Exploring the dimensions of emotional intelligence in the Lebanese family Firms

A consideration of emotion has been traditionally neglected in the context of family business. In this study, the Lebanese family businesses were explored to examine all the dimensions and the specificity of the emotional intelligence (EI) of teams’ leaders. Multiple regressions were applied to investigate the impact of EI on employee’s job performance, job satisfaction and turnover. The results showed that there is a significant and positive impact of leader EI on employee job performance and job satisfaction. Moreover, the findings indicate that the implication of the family member as a team leader increases the positive relationship between EI and employee job performance and satisfaction. The family managers feel more dependent to their organization which can lead to create a general emotion affecting positively the job performance and the satisfaction. However, our results have not support any relation between Leader’s EI and employees’ turnover level. Introduction The family firms are the driving force behind the Lebanese economic development. By their existence and their growth, they perform an essential role as providers of employment and innovation opportunities. In 2011, the Lebanese family firms constitute about (85%) of the total economic institutions in the private sector, contribute around (75%) of the total added value produced by the private sector and employ nearly two thirds of the labor force. To ensure this vital economic and social place, the Lebanese families are required to be much more involved in their work physically as well as emotionally and intellectually. According to Colvin (1999) those who are emotionally intelligent follow their values and believe in continuous learning and focus on instilling vision. Hence, the emotional intelligence may contribute to job performance by enabling people to work effectively, building a social capital, reducing conflicts level and supporting the organizational objectives. In the last years, we have been witness to a particular growing body of research regarding the importance of emotional intelligence for successful family firm (Labaki R. et al., 2011). For some researches, the family mangers use their valuable emotional intelligence to enable a positive environment at work. For some others, the using of negative emotional intelligence (based on the nepotism for example) may be viewed as a destructive variable for family firm performance. In this context the work of Schulze, Lubatkin and Dino (2003) found that the conflicts in the family business can be based on the altruism for which the owners-managers encourage by the coming of their children the expropriation and the entrenchment mechanism. Therefore, it seems essential to know to what degree the family uses their emotions as a constructive element of organizational behavior, and in turn, how the human resources react to International Journal of Business and Economic Development Vol. 1 Number 2 July 2013 www.ijbed. org A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) 102 family behavior in term of performance, satisfaction and turnover. In other words, can the emotional intelligence of the family members be considered a variable rewarding the specificity and the superiority of family businesses? To fully explore our research questions, we will define the study hypotheses based on our literature review. Then, we will try to formalize a set of tools for the assessment of the emotional skills. Finally, we will study the involvement of these skills in the managerial success as well as its specificity. Emotional intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) brings new depth to the understanding of human intelligence because it expands the ability to evaluate one's general or overall intelligence. Actually, a consensus is emerging around the idea that EI is an important skill to be more adapted in any emotional events. Goleman (2001) defines EI as the ability to recognize and to control one’s own emotions and those of others. Similarly, Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined the concept as: "a form of intelligence which assumes the ability to control its feelings and those of others. Several years later in 1997, these authors revised their definition to propose the following dimension of emotional intelligence: EI is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth. In their model1, Mayer and Salovey describe four areas of capacities or skills that collectively describe many areas of EI (Mayer and al., 1997). The domain of EI describes several discrete emotional abilities. As per the ability model of El, these emotional abilities can be divided into four classes: Identifying emotions (it is the ability to recognize how you and those around you are feeling.); Using emotions to facilitate thought (it is the capacity of the emotions to enter into and guide the cognitive system); Understanding and analyzing emotions (it is the ability to understand complex emotions, how emotions transition from one stage to another) and finally Managing emotions (it is the capacity to regulate and manage one's own and others' emotions to promote personal and social goals). Caruso (1999), the co-creator of the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS), has offered another definition: "EI is the ability to use your emotions to help you solve problems and live a more effective life. EI without intelligence, or intelligence without EI, is only part of a solution. The complete solution is the head working with the heart". Weisinger (1998) defined EI as "the intelligent use of emotions: you intentionally make your emotions work for you by using them to help guide your behavior and thinking in ways that enhance your results". Another researcher who has made a significant contribution to the development of the concept is Bar-On (1997). For this author EI can be defined as a way to be understood, to understand the other, to maintain relations with people and to adapt to the external environment. Emotional intelligence and family firm performance In organizational behavior, the EI emerges as a dependent variable of job performance. The exploration indicates that employees and employers are likely to get better results if they know how to manage interpersonal relationships, to stay motivated and build teams. Consequently, leaders in organizations are interested in knowing the factors that improve employees’ EI (Andries, 2009). The extant literature shows that EI relates positively with employee behavior, attitude, team play, customer satisfaction and job performance. International Journal of Business and Economic Development Vol. 1 Number 2 July 2013 www.ijbed. org A Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) 103 Sy, Tram & O’Hara (2006) found that employees having high EI are more capable to regulate their own as well as others’ emotions to promote positive interactions which would lead to higher performance through organizational citizenship behavior. In 2011, Chaudhry and Usman reveal a positive relation between the EI and employee performance measured in terms of organizational citizenship behavior. During 2010, Rangriz and Mehrabi proved a significant positive relationship between EI and employee performance. Other studies that support the predictive validity of EI on job performance were that of Lam & Kirby, (2002) and Wong, Law & Wong, (2004). Additionally, in 2003, Carmeli has found that EI is negatively related with employees’ withdrawal intentions from the organization. Furthermore, in 2011, Jordan and Troth demonstrate a negative correlation of EI with employee turnover intentions working in a large company. On the other hand, Weiss &Cropanzano (1996) revealed that managers having high EI exhibit optimistic work attitudes which lead to employees’ higher satisfaction and performance at job. This result was confirmed by the study of Sue-Chan and Latham, (2004), in which they indicate a high positive correlation of managers’ EI and their team playing behavior. Schlechter and Strauss, (2008), indicated that the EI of team leader relates positively with trust within a team context and hence commitment within the team. In 2006, the study conducted by Gowing, O’Leary, Brienza, Cavallo& Crain (2006), illustrated the relationship between EI and leadership success. Finally, Jonker (2009) views that managers may use EI as a tool to augment their decisions for selection, recruitment, training and development of employees from entry level to senior executive positions. By considering these results, the first three hypotheses of the research are defined as follows: H.1: EI of team leader is positively related to employees’ Job Performance; H.2: EI of team leader is positively related to employees’ Job satisfaction; H.3: EI of team leader is negatively related to employees’ turnover. In family firms the emotional relationships exist between the family and the business (Shepherd, 2003), that is why Kets-de-Vries and al. (2007), defined the family business as a unique form of business organization since it involves the overlap of a system structured on rational economic principles with a system organized and driven by emotions. Accordingly, the use of EI in the family business seems to be evident. For example, through the succession of the company and to make a good impression, the son may use his emotional communication to disseminate values inherited from his father, the founder of the company. To this end, some researchers indicate that emotions can be transferred from generation to the next in order to conserve a strong set of values and history (Denison and al. 2004). Moreover, if one of the family members is suffering from financial difficulties, his relatives would rush to help him. In this sense, positive