Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe how the understanding of emotional intelligence has evolved since last few decades and to see how emotional intelligence of an organizational member can improve organizational effectiveness by addressing the Cherniss model. This paper reviews the historic literature on emotional intelligence and relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness. The findings indicate that as a field of study, emotional intelligence developed gradually. Its origin can be traced back to 1920s, till its official conceptualization in 1990. Although, it is a relatively new construct, but is a widely recognized management discipline now owing to its remarkable influence on organizational effectiveness. The current complex era of globalization has brought dynamic changes to the working of modern organizations. Businesses now greatly focus on achieving competitive advantage by dramatically improving the overall organizational effectiveness.