 50 per cent
The primary purpose of this study is to analyse of the business and have been in operation for longer
relationship between Emotional Intelligence and than a year” (Moore & Buttner, 1997 in Farr-Wharton &
Entrepreneurial Orientation and to analyse the role of Brunetto, 2009: 2). This is one of the definitions present,
Emotional Intelligence in the growth of successful although it does not fit to the situation now. The
women entrepreneur. pull/push model is a common way of explaining different
The research highlights the key difference in men and motives behind why women start a business (Brush,
women entrepreneurs and their personality 1999; Buttner & Moore, 1997). Push factors refer to
characteristics that forms the basis of entrepreneurial necessities such as unemployment, glass ceiling,
orientation. A detailed literature review is done to redundancy, recession, financial reasons (inadequate

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 Perspectives
differing need of firms in undertaking entrepreneurial (Miller, 1983, p. 782). Drucker (1985) suggested that the
strategy-making; which is dependent upon the entrepreneur's personality is a key internal factor that
environment, structure and leader. As such, varying drives a firm to commit to the systematic practice of
levels of Entrepreneurial Orientation may be necessary innovation, by deciding how to satisfy opportunity with
to perform (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). The link between innovation. Covin & Slevin (1991) reaffirmed the
Entrepreneurial Orientation and performance can, on an influence of an owner-manager's 'personality' and
abstract level, be interpreted as follows: Entrepreneurial emphasized its strong and direct impact on the
Orientation is a dynamic capability that can lead to entrepreneurial potential, behaviour, and effectiveness of
valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable resource firms. Herron (1990) showed that an entrepreneur's skill
combinations (Alvarez & Busenitz, 2001). and skill propensity are associated with new venture
performance. Zahra (1993) suggested that managers'
The Entrepreneur's Personality and backgrounds, values and experiences influence factors
Entrepreneurship within a firm, and thus hold a marked effect on the firm's
Several researchers (e.g. Mintzberg, 1973; entrepreneurial posture which comprises its
Miller, 1983; Drucker, 1985; Covin & Slevin, 1991; Zahra, entrepreneurial strategy-making processes (Lumpkin &
1993) have demonstrated evidence that the firm's Dess, 1996), leading to entrepreneurship.
entrepreneurial outcomes is directly associated to In recent years, researchers (e.g. Cross &
'personality' of the entrepreneur. While numerous Travaglione, 2003; Zamptenakis et al., 2009) have begun
insights about this connection have been suggested by to apply Emotional Intelligence to the field of
scholars, there remains ample opportunity for further entrepreneurship, suggesting that Emotional
contribution. Intelligence contributes positively toward an individual's
The entrepreneur's personality is comprised of entrepreneurial behaviour. Taken together, these ideas
his/her psychological characteristics. Upon examining demonstrate how, in theory, an entrepreneur's Emotional
literature within psychology and entrepreneurship, it Intelligence is likely to, via the entrepreneurial process;
was revealed that the personality of an entrepreneur is affect the Entrepreneurial Orientation of the company.
situated at the heart of decision-making, and therefore, Furthermore, considering that the entrepreneur position
strategy-making which ultimately leads to the fate of the power enables him/her to guide the direction of a
venture. This 'chain', called the entrepreneurial process, venture, the entrepreneurs perception of his/her firm's
proceeds as follows; any characteristic that influences Entrepreneurial Orientation is valuable.
the entrepreneur's perception of his/her surrounding
environment can influence his/her choice of action Cognitive and Emotional Interrelation
(Shaver & Scott, 1991). This occurs by first influencing Within psychological research, emotional and
decision-making, which informs strategy-making (Das, cognitive processes have often been studied together,
2008), which, depending on its nature, can be defined as because they are complexly interactive (Gohm, 2004).
entrepreneurial or otherwise. When such strategy- According to Das (2008) rationality needed for personal
making is entrepreneurial, this can lead to actions and business decision-making is bounded by emotions.
facilitating 'the creation of new enterprise' – or Anatomically, cognition and emotion are integrated in the
entrepreneurship. prefrontal cortex (PFC) within the frontal lobe of the
Of all psychological characteristics that can brain, which is responsible for the basic component of
affect an individual's decision-making, the connection decision-making, which is working memory. Gray et al.
between an individual's cognitive (broadly: reasoning) (2002) showed that during even a simple task in working
and emotional functioning is impossible to ignore, memory, the cognitive task and emotional state of an
because decision-making is bound by their interrelation individual contribute equally together to the functions of
(Gray et al., 2002; cited in Das, 2008). Therefore, any the PFC (cited in Das, 2008).
characteristic that can to some degree capture this Brain imaging has shown that decision-making
interrelation is worth investigating. often occurs when an individual is prompted by states of
Miller (1983) found that simple firm physiological arousal (Damasio, 1999; cited in Das,
entrepreneurial activity is highly dependent on the 2008). Here, decisions are aided by emotions in the form
personality, power and knowledge of the owner- of physical states that is drawn out during the careful
manager; finding that the personality of the leader is “the consideration of future consequences. As a result, our
most critical factor in determining entrepreneurship,” decisions are not entirely a result of rational analysis, and

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 Perspectives
non-conscious processes, such as bodily reactions, could behaviour. A positive effect of Emotional Intelligence on
precede decision-making (Das, 2008). entrepreneurial behaviour was later confirmed, implying
that the elicitation and understanding of certain
Emotions within the Entrepreneurial Process emotions enables employees with high Emotional
Within the psychological field, emotions have Intelligence to take appropriate actions, influencing
recently been examined within the entrepreneurial entrepreneurial behaviour (Zampetenakis et al., 2009).
context. Researchers have begun to analyze the role of
managers' emotions in the management process (e.g., Emotional Intelligence
Fineman, 2003; Huy, 1999). Further, within To understand the concept of Emotional
entrepreneurship literature, there exists a large body of Intelligence, its two component terms, 'intelligence' and
material that regards entrepreneurialism as a deeply 'emotion', should be discussed. Psychologists have
emotional activity (e.g., Bower, 1993; Branson, 2000; recognized a three-part division of the mind, comprising
Roddick, 2000; cited in Goss, 2008); and a few cognition, affect, and motivation. The cognitive sphere
researchers have focused on emotion as a component of comprises such functions as memory, reasoning,
enterprising behaviour (e.g. Goss, 2005a, 2005b; Kets de judgement, and abstract thought – functions that when
Vries, 1977, 1985; cited in Goss, 2008). used together comprise what is referred to as
Further, it was found that employees' 'intelligence'. Emotions belong to the affective sphere,
willingness to act entrepreneurially is affected by a which also includes moods, evaluations, and 'feeling'
manager's display of emotions concerning an states such as fatigue or energy. Emotional Intelligence

MIND OF ENTREPRENEUR

Informs Influences Leads to Might Influence

Level of
Emotional Perception of Decision Strategy Entrepre-
Environment Making Making neurship
Intellignece

Figure 2 : Proposed Position of EI in the Entrepreneurial Process

entrepreneurial project (Brundin et al., 2008); pointing refers to the connection of these two spheres - emotion
to the effect of emotion on decision-making and strategy- with cognition that enables heightened emotional or
making. Specifically, a study by Cross & Travaglione mental abilities. (Salovey & Sluyter, 1997).Overall,
(2003) found that a set of entrepreneurs, each deemed Emotional Intelligence captures the very interrelation
successful by nature of their firm's profit, demonstrated that is central to the entrepreneurial process, and
out-standing performance in Emotional Intelligence (EI) therefore, it represents a characteristic worth
ability, especially in the appraisal and expression of investigation.
emotion, regulation and utilization of emotion. Moreover, In the scientific psychological literature
Zampetenakis et al. (2009) suggested that individuals Emotional Intelligence was introduced by Salovey and
with high self-perceived Emotional Intelligence often Mayer, in 1990, and popularized by Goleman (1995), with
have increased affectivity, contributing to proactive and his best-seller “Emotional Intelligence”. Salovey and
creative dispositions, and facilitating entrepreneurial Mayer (1990) define emotional intelligence as set skills

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 Perspectives
which are “accurate appraisal and expression of emotion and handling employees, suppliers, and partners.
in oneself and in others, the effective regulation of Emotional Intelligence is divided into four main
emotion inself and others, and the use of feelings to areas: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation,
motivate, plan, and achieve in one's life”. In 1997 they empathy and social skills. It involves managing emotions
refined this definition by including four interrelated so as to avoid task interference, delaying gratification to
dimensions: perception, appraisal, and expression of pursue goals, recovering from emotional distress and
e m o t i o n s ; e m o t i o n fa c i l i t a t i o n o f t h i n k i n g ; being conscientious.
understanding and analyzing emotional information, In relation to the importance of emotional
employing emotional knowledge; and regulation of intelligence, Berco and Lewin estimated that 90 percent
emotions (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). of our actions are emotional and just 10 percent of our
Emotional intelligence relate to the ability to actions done according to thought and reason.
identify and express emotions, emotional adjustment Wong & Law (2002) have taken further action to
and using emotions as self-motivation and a means to developed new four dimensions emotional intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

Individual Skill Social Skill

Self Self Social

Motivation Empathy
Management Awareness Communication

Figure 3 : Goleman Emotional Intelligence Pattern

motivate others. Emotional intelligence abilities are scale using Mayer & Salovey model which composed of
particularly salient to entrepreneurs because of their self-emotional appraisal (SEA), others' emotional
need to manage social interactions with other appraisal (OEA), regulation of emotion (ROE) and use of
individuals. Social interactions include activities such as others' emotion (UOE) which was reduced to 16 items.
presenting to investors, gaining and maintaining Table 1 shows the description of each dimension:
customers, negotiating, as well as attracting, selecting,

Table 1 : Supply Demand Gap-Skilled Manpower

Dimensions Description

Self Emotional Appraisal (SEA) Individual's ability to understand and assessment of their deep emotions and be able
to express these emotions naturally.
Others' Emotional Appraisal (OEA) Ability to perceive and understand the emotions of others around them.
Regulation of Emotion (ROE) Peoples' ability of people to regulate their emotions, which will enable a more rapid
recovery from psychological distress.
Use of Emotion (UOE) Ability of individuals to make use of their emotions by directing them towards
constructive activities and personal performance.

Source : Wong and Law (2002)

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 Perspectives
Analysing Emotional Intelligence and performance. In a study by Cross & Travaglione (2003),
Entrepreneurial Orientation Relationship five Austrian entrepreneurs were studied via in-depth
Zampetaskis et al. (2009) argue that Emotional interviews. From the results the authors suggest that
Intelligence affects entrepreneurial behavior in two entrepreneurs with greater overall emotional
ways: the first is through the self-evaluation of emotional intelligence make for successful individuals in work
efficacy – (employees with high self-perceived Emotional contexts as well as social environments. Furthermore,
Intelligence may exhibit high tolerance to stress and the researchers (Cross & Travaglione, 2003) found
environmental stressors); the second concerns support for their hypothesis that entrepreneurs
individuals with high EI, who tend to have higher exhibited greater levels of Emotional intelligence than
affectivity, informing proactive and creative dispositions the norm, and also showed that entrepreneurs exhibited
and so facilitating entrepreneurial behaviour. high levels of each of the three sub-dimensions originally
Zampetaskis et al. (2009) investigated the relationship proposed by Salovey & Mayer (1990).
between entrepreneurial behaviour and perceived The Goleman model was also integrated into the
organizational support (POS) and emotional intelligence structured interviews and the researchers found support
(EI). Their findings suggest that both variables correlate for extraordinary levels of emotional intelligence as
with entrepreneurial behavior, understood as a set of developed in mixed models of EI (Cross & Travaglione,
activities going from independent/autonomous to 2003).
integrative/cooperative behaviour that aims to get things Emotional intelligence is a dimension of social
done with entrepreneurial ways and contribute to a intelligence (e.g., Gardner, 1999; Mayer et al., 2004) and
creation of value for the organization. Specifically, they pertains to the ability to be socially adaptable in a wide
saw that there is a direct effect of Emotional Intelligence range of social situations and to behave appropriately in
on entrepreneurial behaviour, which may imply that such situations. Results of previous studies have
employees with high Emotional Intelligence are more provided evidence that social adaptability has a positive
aware of the factors that contribute to their experience of relationship with firm performance (e.g., Baron &
positive and negative emotions. Accordingly, the authors Markman, 2003). The ability to adapt to rapidly changing
suggest that entrepreneurial actions might be filtered situations and demands may also be advantageous for
through employee perceptions of their emotional entrepreneurs. In new ventures it is quite common for
abilities (Zampetaskis et al., 2009). entrepreneurs to have to interact with individuals from
Entrepreneurial success has since been linked, diverse backgrounds and operate in a variety of social
in part, to cognitive abilities and social skills (e.g., Baron situations. Also, social perception can predict positive
& Markman, 2000, 2003). Some of those skills include interviewer ratings (e.g., Kacmar, Carlson, & Bratton,
accurately perceiving others, making good first 2003) and more positive performance evaluations from
impressions, and persuading or influencing others in supervisors (e.g., Harris et al., 2007). Perceiving others
interpersonal interactions (e.g., Baron & Markman, 2000; accurately, a component of emotional intelligence is
Duck, 1994). Emotional intelligence encompasses many directly related to entrepreneurial activities as well; such
of these social and cognitive skills, as it is defined as the activities include successful negotiations, selecting
ability to identify, facilitate, understand and regulate superior partners, and hiring top-quality employees
your own emotions as well as the emotions of others (Baron & Tang, 2008).
(Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Thus, in accordance with theory, and the
Thus, while Emotional Intelligence aforementioned studies on emotional intelligence, there
encompasses many of the skills and abilities found to will be a positive relationship between emotional
relate to entrepreneurial success, Individuals in intelligence and entrepreneurial success.
entrepreneurial occupations face business situations Examining Women Entrepreneur and their
that necessitate unique skills and abilities in social
Emotional Intelligence Connect for Business
interactions (e.g., Baron &Markman, 2000; Chandler &
Hanks, 1994; Begley & Boyd, 1987). Emotional Growth
intelligence has also been recognized as extremely The recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
important in interpersonal tasks (e.g., O'Boyle, (GEM) 2013, found 126 million women starting or
Humphrey, Pollack, Hawver & Story, 2010) running businesses and 98 million operating established
Two studies clearly addressed the relationship (over three and a half years) businesses from 67
between Emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial countries globally. Women enter entrepreneurship for

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 Perspectives
many of the same reasons as men, such as to support more fluently and more frequently, they have more
themselves and their families, to enrich their lives with interpersonal competencies, and they are more socially
careersas well as to attain financial independence. Yet adept (Brody & Hall, 2000; Ciarrochi, Hynes, &
aside from different participation rates, women show Crittenden, 2005; Hall, 1978; Hall & Mast, 2008;). As a
marked differences from men in many characteristics, as result, members of the scientific community and the
the most recent GEM women's report shows (Kelley et al., general population believe, from a very early age, that
2013). women are more emotional than men (Feldman-Barrett,
A 2010 innovation survey in the United States Lane, Sechrest, & Schwartz, 2000). Indeed, most studies
sponsored by UNCTAD focused on gender differences of EI that are based on ability tests such as the MSCEIT
and found that women business owners had fewer failure (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002a) and that include
experiences than men, which may suggest that women gender in their analysis have assumed women to be
are more likely to take calculated risks and develop superior in emotional abilities (e.g., Brackett & Mayer,
contingency plans if events do not transpire as 2003; Ciarrochi et al., 2000; Kafetsios, 2004; Mayer et a.,
anticipated (Coleman & Robb, 2012; Coleman & Robb 1999; Palmer et al., 2005).
2014). Women are able to use Emotional Intelligence as
Research on female entrepreneurs is increasing a competitive advantage as they categorically use each
rapidly, but little academic literature has focused gender level of Emotional intelligence at work as a distinctive
differences in entrepreneurs (Yordanova & Alexandrova- advantage
Boshnakova, 2010). Johnson and Powell (1994) Emotional Awareness (the ability to be mindful,
emphasized on the significance of differences between aware of your emotional states, to name your
male and female entrepreneurial behaviour on the emotions and base your emotional responses upon
success of businesses because of their entrepreneurial your personal values.)
orientation in decision contexts. Gender differences in Emotional Management (the ability to be flexible and
behaviour might be caused by gender differences in adaptable to change, in control of yourself,
entrepreneurial orientation preferences, but they might motivation and confident.)
also be caused by situational factors such as options Emotions relating (the ability to deeply connect with
provided to females and the advice they receive. others, manage interpersonal conflicts, be assertive
Empirical research in business and finance reveal that in your relationships and socially adept.)
females and males differ in their entrepreneurial Emotional Enlightenment (the ability to process
orientation. Numerous studies have approached gender through your emotional experiences, "feel to heal,"
differences in the contexts of risk orientation. Powell & learn from mistakes, have a high self-esteem and a
Ansic (1997) stated that females have lesser risk positive mind-set.)
preferences than males. Mandell & Pherwani (2003) conducted a small
The emotional dimension of human beings has study consisting of 13 male and 19 female managers in
traditionally been linked to a greater extent with the mid- to large-size companies, with the goal of examining
female gender, which experiences positive and negative gender differences in the relationship between
emotions more intensely than the male gender Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership.
(Grossman & Wood, 1993). These data, in fact, have fed The researchers found that females were significantly
the stereotype, still widely held, that the female gender is higher in Emotional intelligence than males, but there
more emotional (Grewal & Salovey, 2005). were no gender differences when comparing the
Biological as well as social factors have been relationship between EI and transformational
invoked to explain this “feminist vision of emotions” leadership. Mayer and colleagues have also found
(Nolen-Hoeksema& Jackson, 2001). The biological superiority of females over males with regard to
explanation proposes that women's biochemistry is managing own and other's emotions. When the authors
better prepared to consider one's own emotions and engaged in more detailed analyses, they did find that
those of others as animportant element in survival. Both female managers who rated themselves highest on TL
biological and social explanations have received support style also self-reported that they were both more in touch
from a diverse range of empirical studies of emotion, with their own emotional states and with the emotions of
which show greater emotional abilities in women. These others. The authors described this result as, “the abilities
studies conclude that women have greater emotional encompassed by EI are intrinsically related to the role of
knowledge, they express positive and negative emotions the transformational leader” (Downey et al., 2005, p.

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 Perspectives
259). The results indicated that female leaders were intelligence could be generalized across nations and
significantly higher on the interpersonal dimension of cultures. Since emotional intelligences significantly
the Emotional Quotient but, otherwise, there were no influence entrepreneurial orientation, we could assume
gender differences. t h a t e m o t i o n a l i n t e l l i g e n c e c a n s t re n g t h e n
Women's behaviour in owning or managing a entrepreneurial behaviour or could help in developing
business are reflective of entrepreneurial behaviour a n d m a n a g i n g e n t re p re n e u r s h i p e f fe c t ive ly.
(motivation and willingness to exploit opportunities) in Practitioners and researchers could utilize the concept of
that team-building and participative management emotional intelligence in training, development and
practices are common and social support is research to develop effective entrepreneurial behaviour
demonstrated. Since women have more adept or orientation to achieve successful business
interpersonal skills, it's not surprising that they performance.
strategically use their social networks to build support
for their idea and spend more time than men in doing so. Contribution to Theory and Implications
Women use networking not only as a critical tool, but also for Further Research
as a development strategy for their business. Therefore, The psychology research concerning Emotional
emotional intelligence, social capital, and Intelligence is still young. Although it has garnered great
entrepreneurial behaviour essentially merge to provide interest from scholars and practitioners because of its
an advantage for women entrepreneurs. Women can potential to be used to influence desired working
leverage their aptitude with emotional intelligence when outcomes and performance. This leaves plenty of
it comes to leading their own companies. opportunity to contribute to apply Emotional
Intelligence research within entrepreneurship, and more
Conclusions specifically, to research concerning the women
In this paper we have firstly indicated that an entrepreneur.
entrepreneur is pivotal to a firm's entrepreneurship. This study contributes specifically to the field of
Second, it is suggested that the entrepreneurial entrepreneurship. The primary purpose of this study was
personality – in particular, psychological characteristics to identify the relationship between women
– matter to a firm's entrepreneurship. Third, it has been entrepreneurs' emotional intelligence and their
suggested that the entrepreneurial personality and the influence on Entrepreneurial Orientation of firm. The
key traits should be investigated to understand its paper clearly demonstrates that the inherent Emotional
involvement in the entrepreneurial process. Fourth, the intelligence in women provide an edge to them in
entrepreneur's cognition has been identified as managing their stakeholder which ultimately leads to
important within the process, fifth, when it comes to organizational growth.
decision-making, cognition does not act alone – it is This indicates that Women entrepreneurs are
interrelated with emotion. Sixth, when applied within the hidden treasure for the growth of a sustainable
entrepreneurship, Emotional intelligence, which economy. Countries promoting and nurturing women
addresses this cognitive-emotional interrelation, has entrepreneurs are in fact providing a lifeline to their
begun to be associated with entrepreneurial outcomes. economy.
Lastly we have identified that women have innate sense Within future research, it would also be valuable
of Emotional intelligence which shapes Entrepreneurial to obtain evidence from within industries that are highly
Orientation of firm leading to high performance. competitive in nature and operate in highly competitive
The present research in the paper are similar to environments could prove important to examine. Also, as
the ones reported by Rhee & White (2007), and also by it is researched that Emotional intelligence can be
Cross & Travaglione (2003), about the association and learned, it shall be interesting to research whether
link between emotional intelligence, entrepreneurial learned Emotional intelligence performs on the similar
behaviour and entrepreneurship. They have also dimensions as that of innate Women Emotional
reported a strong link between emotional intelligence Intelligence leading to similar entrepreneurial skills or
and successful firm performance. Emotional intelligence not.
facilitates individual adaptation and change, and
emotional capability increases the likelihood for
organizations to realize radical change (Huy, 1999). The
link between entrepreneurial orientation and emotional

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 Perspectives
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Author Profile

Dr. Shailija Dixit is Ph. D. in Management from Kanpur University and is working as Associate Professor at Amity Business School. She has over 11
years of teaching experience and has authored over 15 research papers in various national and international journals. Her research interest include
Women Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusive Growth. She is the Editorial Board Member for Amity
Business Journal and reviewer for many reputed journals. She can be reached at [email protected]

Ms. Sana Moid is pursuing her Ph. D. in Management from Integral University, Lucknow and is working as Assistant Professor with Amity University, in
the department of Amity Business School. Her research interest includes Forensic Accounting, Microfinance, Women Entrepreneurship and Working
of SME Exchanges. She has authored over 7 research papers published in reputed peer reviewed indexed journals and is an active member of Indian
Accounting Association and Indian Commerce Association. She can be reached at [email protected]

FIIB Business Review. Volume 4, Issue 2, April - June 2015 19

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