EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN FORMING THE SOCIAL CAPITAL OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES ENTERPRISES

Abstract

The article investigates the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the formation of social capital of creative industries enterprises. Creative industries - including advertising agencies, design studios, IT companies, publishing and media organisations, fashion, architecture, music, and film - are characterised by an acute dependence on the quality of interpersonal relationships, psychological safety, and the communicative environment. In this context, social capital, understood as the aggregate of resources embedded in social networks through trust, norms of reciprocity, and horizontal ties, becomes a primary source of competitive advantage. Drawing on the multidimensional framework of social capital developed by Nahapiet and Ghoshal, the study distinguishes three analytical dimensions: structural (network configuration and density), relational (trust, norms, identification), and cognitive (shared codes, language, and narratives). It is argued that EI exerts a significant influence on each of these dimensions. At the structural level, individuals with higher EI demonstrate a greater capacity to initiate and sustain contacts and to build the "weak ties" identified by Granovetter as critical for the diffusion of novel ideas. At the relational level, EI facilitates trust-building by improving the accuracy of emotional signal decoding and enabling effective conflict de-escalation, thereby generating the psychological safety that Edmondson identified as a prerequisite for team learning and creativity. At the cognitive level, emotionally competent leaders foster reflective practices – reg lar feedback, articulation of tacit assumptions, and collective sense-making – that accelerate the formation of shared mental models and reduce coordination costs. At the organisational level, individual EI aggregates into organisational emotional intelligence (OEI), defined as the collective capacity to perceive, process, and leverage emotional information in pursuit of strategic goals. OEI is shaped by talent acquisition practices, learning and development programmes, organisational climate architecture, and leadership style. Enterprises with higher OEI exhibit superior adaptive capacity under conditions of uncertainty – a quality that is particularly vital in the turbulent competitive environment of creative industries. The article proposes a conceptual model linking EI competencies, social capital dimensions, and innovative performance, and discusses practical managerial implications covering personnel selection, leadership development, and organisational design. Recommendations include the integration of validated EI assessment tools into hiring processes, the deployment of coaching and mentoring programmes targeting self-awareness and empathy, and the institutionalisation of communicative rituals that sustain relational bonds.