Vol-1 Issue-3 2016 IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396 International Conference on "Research avenues in Social Science” Organize by SNGC, Coimbatore EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE YARDSTICK TO COMBAT STRESS AMONG PLASTIC INDUSTRY ENTREPRENEURS Nimisha.M 1 Ph.D Scholar Department of Management Studies & Research, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore-641021. Tamilnadu,India. Dr.A.Dharmaraj 2 Associate Professor Department of Management Studies & Research, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore-641021. Tamilnadu,India. The Indian plastics industry made a promising beginning in 1945 and has registered a fast growth since then. The growth accelerated in the 1960s and with the liberalization of Indian economy in 1991, it has shown tremendous growth and diversification and is now the star performer along with the other fast growing industries like electronics, computers and white goods. India has been projected to be world number three in plastics consumption after the USA and Ch ina. Th is seems to be a very achievable positio n over the past decades as, the developed world has reported 3-4 per cent growth, but the Indian plastic industry has reported double digit growth each year. According to AIPMA, it is now estimated that the plastic industry in India will grow at a rate of over 15 per cent per annum for several years to come. Mu mbai, Delh i, Ko lkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Vadodara, Vapi, Kanpur, A mritsar, Co imbatore, Bongaigaon, Barauni, Mettur, Du rgapur, Pimp ri (Pune), Rishra, etc. are so me of the outstanding centres which are well known for the production of either p lastic raw materials or finished plastic goods. Records in AIPMA states that Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, U.K., Thailand, Sri Lanka, and a number of other countries are the regular buyers of Indian plastic goods. Currently, the Indian plastics industry is spread across the country, employing about 4 million people and over 2,000 exporters. That is why; the Govern ment has accorded it a thrust industry status. The time has come where the plastics industry has the capacity to influence the progress of all other sectors. Plastic industry is regarded as ‘sunrise’ industry due to its increasing versatility and burgeoning worldwide demand. No wonder we are living in the plastic age. The Govern ment has set up the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) at Chennai with the primary objective to develop skilled manpower and provide technical services to the plastic industry. The unprecedented growth in the use of plastics as a packing material has created a serious problem of solid waste disposal. Plastic is a non-biodegradable substance and creates problems of environmental pollution. Many advanced countries are seriously thinking of reverting back to conventional packing materials, thereby dealing big blow to this industry. However, Indian plastic industry may thrive on the recycling of the used plastic material for wh ich rag pickers can make valuable contribution. Recycling solves the problem of waste disposal, lessens the burden on raw materials, lightens the pressure on the biosphere and provides jobs to millions. It may be mentioned here that this process needs technological development and upgradation. The major challenges being faced by the entrepreneurs of the plastic industry in India are export/import related problems, insufficient government support, high competit ion, high risks, crisis in raw material market, low plastic consumption rate in India, electricity problem, moderate technological advancement, due to wh ic h most of the entrepreneurs face stress. Entrepreneurial stress is one of the major health hazards of the modern environ ment. It accounts for much of the physical illness, substance abuse, and family problems experienced by millions of C-1215 www.ijariie.co m 178 Vol-1 Issue-3 2016 IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396 International Conference on "Research avenues in Social Science” Organize by SNGC, Coimbatore entrepreneurs. Also, entrepreneurial stress and stressful working conditions have been linked to low productivity, increased rates of accidents on and off the job. The Nat ional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), states that job stress, now more than ever, poses a threat to the health of workers – and the health of organizations. Many research studies have focused on the role of emotions in the workp lace and have conceptually examined the relationship between cognition and emotions. This movement has largely been attributed to new research around the construct of Emotional Intelligence (EI). Emot ional Intelligence involves behaviours related to the experience of emotion; specifically it involves expressing, recognizing, understanding and managing emotions. With respect to organizational context, emotional intelligence was popularized by Go leman (1998) who described emotional intelligence as a yardstick for recru iting and developing employees. Emotional intelligence as a yardstick predicts the technical and intellectual abilit ies in workforce to do their jobs and focuses on their emotion related skills. In 2007 Ramos, Fernandez-Berrocal & Ext remera have pointed out that indiv iduals with h igher emotional clarity have more adaptability to stressful situations. Thus there is a strong need for systematic research on the relat ionship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial stress so as to assist entrepreneurs in their development and stress management. Statement of problem Plastic industry is regarded as ‘s unrise’ industry due to its increasing versatility and burgeoning worldwide demand. The time has co me where the plastics industry has the capacity to influence the progress of all other sectors. The industry has been facing a number of problems due to whic h most of the entrepreneurs face stress. Entrepreneurial stress is one of the major health hazards of the modern environ ment. Entrepreneurial stress and stressful working conditions have been linked to low productivity, increased rates of accidents on and off the job. This proposed research aspires to explo re options, so as to assist entrepreneurs in their develop ment and stress management by using emotional intelligence as a yardstick. Objectives • To explore the emotional intelligence of entrepreneurs’ stress. • To understand the emotional intelligence of the entrepreneurs of Coimbatore plastic industry. • To measure the level of entrepreneurial stress among the entrepreneurs of Coimbatore plastic indus try. • To analyze the causal factors of stress among the entrepreneurs of Coimbatore plastic industry. • To provide suggestions to the entrepreneurs to improve the emotional intelligence and manage entrepreneurial stress with the help of the competence. Review of literature The research on emotional intelligence has increased in the last three decades resulting in various conceptualizat ions and measures (Salovey & Mayer, 1990; Petrides & Furnham, 2000; Weisinger, 2005; Steiner, 2005; Singh, 2006; Bhattacharya & Sengupta, 2007). Many research studies have identified that emotional intelligence has an impact on individual well-being (Lenaghan, Buda, & Eisner 2007), stress tolerance (Chap man & Clarke 2003; Dulewicz, Higgs, & Slaski 2003; Nikolaou & Tsaousis 2002; Lopes, Grewal, Kadis, Gall, & Salovey 2006), leadership qualities (Rosete & Ciarrochi 2005), organisational co mmit ment (Nikolaou & Tsaousis 2002; Carmeli 2003), perfo rmance (Shaffer, Ho m Hung, Hong Kong, & Shaffer 2005; Dulewicz, Higgs, &Slaski 2003; Lam & Kirby 2002; Lopes et al., 2006), work-family balance (Lenaghan et al., 2007; Carmeli, 2003). In one of the studies to examine the relat ionship between emotional intelligence and stress, Slaski and Cartwright (2002) investigated emotional intelligence, s tress and health in a group of managers. The researchers reported that there has been a significant relationship between emotional intelligence, stress and health and that emotional intelligence plays an important ro le in moderating the stress process and increasing an individual’s resilience to stress. In fact in many research studies emotional intelligence has consistently been related to and predictive of positive outcome measures, such as life satisfaction, work performance, healthy relationships, physical health, and psychological wellbeing (e.g., Ciarrochi, Forgas, Mayer, 2001; Salovey et al., 1999). People h igh in emotional intelligence seem to possess skills that allo w them to cope effectively with the challenges they face which in the long -run contribute to such positive outcomes. Schutte et al. (2001) found that low emotional intelligence is a predictor of alcohol and drug use. Ciarrochiet al. (2002) found that emotion perception, a component of emotional intelligence, moderated the relationship between daily hassles and psychological health (e.g., depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation). The C-1215 www.ijariie.co m 179 Vol-1 Issue-3 2016 IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396 International Conference on "Research avenues in Social Science” Organize by SNGC, Coimbatore ability to manage ones’ emotions (another EI co mponent), moderated the relationship between hassles and suicidal ideation in the opposite direction, such that the relationship was stronger for people low in managing emotions than for people high in managing emotions. Research Methodolog y The dependent variable entrepreneurial stress has been measured by using six major sub -scales each assessing work roles known to be associated with stress; (1) Role Overload (RO) –whether the entrepreneur is able to accomplish the task; (2) Role Insufficiency (RI) – whether the entrepreneurs’ skills, and experience are appropriate to the requirements; (3) Ro le A mbiguity (RA) – whether priorit ies, expectations, and evaluation criteria are clear to the entrepreneurs; (4) Role Boundary (RB) – whether the entrepreneur is experiencing conflicting role demands; (5) Responsibility (R) – whether the entrepreneur has, or feels, a great deal of responsibility for the performance; (6) Physical Environ ment (PE) – whether the entrepreneurs is exposed to high levels of to xins or extreme physical conditions. The predictor variable consists of five major subscales of emotional intelligence and measures the way an entrepreneur thinks, feels and acts using emotions and emotional information; (1) Emotional Recognition and Exp ression (ERE) – ability to identify feelings and emotional states, and to express those to others; (2) Understanding Emotions (UE) (external) – ability to identify and understand the emotions of others and those that man ifest in external stimuli; (3) Emot ions Direct Cognition (EDC) – extent to which emotions and emotional informat ion is incorporated in decision making and problem solving; (4) Emot ional Management (EM ) – ability to manage positive and negative emotions within oneself and others; (5) Emot ional Control (EC) – ability to control strong emotional states experienced at work. Hypotheses • H1: Emotional recognition and expression are significantly related to entrepreneurial stress variables. • H2: Ability to identify and understand the emotions of others is negatively related to entrepreneurial stress. • H3 : There exists a significant relationship between emotions direct cognition and entrepreneurial stress variables. • H4: Emotional management is significantly correlated with entrepreneurial stress variables . • H5: There exists a significant relationship emotional control and entrepreneurial stress variables. Study site and sample The present study was conducted on a samp le of 250 respondents (sample size 50% o f entrepreneurs’ strength 500) fro m Coimbatore. The respondents consisted of Plastic industry entrepreneurs. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed and 250 co mpleted questionnaires were received. The data obtained have been analyzed statistically by using percentages, mean, standard deviation, int er-correlation and regression. Table 1 shows the demographic p rofile of respondents. It has been observed that 44% respondents are into business less than 10 years; 34 % are into business for 5 to 10 years and 22% respondents are into business for more than 10 years. The maximu m nu mber of respondents (63.60 %) falls in the age group of 20-40 years; followed by below 20 years of age (32 %) and then (4.40 %) respondents fall in the age group of above 40 years. As far as qualification of respondents is concerned 46% respondents were under-graduates, 37.6 % were 10th /12th and remaining 16.4 % were post-graduates. Table 1: Demographic Profile of Respondents CHARACTERISTICS Into Business Below 10 years 5 to 10 years Above 10 years NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE 110 85 55 44 34 22 Age C-1215 www.ijariie.co m 180 Vol-1 Issue-3 2016 IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396 International Conference on "Research avenues in Social Science” Organize by SNGC, Coimbatore Below 20 yrs 20- 40 yrs Above 40 yrs 80 159 11 32 63.6 4.4 Education 10th /12th Under-Graduation Post-Graduation 94 115 41 37.6 46 16.4 Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics for all variab les including mean, standard deviation and Cronbach’s alpha. Part icipants (i.e. Entrepreneurs) indicated high levels of stress. The stressor role insufficiency (4.01) contributes maximu m to the entrepreneurial ro le stress, followed by role ambigu ity (3.88) and role overload (3.84). Also stress level of part icipants due to responsibility factor has been found to beat a higher side (3.78). W ith respect to physical environment the respondents exhibit low stress (2.06). The mean scores for emotional intelligence of participants has been found to be at lower side, indicating a very low score for ‘emotional management’ (1.89) followed by emotions direct cognition (1.92) and emotional control (2.02). Also the participants scored low for emot ional recognition and expression (2.42) and understanding emotions (2.69). Table 2: Descriptive statistics 3.84 4.01 3.88 3.75 3.78 2.06 Standard Deviation .34 .38 .43 .44 .32 .26 Cronbach’s alpha coefficient .71 .73 .77 .81 .70 .78 2.42 .79 .91 2.69 .79 .94 1.92 .48 .93 1.89 .42 .90 2.02 .57 .92 Variables Mean Role Overload Role Insufficiency Role Ambiguity Role Boundary Responsibility Physical Environment Emot ional Recognition and Expression Understanding Emotions Emot ions Direct Cognition Emot ional Management Emotional Control Table 3 shows the results of correlation analyses. To test the relationship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial stress, Pearson product–moment correlation analyses were conducted. The results of the correlation analysis indicate that emotional recognition and expression (ability to identify feelings and emotional states, and to express those to others) have a significant negative correlation with the stressor role insufficiency (.216**, p<0.05). Therefore hypotheses h1 is accepted. Emot ions direct cognition has been found to be significantly correlated with all d imensions of entrepreneurial stress vis-à-vis role overload (-.522**, p<0.05), role insufficiency (-.432**, p<0.05), role amb iguity (-.553**, p<0.05), role boundary (-.497**, p<0.05) and responsibility ( .519**, p<0.05). Therefore hypotheses h3 is supported. Further emotional management has been found to have significant negative co rrelation with role overload (-.595**, p <0.05), role insufficiency (-.462**,p<0.05), ro le amb iguity (-.588**, p<0.05), ro le boundary (-.574**, p<0.05) and responsibility (-.542**, p <0.05).Therefore hypotheses h4 is accepted. C-1215 www.ijariie.co m 181 Vol-1 Issue-3 2016 IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396 International Conference on "Research avenues in Social Science” Organize by SNGC, Coimbatore Finally emot ional control has also been found to be significantly correlated with all entrepreneurial stress variables vis-à-vis role overload (-.693**, p <0.05), ro le insufficiency (-.451**,p<0.05), role amb iguity (-.603**, p<0.05), role boundary (-.541**, p<0.05) and responsibility (-.555**, p <0.05).Therefore hypotheses h5 is supported. The variable understanding emotions (ability to identify and understand the emotions of others and those that manifest in external stimuli) has not been found to be significantly correlated with any of the dimensions of entrepreneurial stress. Therefore hypotheses h2 has not been supported. Table 3: Correlation Analysis Emot ional Recognition and Exp ression (ERE)Pearson correlation Sig.(2 tailed) N Understanding Emot ions (UE) Pearson correlation Sig.(2 tailed) N Emot ions direct cognition (EDC)Pearson correlation Sig.(2 tailed) N Role Overload (RO) -.128* Role Insufficiency (RI) -.216** Role Ambiguity (RA) -.159* Role Boundary (RB) -.081 Responsibility (R) -.110 Physical Environment (RE) .092 .044 250 -.056 .001 250 .001 .062 250 -.140* .193 250 -.050 .045 250 -.124* .148 250 .034 .363 250 -.522** -985 250 -.432** .063 250 -.553** .449 250 -.497** .102 250 -.519** .592 250 .081 .000 250 -.595** .000 250 -.462** .000 250 -.588** .000 250 -.574** .000 250 -.542** .137 250 .147* .000 250 -.604** .000 250 -.541** .000 250 -.555** .020 250 .119 .000 250 .000 250 .000 250 .061 250 Emot ional Management (EM) Pearson correlation Sig.(2 tailed) .000 .000 N 250 250 Emot ional -.693** -.451** Control (EC) Pearson correlation Sig.(2 tailed) .000 .000 N 250 250 **Correlation is significant at 0.05 level (2 tailed) Table 4 shows the results of regression analyses In order to explore which of the specific dimensions of emotional intelligence were important as predictors of entrepreneurial stress, several standard regression analyses were undertaken with each of the six stres s variables as the dependent variable, and each of the five emot ional intelligence dimensions as the independent variables. As shown in Table 4 emotions direct cognition, emotional management and emotional control emerged as significant predictor for all regression models. Within those emotional management was the strongest predictor of ro le overload (β = -.156, p<0.05), ro le insufficiency (β = -.189, p<0.05), role ambiguity (β = -.250, p<0.05), role boundary (β = -.328, p<0.05) and responsibility (β = -.167, p<0.05). C-1215 www.ijariie.co m 182 Vol-1 Issue-3 2016 IJARIIE-ISSN(O)-2395-4396 International Conference on "Research avenues in Social Science” Organize by SNGC, Coimbatore Table 4: Standard Regression Analyses showing each Dependent Stress Variable with the Emoti onal Intelligence Predictor Variables Regression Model 1. Role Overload Emotions Direct Cognition Emotional Management Emotional Control 2. Role Insufficiency Emotional Recognition and Expression Emotions Direct Cognition Emotional Management Emotional Control 3. Role Ambiguity Emotions Direct Cognition Emotional Management Emotional Control 4. Role Boundary Emotions Direct Cognition Emotional Management Emotional Control 5. Responsibility Emotions Direct Cognition Emotional Management Emotional Control Beta Value (b) Significance -.086 -.156 -.303 .039 .003 .000 -.054 .046 -.135 -.189 -.132 .018 .008 .011 -.201 -.250 -.236 .000 .000 .000 -.157 -.328 -.177 .008 .000 .001 -.148 -.167 -.155 .001 .002 .000 CONCLUSION The present study examined the level o f entrepreneurial stress among Plastic industry entrepreneurs in Coimbatore d istrict and also makes an attempt to understand the reasons of such stress and its relationship with emotional intelligence. Plastic industry is regarded as ‘sunrise’ industry due to its increasing versatility and burgeoning worldwide demand. The time has come where the plastics industry has the capacity to influence the progress of all other sectors. The industry has been facing a number of problems due to which most of the entrepreneurs face stress. Entrepreneurial stress is one of the major health hazards of the modern environ ment. Entrepreneurial stress and stressful wo rking conditions have been linked to lo w productivity, increased rates of accidents on and off the job. The results of descriptive analysis indicated that the stressor ‘ro le insufficiency’ (4.01) contributes maximu m to the entrepreneurial stress. With respect to emotional intelligence of employees it has been found that four dimensions of emot ional intelligence were significant in the occupational stress process vis -àvis emotions direct cognition, emot ional management and emot ional control. Collectively the results of study provided a rationale for the development of an emotional intelligence inorder to deal with the negative emotions that arise from the experience of stress. REFERENCE • Bhattacharya, S. M., & Sengupta, N. (2007). 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