Emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing as key factors in business management – evidence from Slovak SMEs

ABSTRACT. Over the last decades, researchers have been increasingly studying the field of emotional intelligence and knowledge management. However, the interaction between these two important factors has not received sufficient attention thus far, therefore this paper aims to assess it. The goal of this article is to assess the impact of emotional intelligence on the willingness of knowledge transfer and examine additional factors (such as gender and generation group). The research sample (N=508) consisted of employees of Slovak SMEs. The study was conducted in June-August of 2022. A two-way variance analysis and a binomial logistic regression were applied. In the case of Hypotheses 1 and 2, Emotional Quotient (EQ) figured as an independent variable, while gender and generation group were independent categorical variables. In the case of Hypotheses 3, 4 and 5, a model was set up using logistic regression, where the EQ, gender and generation group were all independent variables. The results show that gender has a real impact on the level of EQ. The willingness of knowledge transfer is influenced by both the level of EQ and gender. The importance of emotional intelligence in connection to knowledge transfer was examined during the crisis caused by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, thus expanding the knowledge related to human resources. Previous research on the topic is quite limited and the present study is unique in considering the issue in the context of SMEs and the CEE countries.