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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the direct effects of emotional intelligence and trust in co-workers on knowledge sharing. Further, it aims to examine the moderating effect of trust in co-workers on the emotional intelligence-knowledge sharing relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 121 employees working with 13 different service sector organizations in the northern region of India. The data were tested for validity and reliability. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results indicated that both emotional intelligence and trust in co-workers had significant direct effects on knowledge sharing of organizational members. However, trust in co-workers did not moderate emotional intelligence-knowledge sharing relationship. Research limitations/implications The limitations include the sample and cross-sectional design. Hence, future studies can be conducted using a longitudinal design covering other regions of India to increase the generalizability of findings. Practical implications The findings suggest that management should develop appropriate strategies for meliorating emotional intelligence level of employees because people with higher emotional intelligence are more likely to engage themselves in knowledge sharing. Additionally, organizations should adopt a culture that promotes trust among its members, thereby fostering knowledge sharing in organizations. Originality/value There is limited literature on the role of emotions in knowledge sharing. The study adds to the extant literature on emotional intelligence and knowledge sharing in the context of India. Besides, the study attempted to investigate the interaction effect of trust in co-workers on emotional intelligence-knowledge sharing relationship that has not been studied so far.

Purpose This study aims to examine the underlying process through which emotional intelligence impacts employees’ innovative work behaviour by testing the mediating role played by tacit knowledge sharing in organizations. The direct and indirect effects of emotional intelligence on innovative work behaviour of employees were explored. Design/methodology/approach A structured survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 171 full-time employees of five high-tech knowledge-intensive organizations located in India. The hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The results revealed that emotional intelligence had a direct positive impact on tacit knowledge sharing and innovative work behaviour of employees. Similarly, tacit knowledge sharing positively influenced innovative work behaviour. The study further showed that the relationship between emotional intelligence and innovative work behaviour was partially mediated by tacit knowledge sharing. Practical implications To enhance innovative behaviour at work, organizations should concentrate on building the emotional competencies of its employees to increase their emotional intelligence level through suitable training programs. Besides, organizations should also focus on shaping a knowledge-sharing culture by building systems and processes through which free exchange of tacit knowledge among employees can be promoted to enhance their innovative work behaviour. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing pool of knowledge by demonstrating the unexplored effect of emotional intelligence on innovative work behaviour via the mediating role of tacit knowledge sharing. It also advances current literature on emotional intelligence, tacit knowledge sharing and innovative work behaviour by discussing useful theoretical implications of the findings.

Purpose Owing to limited research exploring the role of emotional constructs on different types of knowledge sharing, this paper aims to examine the impact of emotional intelligence on two different types of knowledge sharing, namely, tacit knowledge sharing and explicit knowledge sharing. Further, this study also attempts to explore the moderating role of work experience between emotional intelligence-knowledge sharing relationship. Design/methodology/approach A survey design methodology is used to collect data from 245 employees of global information technology (IT) companies located in India. Structural equation modelling technique was applied to test the hypothesised relationships among the constructs. Findings The results indicate that emotional intelligence has a stronger positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing (ß = 0.78, p < 0.001) compared to explicit knowledge sharing (ß = 0.59, p < 0.001). Multigroup analysis results reveal that influence of emotional intelligence on tacit knowledge sharing was stronger for high experience group compared to low experience group. However, no significant differences were found based on work experience for the emotional intelligence-explicit knowledge sharing relationship. Practical implications This study suggests suitable interventions that management can adopt to enhance tacit as well as explicit knowledge sharing in global IT organisations. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the differences that exists between tacit and explicit knowledge sharing and highlights the impact of emotional intelligence on these distinctively. It advances knowledge sharing literature and brings uniqueness by exploring the moderating role of work experience on emotional intelligence-knowledge sharing relationship in a non-western setting.

Purpose This study aims to assess the role of various emotional intelligence dimensions in stimulating two types of employee knowledge sharing behaviour – tacit knowledge sharing behaviour and explicit knowledge sharing behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The causal relationships among the constructs were tested by applying quantitative research methods. A questionnaire-based survey was used to draw a sample from 10 information technology (IT) organizations in India. A data set of 308 usable questionnaires was analysed using structural equation modeling technique to test the hypothesized relationships among various constructs. Findings This study found that all four dimensions of emotional intelligence, namely, self-emotional appraisal, others’ emotional appraisal, use of emotion and regulation of emotion have a positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour of employees. In addition, explicit knowledge sharing behaviour was also positively influenced by others’ emotional appraisal and use of emotion. However, no significant effect was made by self-emotional appraisal and regulation of emotion on explicit knowledge sharing behaviour of employees. Originality/value Little is empirically known about the link between emotional intelligence constructs and knowledge sharing behaviours. This study brings new insights by assessing the role of different emotional intelligence dimensions on two different types of knowledge sharing behaviour. An interesting finding advances the understanding of knowledge sharing behaviours by indicating a greater variance in tacit knowledge sharing behaviour (caused by emotional constructs) as compared to explicit knowledge sharing behaviour.