Emotional Intelligence and Creativity in New Product Development Teams

Abstract

There is general recognition among practitioners and academics about the importance of emotional intelligence in improving individual and team performance. In this conceptual manuscript, we propose a model whereby a team member’s emotional intelligence (EI) is an antecedent of an individual’s creativity in new product development (NPD). This study focuses on emotional intelligence at the individual team members’ level and thus builds upon earlier work that has examined the impact of a team leader’s EI on new product outcomes. We propose that an individual’s EI positively contributes to creativity. In addition, we argue that proximity and prior work relationship enhance the relationship between EI and the creativity of team members. We submit that the effects of individual team member EI on creativity is important to study because of the role that emotions can play in team interactions and effectiveness. This implies that studies investigating how best to manage NPD teams need to include emotional intelligence in order to capture the true impact of individual team members’ on team effectiveness.