Influence of emotional intelligence on enterprise performance with mediating role of entrepreneurial resilience: a case of SMEs in Pakistan under the light of Covid-19

This study investigates the role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in SMEs of Pakistan. It is assumed that EI of entrepreneurs can influence the performance of SMEs even in times of a crisis like Covid-19. The majority of the business sectors got disturbed and lost their stakes due to this pandemic. EI can play a vital role to enhance the performance of enterprises and manage this crisis with emotional stability. Entrepreneurial Resilience (ER) can play a significant indirect role between EI and an enterprise's performance. ER is very important to deal with such situations that are unexpected and adverse. This quantitative study uses a sample of 354 active SMEs in Lahore, Pakistan. Simple random sampling strategy was used to collect the data. Structure Equation Modelling (SEM) is applied through covariance-based AMOS. To check the reliability and validity of instruments, the researchers used Confirmatory Analysis (CFA). This study concluded that EI and Enterprise Performance have a significant positive relationship and ER plays a mediatory role between EI and EP.