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International Journal of Organizational Analysis Emotional intelligence, leadership style and organizational climate Bassem E. Maamari, Joelle F. Majdalani, Article information:

To cite this document:Bassem E. Maamari, Joelle F. Majdalani, (2017) "Emotional intelligence, leadership style and organizational climate", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 25 Issue: 2, pp.327-345,https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-04-2016-1010 Permanent link to this document:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-04-2016-1010 Downloaded on: 11 August 2017, At: 07:37 (PT) References: this document contains references to 92 other documents.

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(2016),"Combinative aspects of leadership style and emotional intelligence", Leadership &Organization Development Journal, Vol. 37 Iss 1 pp. 107-125 https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-04-2014-0082 (2014),"Emotional intelligence and leadership: A review of the progress, controversy, andcriticism", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 22 Iss 1 pp. 76-93 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-03-2012-0568 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald- srm:371961 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emeraldfor Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submissionguidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.

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*Related content and download information correct at time of download.Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) Emotional intelligence, leadership style and organizational climate Bassem E. Maamari Department of Management Studies, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon, and Joelle F. Majdalani Department of Management and Marketing, Grenoble Ecole de Management, Grenoble, France Abstract Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) on the leader’s applied leadership style (mediator) and the effect of this style on the employees’ organizational citizenship (responsibility, reward and warmth and support). Design/methodology/approach– The researchers are proposing a model that highlights the mediating role of leadership style on the relationship between leaders’ EI and employees’ feeling of organizational climate. The study follows the quantitative process. A survey is prepared for data collection and for statistically testing the proposed model. Findings– The results show that the leaders’ EI does affect his/her leadership style. Moreover, the leaders’ style affects directly the respective employees’ feeling of organizational climate to varying levels. The variance between different styles is found to be small. Research limitations/implications– The limitations of this study include the minimal cross-check interviews. The sample size’s limitation resulted in the researchers’ inability to compare the different sub-sectors of the economy (labelled as the type of work of the firm) to derive deeper conclusions by economic/ business sector. Practical implications– The study reveals a number of practical implications affecting communication, performance, stability and tenure, and thereby lower turnover. Social implications– The social implications of this study include the social relationships within the work-setting, higher empathy and higher levels of norming as a direct result of improving the leader’s EI level. Originality/value– The paper is based on a sample of respondents with a new model suggested and tested scientifically, following a rigorous process. It assesses the impact of both EI and organizational climate with leadership style. KeywordsResponsibility, Leadership style, Emotional intelligence, Organizational climate, Reward, Warmth and support Paper typeResearch paper 1. Introduction The corporate world at present is full of challenges and competition, and most organizations are facing a lot of threats and hurdles. These organizations are finding it difficult to maintain their competitive edge and sustaining their well-being ( Anand and Udaya-Suriyan, 2010 ).

Companies are striving to recruit and retain good quality leaders capable to create a positive organizational climate (OC). These leaders are expected to have emotional intelligence (EI) The authors would like to thank all the colleagues who contributed through their reviews and opinions in making this research project successful. Moreover, the support of the many friends made it possible to complete this field study with no external funding. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1934-8835.htm Emotional intelligence 327 Received 12 April 2016 Revised 22 July 2016 21 November 2016 Accepted 24 December 2016 International Journal of Organizational Analysis Vol. 25 No. 2, 2017 pp. 327-345 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1934-8835 DOI 10.1108/IJOA-04-2016-1010Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) traits that allow them to better handle themselves and their team members. In a positive OC, individuals are motivated, satisfied, have high expectations and are committed towards their company and its mission. OC is about how employees perceive their work environment and how the latter makes them feel ( Randhawa and Kaur, 2015 ;Litwin and Stringer, 1968 ). A good OC has a positive effect on financial results such as revenue growth, profits and return on sales of the organization ( Goleman, 2000 ).

As OC has such an important role in organizational success and effectiveness, it is important that we explore the factors that influence it, with the aim of identifying those that can create added value for managerial decision maker. Momeni (2009) reports that it is mostly the leader’s emotional behaviour and style that affects the OC. In Golemanet al.(2002) postulated that the emotional state of the leader is a significant factor in creating a positive OC. This is why it is important to study the effect of EI on leadership style and OC. The concept of EI is becoming very important and popular, especially in the present corporate world ( Majdalani and Maamari, 2016 ;Goleman, 1995 ). EI is about how people understand, express and manage their own and other people’s emotions ( Cherniss, 2004 ). Moreover, many studies link EI to leadership effectiveness ( Boyatziset al., 2009 ;Kerret al., 2006 ;Goleman, 2004 ), with differences reported among age-groups of respondents.

This research paper examines whether leadership style mediates the relationship between EI and OC. It looks at whether OC in turn leads to better financial results for the company due to the better performance of its employees. In this context, the demographic variables of age and gender are used in this study due to their reported meaningfulness in other studies as along with leadership variants.

2. Review of literature 2.1 Emotional intelligence EI’s historical roots go back to Binet and Charles Darwin who noticed a second type of intelligence, “Social Intelligence” or “Practical Intelligence” ( Sternberg, 1985 ). However, Edward Thorndike was the first to define social intelligence in 1920 ( McCleskey, 2014 ). Then, in 1983, Gardner discussed the presence of multiple intelligences, two of which are the intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences.

The term “Emotional Intelligence”, as introduced by Salovey and Mayer in 1990 , revolves around the capacity to reason about emotions and that emotions enhance thinking ( Sadri, 2012 ). For them, EI is a cognitive ability which is the ability to understand, recognize and evaluate the meaning of emotions in order to reason and solve problems ( Mayeret al., 1999 ).

The concept of EI postulates that the two different mental processes, which are thinking and feeling, actually work together ( Kerret al., 2006 ).Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) model is considered as the ability model. It is well-accepted by the academic community. It includes four different abilities, namely, the ability to perceive emotions, use emotions to facilitate thoughts, understand emotions and manage emotions. EI however became popular when Goleman (1995) published his book “EI why it can matter more than IQ”. Goleman (1998 ,p.4) defined emotional competence as “a learned capability based on emotional intelligence that results in outstanding performance at work”. His model is a performance-based one, based on five skills: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. The first three skills relate to personal competences and the last two to social ones. Another model very similar to Goleman’s is Bar-On’s model, known as the non-cognitive or emotional–social intelligence model. It covers five broad areas of competencies: the intrapersonal skills, the interpersonal skills, stress management, adaptability and general mood ( Bar-On, 1997 ). Both models (Goleman’s and Bar-On’s) are known as the mixed models, as they include a combination of mental abilities, personality and character skills. Another important EI IJOA 25,2 328Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) model is the trait approach by Petrides. It is an emotion-related disposition and self-knowledge method that focuses on self-efficacy and self-perception ( Petrideset al., 2007 ).

These different stages of our understanding of EI are known as its three streams. The first defined EI as a set of interrelated abilities that are measured through ability-based tests ( Mayer and Salovey, 1997 ). The second a stream suggested measuring EI through self-assessments and reports on abilities and EI behaviour ( Mayer and Salovey, 1997 ). The third stream defined EI as an array of predispositions, competencies and perceptions on managing emotions ( Bar-On, 2003 ;Goleman, 2000 ), and these are measured through the Emotional Competence Inventory and the Emotional Quotient Inventory ( Ashkanasy and Daus, 2005 ). Despite the attention and criticisms it is receiving from scholarly sources, many scholars are calling for the death of EI ( Ashkanasy and Daus, 2005 ). However, according to many scholars, we need to study EI because it improves the performance of individuals ( Berkovich and Eyal, 2016 ) and their commitment ( Bhalerao and Kumar, 2016 ). People that have high EI perform better in life than people with less EI ( Bar-On, 1997 ). They can better understand themselves and other people, socialize and communicate more and cope with any difficult changing situation ( Bar-On and Parker, 2000 ). When EI is high, it improves the physical and psychological health of people, leading to better academic and work performance ( Bar-On and Parker, 2000 ). Moreover, EI correlates negatively with work and occupational stress ( Nikolaou and Tsaousis, 2002 ). Therefore, many scholars argue that EI is a key component of effective leadership ( Sadri, 2012 )as“it represents a critically important competency for effective leadership and team performance in organizations today”( Melita Pratiet al., 2003 , p. 21).

2.2 Leadership The study of leadership has evolved over time. Zaccaro (2007) noted that the analysis of leadership dates back to Galton’s (1869) Hereditary Genius. He emphasized two basic concepts that became very popular ( McCleskey, 2014 ). The first is that “leadership is a characteristic ability of extraordinary individuals whose decisions, therefore, are capable of altering the course of our history”( Zaccaro, 2007 , p. 7). The second concept, called theGreat Many theories, ties the special attributes of the individuals to their genetic make-up.

According to this concept, “The qualities that define effective leadership were naturally endowed and passed from generation to generation”( Zaccaro, 2007 , p. 7). Leadership is also defined as a process of social interaction, where the leader has a high influence on the behaviour of his/her followers, strongly influencing their performance ( Humphrey, 2002 ; Pirola-Merloet al., 2002 ;McCleskey, 2014 ). Moreover, Humphrey (2002) describes leadership as an emotional process where the leader recognizes, manages and evokes emotions in his/ her followers. Goleman defined leadership as “the art of persuading people to work towards a common goal”( Goleman, 1998 , p. 12). Thus, leadership refers to the ability to motivate, influence and enable other people to contribute to the success and effectiveness of the organization ( Anand and Udaya-Suriyan, 2010 ).

In addition, Burns (1978) was the first scholar to distinguish between a transactional and a transformational leadership style. According to him, transactional leaders motivate their followers by appealing to their self-interest, whereas transformational “leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation”( Burns, 1978 , p. 20). Moreover, Bass (1985) described transactional leadership as an exchange of reward for compliances, whereas the transformational leader lets followers feel admiration, trust and loyalty, and are thus motivated to do more than what is expected from them ( Vrba, 2007 ). The transformational leadership style is based more on emotional than transactional leadership ( Palmeret al., 2001 ). This is why in most organizations, transformational leadership style is 329 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) desirable because it leads to higher employee satisfaction, trust and commitments ( Vrba, 2007 ;Cavazotteet al., 2012 ). Therefore, many scholars discuss the fact that transformational leadership promotes better and greater organizational performance ( Loweet al., 1996 ; Harms, 2010 ;Foster and Roche, 2014 ).

2.3 Organization climate Several definitions are proposed for OC. It is viewed as: “[…] a set of measurable properties of the work environment, perceived directly or indirectly by people who live and work in this environment and assumed to influence their motivation and behavior” ( Litwin and Stringer, 1968 ,p.1). It is how people perceive their surroundings and how it makes them feel and perform ( Litwin and Stringer, 1968 ). It is theorized as a psychological tool that focuses on individuals and that tries to understand their cognitive development and behaviour. Therefore, it could be used as a management technique that helps understand the way employees view their working environment ( Maamari and Messarra, 2012 ). This could be done through various diffusion and reception processes that rely on social cognitive frameworks ( Chanlat, 2014 ). OC is a perception of how things are in an organizational environment ( Yoder, 2004 ). It is the members of the organization who perceive and interpret the organizational characteristics and therefore create the climate ( Field and Abelson, 1982 ). It is also defined as a set of characteristics that are enduring over time, describe an organization, distinguish it from other organizations and influence the behaviour of people within it ( Momeni, 2009 ). These characteristics also include the notions of voice and freedom ( Kulkarni, 2010 ). Therefore, OC is how employees perceive their organization, and the kind of attitude they have towards their organization. Researchers think that the attitude and behaviour of a manager and the way the organization is managed have a major effect on employees’ attitudes and perceptions that create OC ( Momeni, 2009 ). OC is about feelings, perceptions and values shared by employees in the workplace, including trust ( Christieet al., 2015 ), sense of belonging to the organization, as well as confidence and loyalty ( Hamidianpouret al., 2015 ).

OC is positively linked to job satisfaction and commitment ( Bhaesajsanguan, 2010 ;Castro and Martins, 2010 ), employees’ behaviour and outcomes ( Ferriset al., 1998 ), productivity, job performance and leadership behaviour ( Goleman, 2000 ) and managerial effectiveness ( Kumar-Bamelet al., 2013 ). A good OC improves the organization’s efficiency, lowers the costs of turnover and decreases problems with staff ( Momeni, 2009 ). A positive OC has a positive effect on financial results such as revenue growth, profits and return on sales ( Goleman, 2000 ). Studies have shown that OC significantly affects employees’ mood, attitude and behaviour, regarding their work environment ( Abdulkarim, 2013 ). Lewinet al.(1939) suggested that certain leadership styles created certain social climates that affect productivity ( Abdulkarim, 2013 ). More than three decades of research by the Six Second Consulting Group demonstrate that 70 per cent of employees’ perceptions of OC are directly shaped by the style of leadership and behaviour of managers. More particularly, they are shaped by how managers work to improve the performance of employees and reward them ( Momeni, 2009 ).

Seven main OCs are identified in the literature. These are namely structure (having clearly defined responsibilities and roles and being well organized; responsibility (the degree to which employees feel responsible for accomplishing their job, encouragement of discretion and individual judgment whereby employees are made to feel that they are “their own boss”); risk (willingness to take risk and chance on the ideas of employees); reward (employees believe that rewards are given fairly and justly, depending on the quality of work and that rewarding positive performance is more significant than punishment in the organization); IJOA 25,2 330Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) warmth and support (a relaxed warming atmosphere with warm relationship between employees); conflict (maintaining good interpersonal relations and avoiding conflicts and disagreements); and expected approval (loyalty and pride towards the work group and organization) ( Litwin and Stringer, 1968 ;Stringer, 2002 ).

2.4 Emotional intelligence and leadership “Non-cognitive emotional intelligence could potentially contribute to a more holistic understanding of interpersonal influence and leadership”( Brown and Moshavi, 2005 , p. 867).

Leadership plays an important role in the success or failure of organizations and around 90 per cent of successful leadership is due to EI ( Chenet al., 1998 ). Moreover, successful leaders can manage their own emotions and be responsive to others’ emotions. They can stimulate and motivate employees, as they have good social skills, and feel with them due to their empathy. Moreover, they regulate their emotions and the emotions of the employees, due to their high self-regulation and self-awareness skills ( Goleman, 2000 ).

On one hand, leadership is defined as an “emotion laden process”( George, 2000 , p. 1046) and therefore for effective leadership, EI matters. Many scholars have studied the relationship between EI and leadership effectiveness in different fields and report that there is a positive correlation between leadership effectiveness and EI ( Lopeset al., 2006 ;Rosete and Ciarrochi, 2005 ;Gardner and Stough, 2003 ;Wolffet al., 2002 ;Wong and Law, 2002 ). On the other hand, EI helps employees understand specific leadership behaviour and leadership effectiveness ( Walteret al., 2011 ). Leban and Zulauf (2004) report that the transformational leadership style of the project manager positively affects actual performance on the project. In addition, the manager’s EI ability contributes to his/her personal transformational leadership style and subsequently to his actual project performance. Scholars argue that EI is an important key component of effective leadership ( Sadri, 2012 ). Leaders with a high EI can recognize, assess, predict and manage emotions in such a way that they are able to interact positively and motivate their team members ( George, 2000 ).Harrison and Clough (2006) analysed 15 “state of art” leaders and concluded that they share the characteristic of EI level five leadership behaviours and productive narcissism. Moreover, Barlinget al.(2000) report in their studies that EI is associated with many aspects of transformational leadership, while Higgs and Aitken (2003) relate EI to many aspects of leadership and to its ability to predict leadership potential.

Furthermore, Rosete and Ciarrochi (2005) associate EI with leadership effectiveness. In Goleman (1995) after sampling 500 organizations by the Hay Group, reported that the outstanding performance of “star” top leaders is due to EI ( Abdulkarim, 2013 ). However, Zeidneret al.(2004) and Antonakiset al.(2009) criticized Goleman’s research saying that no empirical research is cited to support Goleman’s assertion concerning the positive outcomes of EI. This criticism comes despite the large amount of research done showing the positive relationship between EI and effective leadership. According to Kerret al.(2006 , p. 268): […] leadership is intrinsically an emotional process, whereby leaders recognize followers’ emotional states, attempt to evoke emotions in followers, and then seek to manage followers’ emotional states accordingly. A leader’s emotional state affects the performance of his/her employees, if he/she is in a happy mood the people around him/her view things in a more positive way, they become more optimistic, efficient and creative. The contrary is true when the emotional state of the leader is negative, it will create a dysfunctional environment ( Golemanet al., 2001 ). Kerret al.(2006) ’s research on 38 supervisors and their 1,258 subordinates using the MSCEIT tool to study the relationship between EI and effective leadership, concludes to the presence of a positive correlation between them. Furthermore, Palmeret al.(2001) ’s study on 331 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) the EI of 43 managers also concludes to a significant correlation between EI and a number of components. It links to transformational leadership and factors such as motivation, inspiration, ability to manage and monitor emotions ( Rosete and Ciarrochi, 2005 ). Moreover, Gardner and Stough (2002) ’s study on 110 senior level managers, analysing whether EI predicts leadership style, shows that EI levels correlate highly with all of the components of transformational leadership.

Weinberger’s (2002) study on the relationship between EI and transformational leadership reports that high EI leads to high leadership effectiveness, which is also confirmed by Brownet al.(2006) .

Finally, leadership effectiveness relates to how well a leader can treat his/her employees, asking them how they are doing on a regular basis, treating them in a fair manner, supporting and helping them, getting them involved, letting them work in a team ( Kerret al., 2006 ), and thereby, create a good positive OC for them.

2.5 Emotional intelligence, leadership effectiveness and organizational climate Many studies suggest that emotionally intelligent leaders are the key to create a positive OC that motivates employees to give their best ( Yoder, 2004 ), mainly by placing OC as an independent variable ( Lawleret al., 1974 ). Many scholars show that the behaviour of management and the leadership style is the most important factors affecting the OC ( Hamidianpouret al., 2015 ).Momeni (2009) reports that EI has a positive effect on OC. High EI improves the performance of the leaders, which creates a better OC ( Yoder, 2004 ). A high EI leader will create in others high expectations and self-confidence. An important factor of whether the organization is an attractive place to work in, which means that whether it has a good or bad OC, is reflected through employees’ perception. These perceptions show how employees feel about their workplace, which includes their feelings about their managers, their job and other fellow employees ( Momeni, 2009 ). Studies by Six Second Consulting group demonstrate that employees’ perception of OC is related to the behaviour and style of leadership in general, and particularly relates to how the manager works to improve employees’ performance, and rewards them ( Momeni, 2009 ). The leader’s EI, mood and behaviour drive the mood and behaviour of all the others in the organization ( Giorgi, 2013 ). Ciarrochiet al.(2000) suggest that leaders with high EI are better able to manage mood and evaluate their actions and decisions. EI helps guide the mood of leaders which affects their subordinates and the whole organization.

Therefore, leaders with high EI can create a positive climate with intelligent, loyal and committed employees ( Golemanet al., 2001 ). An emotionally intelligent leader can control better through self-management, understand more his/her employees due to his/her empathy and boost others’ mood using his/her sharp social skills ( Momeni, 2009 ). Moreover, Momeni (2009) ’s study results show that the higher the EI of the manager the better is the manager’s OC, which is confirmed by Awwad and Kada-Ali (2012) . They theorize that a high level of EI creates a climate where trust, information sharing, healthy risk-taking and learning grow, whereas low level of EI creates a climate full of fear and anxiety ( Golemanet al., 2001 ).

Managers sometimes underestimate how strongly the OC can affect the financial results of the company which is nearly the third of its financial performance ( Goleman, 2000 ). When employees are happy and satisfied in their job, appreciated, supported and valued, their productivity and performance increase, and they become more committed towards the organization ( Ngoet al., 2009 ).Van De Voordeet al.(2010) examine the relationship between OC and financial performance. They conclude that there is an important link between OC and financial performance and the organizational development and success.

OC is affected by the leadership style, which means it is affected by the way the managers make decisions, manage, handle crisis and motivate others ( Goleman, 2000 ). Leaders with IJOA 25,2 332Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) styles that positively affect the climate have better financial results than those who do not.

Research has shown that the most successful leaders are strong in the following EI competencies: self-awareness, self-regulation, social skill, empathy and motivation. If transformational leadership is associated with better performance and commitment of employees towards their leader, then it is logical to predict that EI has a correlation with positive organizational outcomes such as a positive OC ( Abdulkarim, 2013 ).

3. Methodology As a result of the above literature review, and with the various assessments and criticism it received ( Sims and LaFollette, 1975 ;Muchinsky, 1976 ;Rogerset al., 1980 ), the researchers chose to use the Litwin and Stringer Organizational Climate Questionnaire and to focus their field study on only three of the seven factors put forth by Litwin and Stringer (1968) . Thus, they selected: […] responsibility (encouragement of individual judgement and discretion, whereby employees are made to feel that they are “their own boss” […] reward (rewarding positive performance in that it outweighs punishment in the organization), warmth and support (warm relationships among employees supported by a relaxed and people-oriented atmosphere) ( Maamari and Messarra, 2012 , p. 167). The researchers thus are suggesting the following hypotheses for testing ( Figure 1 – Model) in an attempt to answer the following research question:

RQ1. Does leadership style mediate the relationship between EI and OC?

H1. EI of leaders is positively correlated to leadership style.

H2. Leader’s leadership style is positively correlated with responsibility.

H3. Leader’s leadership style is positively correlated with reward.

H4. Leader’s leadership style is positively correlated with warmth and support.

3.1 Methods and scale Following the positivist theory, the process of investigation of this study starts by observing social behaviour. Based on the approach of the deductive research, it aims at putting forth a model to test using a paper and pen questionnaire survey tool for collecting cross-sectional data from a sample of the population ( Saunderset al., 2009 ). The questionnaire prepared for this study includes six sections. The first part includes seven demographic questions that dwell on the respondents’ characteristics. These include the age, gender, educational level attained, total work experience, length of work experience with current company, work experience with current leader and the business sector of the company. The second section Emo onal Intelligence Reward Warmth & Support Responsibility Organiza onal Climate Leadership Style - Transac onal - Transforma onal Figure 1.

Suggested model to test 333 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) includes four short questions on each leadership style (transformational and transactional) taken from Bass and Avolio (2000) , on the style of leadership of the respondents’ supervisor.

As the researchers adopt the second stream of thought, the third section is composed of 16 EI questions borrowed from Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale as published by Liet al.

(2012) . This survey is chosen due to its conciseness, shortness, its simple language and replicability. The fourth, fifth and sixth sections include questions on OC, six on responsibility, nine on reward and seven on warmth and support, all adopted from Litwin and Stringer (1968) . The questions are simple and straight forward. They measure items that do not need the researcher’s intervention in the data collection process. The answers to all the parts except for the demographic part use a five-point Likert scale, where 1 strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree.

The formulated questionnaire is controlled for language and ease of understanding by two research colleagues and then pilot-tested on a sample group of 20 respondents to test for scale coherence, language simplicity and scale items’ clarity and understanding ability.

For the purpose of sampling the population, the researchers relied on a network of research assistants and a targeted sampling process, with the aim of collecting a thousand responses. The questionnaire copies were distributed through the network or research assistants, targeting a sample with the age and gender distribution stratifies in parallel to the demographic distribution of the population of Lebanon to minimize response bias. Every member of the network was given a category of responses in gender and age to survey. The ensuing collected data at the end of the process resulted in a response rate of 32.4 per cent (that is 324 responses) of which a large number were incomplete or lacking responses to the demographic characteristics. The end result is 258 usable responses entered to an Excel file with a control process to minimize data entry errors.

3.2 Scale validation The collected data were analysed for scale validation. This process allowed researchers to ascertain the validity of the tool for this research, using both exploratory analysis and principal components factor analysis. Using SPSS 22.0, the researchers run the required tests to analyse the data at hand. Data reduction factorability through the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) index measure of sampling adequacy ranges from 0 to 1 is considered acceptable at the level of 0.6 Tabachnick and Fidell (2013) . The index of KMO for all the variables ranges between 6.04 and 0.817, thus, are all considered acceptable ( Table I ). The second step for validating the scale was through the Bartlett’s sphericity test, where the result should be higher than 0.05 significance to be accepted. All the results of the Bartlett’s test of sphericity were significance atp 0.000; thus, the researchers rejected the null hypothesis. The third test in scale validation was the assessment of the Eigenvalues, where a component with a factor above 1.0 shows that the item does explain the variance to a moderate or high extent.

The Eigenvalues results for the leadership factors showed a cumulative of 60.783 per cent with for two items with a total of 4.862, whereas for EI, it showed a 59.974 per cent for five Table I.

Measure of tool reliability Variable KMO Bartlett’s test of sphericity df Sig.

Transformational leadership 0.735 284.495 6 0.000 Transactional leadership 0.657 354.547 6 0.000 Emotional intelligence 0.817 1014.329 120 0.000 Organizational citizenship: responsibility 0.619 111.882 15 0.000 Organizational citizenship: reward 0.685 540.197 36 0.000 Organizational citizenship: warmth and support 0.604 263.533 21 0.000 IJOA 25,2 334Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) scale items only, with a total of 9.596; the results for responsibility showed a total of 48.740 per cent for the first two items with a total 2.925; for reward a total of 52.172 per cent for the first two items with a total of 4.696, and finally warmth and support the first three variables showed 66.060 per cent with a total of 4.625, and therefore they are all considered acceptable.

As a result of the above analysis, the researchers reject the null hypothesis that variables are uncorrelated and conclude that the data are factorable. As a following measure, assessing the estimation of Commonalities helps analyse how the creation of the variables is affected by the presence of the other different factors, or: […] how much of the variance in each item is explained. Low values (e.g. less than 0.3) could indicate that the item does not fit well with the other items in its component” ( Pallant, 2007 , p. 196). Therefore, all the variables with a commonality rate exceeding 0.50 were kept. Using the extraction method: principal component analysis through SPSS 22.0, the results showed that two items were below 0.50 in the leadership part, and were removed from the data; one in EI; three in responsibility; three in reward; and one in warmth and support. Moreover, analysing for the tool reliability using the Cronbach’s alpha measure, the results showed a value 0.844 for leadership; 0.826 for EI; 0.508 for responsibility; 0.686 for reward; and 0.595 for warmth and support, which are considered acceptable. Based on all of the above data analysis of the tool used, the researchers conclude that the scale used in this field study is purified and internally consistent. Furthermore, based on Churchill (1979) and Nunnally (1978) ’s interpretations on construct and other types of validity, assessment such as content and criterion validity is attempted to meet the requirements of a proper thorough process of scientific research, and the researchers were satisfied that the objects of all construct, content and criterion validity were met.

3.3 Basic sample description The sample population includes all respondents whose complete responses are used in the data analysis. This sample population consists of 258 properly filled and returned survey tools out of the thousands sent. First, the respondents’ age distribution includes a large portion of young adults (age group 18 to 25 years) reaching 111 (43.0 per cent); with 22.5 per cent aged 26-35; 16.7 per cent aged 36-45; 12.8 per cent aged 46-55 and only 5.0 per cent aged above 56 years. Second, the gender distribution is almost equal with 125 (48.4 per cent) male respondents and 133 females (51.6 per cent). Both age and gender reflect the population distribution of the economy in which the field study is unfolded. Third, the educational level attained by respondents varies between high-school or lower (28 respondents or 10.9 per cent), freshman education 30 (11.6 per cent), bachelor’s degree of 129 respondents (50.0 per cent), masters or equivalent designation or professional certification (55 or 21.3 per cent) and postgraduate studies of 16 (6.2 per cent). Fourth, the total work experience of the respondents varies with their age group. Therefore, the majority of the respondents report a total work experience of 0-5 years (n 126, 48.8 per cent); 55 report 6-10 years (21.3 per cent); 34 report 11-15 years (13.2 per cent); 22 report 16-20 years (8.5 per cent) and 21 report more than 21 years of experience (8.1 per cent). Similarly, on the tenure in the current organization, 157 (60.9 per cent) report 0-5 years, 53 (20.5 per cent) report 5-10 years, 18 (7.0 per cent) report 10-15 years, 17 (6.6 per cent) report 15-20 years and 13 (5.0 per cent) report more than 20 years.

Moreover, the experience from working with the same leader is reported by respondents to be 165 (64.0 per cent) report 0-5 years, 43 (16.7 per cent) report 5-10 years, 28 (10.9 per cent) report 10-15 years, 11 (4.3 per cent) report 15-20 years and 11 (4.3 per cent) report more than 20 years.

Finally, the respondents’ firms operate in different sectors of the economy. In total, 20.9 per cent work in marketing/sales/retail, 13.2 per cent work in information technology (IT/IS) field, 6.6 per cent work in research/development and training, 16.3 per cent work 335 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) in education, 2.3 per cent in production/manufacturing, 15.1 per cent infinance/banking/ accounting or HR, 14.7 per cent in engineering and construction, 1.2 per cent in farming and agriculture and 9.7 per cent in other sectors. These are reflective of the economy under consideration.

4. Research results and hypotheses testing 4.1 Correlation analysis To analyse the data, the researchers ran a number of tests, namely bi-variate correlations and linear regressions, to test the model suggested. The results show that at two tailed, first, age is weakly correlated with total EI of the respondent (r 0.225 and 0.129, respectively, with Sig. 0.000, andp 0.05. Second, education is weakly positively correlated with leadership style applied (r 0.181; Sig. 0.004,p 0.01) and with EI (r 0.153; Sig. 0.014,p 0.05).

Third, total work experience is positively highly correlated with work experience with current leader (r 0.799; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01). Fourth, organization’s type of work is negatively weakly correlated with OC (r 0.167; Sig. 0.007,p 0.01) and with leadership style (r 0.125; Sig. 0.045,p 0.05). Fifth, employee’s EI is positively moderately correlated to leadership style (r 0.523; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01). Finally, OC is positively weakly correlated with leadership style (r 0.273; Sig. 0.007,p 0.01).

Moreover, the researchers analysed the correlations between the three sub-factors of OC used, namely, responsibility, reward and warmth and support, with the other variables.

First, the results show that responsibility is only significantly correlated to EI (r 0.388; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01). Second, the factor reward is weakly negatively correlated with total work experience (r 0.164; Sig. 0.008,p 0.01), work experience with current leader (r 0.124; Sig. 0.046,p 0.05), organization’s type of work/sector (r 0.202; Sig. 0.001,p 0.01), and positively weakly correlated to EI (r 0.240; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01) and highly positively correlated to responsibility (r 0.642; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01). Finally, warmth and support is positively moderately correlated with EI (r 0.374; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01), responsibility (r 0.535 Sig. 0.000,p 0.01) and highly correlated with reward (r 0.640; Sig. 0.000,p 0.01).

4.2 Hypotheses testing For testing the suggested hypotheses at hand, the researchers ran a number of linear regressions. The results (summarized in Figure 2 ) indicate that the relationship between EI as independent variable and leadership style as dependent, is significant (R 2 0.274; Sig. 0.000) for leadership styles. And that the relationship between leadership style as independent and OC as dependent is weakly significant (R 2 0.075; Sig. 0.000). Moreover, the relationship between leadership style and OC is significant (R 2 0.372; Sig. 0.000), whereas the mediation effect of leadership style to the relationship isR2 0.147 and Sig. 0.114, not reduced to zero, thus is somehow meaningful ( Baron and Kenny, 1986 )(Table II ).

Therefore, the researchers tested for variance between leadership styles and found again meaningful relations for both leadership styles, transactional (R 2 0.240; Sig. 0.000) and transformational (R 2 0.374; Sig. 0.000) with EI. Moreover, the relationship of transactional leadership to the OC was tested for variance with the sub-factors or responsibility, reward and warmth and support ( Figure 3 ).

5. Analysis The aim of this study was to test whether leaders with high EI would create a positive OC that would result in improving the performance of the company’s employees. Therefore, the researchers analysed first the relationship of the variables under study with the demographic variables. The results show that age is correlated with work experience and EI, IJOA 25,2 336Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) but weakly with type of work. This is due to employees staying in the same company due to a good climate, a good pay package, limited job offerings in the market, fear of change and to the personality of the employees who might not be willing to venture into a new firm or to work with a new leader, where adaptability is of essence and where the learning curve is restarted for the new position, leaving the employee at a point where EI needs to be high and where the comfort zone is nil within the new OC.

However, education plays a positive but weak role with work experience in general, with work experience with same leader, with the position in the company, with the leadership R2= 0.075 Sig. = 0.000 R 2= 0.274 Sig. = 0.000 Emo onal Intelligence Leadership Style Organiza onal Climate R2= 0.372 Sig. = 0.000 Figure 2.

Regression results Table II.

Results of leadership style mediating the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational climate Variables b SER 2 tSig.

Step 1 DV: Emotional intelligence P – Leadership style 0.419 0.523 0.043 0.274 9.825 0.000 Step 2 DV: Organizational climate P – Emotional intelligence 0.482 0.273 0.106 0.075 4.540 0.000 Step 3 DV: Organizational climate P – Emotional intelligence 0.447 0.316 0.096 0.139 4.658 0.000 P – Leadership style 0.190 0.108 0.120 0.147 1.585 0.114 R2= 0.240 Sig. = 0.000 Emo onal Intelligence Transforma onal Leadership Reward Warmth & Support Responsibility Transac onal Leadership R2= 0.273 Sig. = 0.000 R2= 0.374 Sig. = 0.000 R2= 0.299 Sig. = 0.000 R2= 0.118 Sig. = 0.059 R2= 0.205 Sig. = 0.001 R2 = 0.194 Sig. = 0.002 R2= 0.220 Sig. = 0.000 Figure 3.

Regression with sub-factors 337 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) style and with EI. The more the employees are educated, the more they are able to work with the same leader within the climate, as they can adapt much more easily to the working style and attitude of the same person. The better the educational level attained, the better the job position reached, as career advancement and job perform are highly positively correlated to higher education. Higher education allows the person to lead better and communicate better with his/her subordinates; thus, he/she may reach better understanding and communications, which result in goal achievement efficiencies and improved understanding and management of others’ and one’s emotions. The higher the employee’s education and the better he/she is realistic, adaptable, diplomatic, humble and accepting of self, the more one knows him/herself, allowing one to better know how to interact with people and communicate with them and understand them more, which are the basic skills of EI. This is in line with Gardner (1983) and Kerret al.(2006) . Furthermore, the high correlation of total work experience with the tenure in the current firm and with the same leader can be attributed to the building of strong relationships in an environment where time heals and bridges the gaps of behaviour, attitudes and opinions. OC plays the role of the glue that binds all these factors towards forming uniformity. This process takes to the group formation process where efficiency is reached at the stages of norming and performing ( Robbins and Judge, 2013 ) as employees do more than they are required to ( Vrba, 2007 ).

Second, the researchers analysed the relationship of the variables of the model.

Employees’ EI is positively correlated to leadership style in general. High EI leads to better understanding of leaders, accepting their work behaviour as leaders who know how to plan, organize, lead and control, delegate when it is needed, how to communicate, motivate, adapt, understand and empathize with others, thus creating a positive OC around them, which corroborates with the findings of Lopeset al.(2006) ,Rosete and Ciarrochi (2005) ,Gardner and Stough (2003) ,Wolffet al.(2002) ,Wong and Law (2002) and Bar-On and Parker (2000) .In addition, the transformational leadership style is reported to be a better provider for cooperation, team-building and performance than does transactional style as also reported by Vrba (2007) ,Palmeret al.(2001) and Loweet al.(1996) . Moreover, higher EI allows these leaders to be more understanding and compassionate, influencing the performance of their subordinates ( Humphrey, 2002 ;Pirola-Merloet al., 2002 ), thus conveying a feeling to employees and creating OC in which these employees can confide, trust, learn and prosper in the direction of the goals set for them ( Goleman, 1998 ). Furthermore, OC is positively correlated with leadership style, as the more accepted the leadership style by the followers/ subordinates, the more the leader adapts and knows how to interact, communicate, and motivate his/her subordinates. The latter creates a better OC in the organization leading to higher effectiveness ( Sadri, 2012 ;Walteret al., 2011 ;Anand and Udaya-Suriyan, 2010 ).

Moreover, the deeper analysis regarding the three sub-factors of OC, namely, responsibility, reward and warmth and support, shows that responsibility and EI are positively correlated. A high EI leader knows how to delegate responsibility and give enough reward, recognition and motivation. In line with organizational behaviour studies on employee commitment, the more the leader shows respect and consideration towards them, the more the subordinates commit to the work nucleus. This applies on both a team or a group, which in turn reflects in a superior behaviour of responsibility and ownershipvis-a `-vis the work environment and work processes. The second sub-factor, reward, is negatively correlated with total work experience, work experience with current leader and with the organization’s type of work. This is due to the fact that reward is not given based on work experience but on behaviour, performance, goal achievement and accomplishments. The tenure that an employee stays with the same leader will neither affect what reward he/she will get nor change the type of work of the company, except for the employee’s feeling of IJOA 25,2 338Downloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) comfort in the environment. However, reward is positively correlated to EI, as the higher the EI of the leader, the more he/she will know when, how and what support and encouragement he/she needs to give or reflect to his/her subordinates, show more sympathy towards them and give them recognition. This is accomplished by using the available reward tools at hand, and without exceeding the authority limits given, but resorting to a more effective distribution of rewards at the right emotionally efficient point-in-time for every employee in the team. Reward is however positively highly correlated to responsibility, as the more an employee is responsible, the more he/she expects to be rewarded, as he/she is doing her/his job properly. Furthermore, warmth and support is positively moderately correlated with EI and responsibility, as the higher the EI of the leader, the more he/she will be able to create a friendly atmosphere with a relaxed climate full of warmth and support. Moreover, the more a person exerts a behaviour reflecting responsibility, the less there will be disagreements at work, and the more the atmosphere will be welcoming and positive. As a result of this warmth and support environment, social relations at work develop and thrive, moving the employees from stage to stage in the process of team formation and team behaviour ( Yoder, 2004 ). This allows the team to reach the level of norming, which culminates into a performing mood ( Robbins and Judge, 2013 ). Finally, “warmth and support” is highly positively correlated with reward, as the more the atmosphere is friendly and warm at work ( Field and Abelson, 1982 ), the more the employees will get rewarded and appreciated on their work and performance ( Abdulkarim, 2013 ;Momeni, 2009 ). However, warmth and support is moderately positively correlated with EI and responsibility. EI is about creating a good supportive warmth climate by the leader to the employees, by understanding them, supporting them and knowing how to communicate with them. Warmth and support are also linked to responsibility, as the more the leader delegates authority and responsibility, the more a positive and warm climate will be nurtured where employees feel committed, trusted and loyal, and thus perform better as also reported by Maamari and Messarra (2012) .

6. Conclusions The managerial implications of the above results can be summed up as follows. First, the higher the EI of the employees and leaders, the better their respective communication, performance, stability and tenure, and thereby the lower the turnover. Second, the higher the EI of employees and leaders, the better the social relationships within the work-setting, higher empathy and higher levels of norming. Third, the high levels of EI generate higher levels of feelings of responsibility as well as warmth and support, affecting both employees and leaders’ effectiveness in decision-making, commitment and efficiency. Finally, higher EI allows leaders to find out-of-the-box reward incentives that actually work. Thus, human resource managers need to provide for improving the EI of their teams. They can do so through the different techniques of coaching, training and workshops. Managers who attempt to build on the improvement of the EI of their employees and leaders will first decrease their organizational turnover and decrease the costs of recruitment, training and adaptation of the new human assets. Second, they will speed the team cohesiveness processes moving their teams forward through the team-formation process rather than going back to square one of team forming. Finally, they will reap the benefits of improved decision-making process and effectiveness, allowing the organization sustained growth and performance. Moreover, age is reported to be positively correlated to EI, and EI to leadership style, therefore managers should take into consideration the fact that leaders need to score well on EI, thus prepare them before taking charge.

The study has a number of limitations. First, the sample size, although reflective of the population in its distribution, remains limited in the size of respondents. Second, the 339 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT) sampling technique, although it controls for certain biases, leaves the door open to challenging the generalizability of the results. Moreover, the sample size’s limitation resulted in the researchers’ inability to compare the different sub-sectors of the economy (labelled as the type of work of the firm) to derive deeper conclusions relating to each specific economic sector.

As a result, the researchers recommend that future research dwell deeper into the different leadership styles applied and compare the various factors of OC and EI within these environments, to derive conclusions by sector of the economy. The purpose of this deeper analysis lies in the benefit towards managerial implications that might be applicable.

As a conclusion, the researchers’ strive to reach an answer towards explaining the role of EI and leadership style in boosting or changing OC, has helped shed some light on these relationships and concludes that all the suggested hypotheses are supported. The different styles of leadership do affect the employee’s perception of the OC and are by themselves affected by the EI level of the leader. Only three factors of OC analysed in this study, namely, responsibility, reward and warmth and support. Among these, the relationship between the leader’s EI and responsibility, passing by the transformational leadership style presents the highest correlation and explanatory potential. Therefore, organizations should add to their people’s development agendas the training for EI enhancement to all levels, age groups and educational backgrounds.

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About the authors Dr Bassem E. Maamari, after a long executive career, joined the academic world as a full-time faculty at the Lebanese American University’s School of Business. He brings a wealth of practical experience in the areas of sales management, finance, MIS and human resources management. He has a number of studies, and his research interests include job satisfaction of employees, emotional intelligence and the impact of technology on people. Bassem E. Maamari is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected] F. Majdalani, with a long work experience in education, training and research, is presently a Doctoral Candidate at Grenoble School of Management (France). Her research interests include the emotional intelligence of employees, faculty and students. In parallel, she is running a number of field studies on EI, customer satisfaction and consumer behaviour. For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htmOr contact us for further details: [email protected] 345 Emotional intelligenceDownloaded by Roehampton University At 07:37 11 August 2017 (PT)