Say no to knowledge hiding: can ethical leadership help prevent it?

Authors

  • Miftachul Mujib Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Universitas Tidar
  • Adilla Kustya Ulfa Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Dian Nuswantoro

Keywords:

knowledge sharing climate, knowledge hiding, ethical behavior, higher education

Abstract

This study was conducted due to the scarcity of literature examining the impact of knowledge sharing climate on knowledge hiding. In line with that, many previous studies have focused on positive ethical leadership as an antecedent of knowledge hiding. However, no one has tested the moderating role of ethical leadership in helping to prevent knowledge-hiding intentions. This study aims to examine the influence of knowledge-sharing climate in organizations on knowledge-hiding behavior in the higher education sector and to test the moderating effect of ethical leadership in strengthening the influence of knowledge-sharing culture on knowledge-hiding behavior in the higher education sector. Data were collected from 156 lecturers from various state and private universities in Indonesia through a survey method. Data analysis was conducted using the SEM-PLS technique. The results showed a negative influence of knowledge sharing climate on knowledge hiding. Ethical leadership was proven to moderate the relationship based on the perceptions of several sample groups, except for the sample group with the generation category. This study contributes theoretically to complement the still limited literature that reviews the impact of a knowledge-sharing climate in preventing the emergence of knowledge-hiding behavior. Practically, the results suggest the need to implement ethical leadership to minimize the knowledge-hiding behavior of lecturers in higher education.

References

Abdullah, M. I., Dechun, H., Ali, M., & Usman, M. (2019). Ethical leadership and knowledge hiding: A moderated mediation model of relational social capital, and instrumental thinking. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02403

Anser, M. K., Ali, M., Usman, M., Rana, M. L. T., & Yousaf, Z. (2021). Ethical leadership and knowledge hiding: An intervening and interactional analysis. Service Industries Journal, 41(5–6), 307–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2020.1739657

Agarwal, U. A., Gupta, M., & Cooke, F. L. (2022). Knowledge hide and seek: Role of ethical leadership, self-enhancement and job-involvement. Journal of Business Research, 141, 770–781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.074

Al-Kurdi, O. F., El-Haddadeh, R., & Eldabi, T. (2020). The role of organisational climate in managing knowledge sharing among academics in higher education. International Journal of Information Management, 50, 217–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.05.018

Anand, A., Offergelt, F., & Anand, P. (2022). Knowledge hiding – a systematic review and research agenda. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(6), 1438–1457. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2021-0336

Bock, G.-W., Zmud, R. W., Kim, Y.-G., & Lee, J.-N. (2014). Behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing: Examining the roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological forces, and organizational climate. International Journal of Managing Information Technology, 51(11), 1–340.

Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002

Černe, M., Nerstad, C. G. L., & Dysvik, A. (2014). What goes around comes around: Knowledge hiding, perceived motivational climate, and creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 57(1), 172–192. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2012.0122

Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., Thrassou, A., & Vrontis, D. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding: The moderating role of knowledge hiders and knowledge seekers in organizations. Journal of Business Research, 128, 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.033

Connelly, C., Zweig, D., Webster, J., & Trougakos, J. P. (2012). Knowledge hiding in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33, 64–88. https://doi.org/10.1002/job

Demirkasimoglu, N. (2016). Knowledge hiding in academia: Is personality a key factor? International Journal of Higher Education, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v5n1p128

Evans, J. M., Hendron, M. G., & Oldroyd, J. B. (2015). Withholding the ace: The individual- and unit-level performance effects of self-reported and perceived knowledge hoarding. Organization Science, 26(2), 494–510. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0945

Faraj, S., & Sproull, L. (2000). Coordinating expertise in software development teams. Management Science, 46(12), 1554–1568.

Feng, J., & Wang, C. (2019). Does abusive supervision always promote employees to hide knowledge? From both reactance and COR perspectives. Journal of Knowledge Management, 23(7), 1455–1474. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-12-2018-0737

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.

Ghani, U., Zhai, X., Spector, J. M., Chen, N. S., Lin, L., Ding, D., & Usman, M. (2020). Knowledge hiding in higher education: Role of interactional justice and professional commitment. Higher Education, 79(2), 325–344. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00412-5

Guo, L., Cheng, K., Luo, J., & Zhao, H. (2021). Trapped in a loss spiral: How and when work alienation relates to knowledge hiding. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(20), 4004–4033. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.1937672

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall International.

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513

Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00062

Hobfoll, S. E. (2011). Conservation of resource caravans and engaged settings. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84(1), 116–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.2010.02016.x

Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J.-P., & Westman, M. (2018). Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. Annual Review Organizational Psychological Organizational Behavior, 5, 103–131. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-121417-173011

Hobfoll, S. E., & Shirom, A. (2000). Conservation of Resources Theory. In R. T. Golembiewski (Ed.), Handbook of Organizational Behavior (2nd ed., pp. 57–81). Marcel Dekker.

Huo, W., Cai, Z., Luo, J., Men, C., & Jia, R. (2016). Antecedents and intervention mechanisms: A multi-level study of R&D team’s knowledge hiding behavior. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(5), 880–897. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2015-0451

Jasimuddin, S. M., & Saci, F. (2022). Creating a culture to avoid knowledge hiding within an organization: The role of management support. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.850989

Kim, E. J., & Park, S. (2020). Transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, organizational climate and learning: An empirical study. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 41(6), 761–775. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-12-2018-0455

Ko, C., Ma, J., Bartnik, R., Haney, M. H., & Kang, M. (2018). Ethical leadership: An integrative review and future research agenda. Ethics and Behavior, 28(2), 104–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2017.1318069

Koay, K. Y., & Lim, P. K. (2022). Ethical leadership and knowledge hiding: Testing the mediating and moderating mechanisms. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(3), 574–591. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2021-0091

Lee, S., Yang, X., Kim, J., & Byun, G. (2022). Effects of motivational climate on knowledge hiding: The mediating role of work alienation. Behavioral Sciences, 12(81), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12030081

Lei, H., Do, N. K., & Le, P. B. (2019). Arousing a positive climate for knowledge sharing through moral lens: The mediating roles of knowledge-centered and collaborative culture. Journal of Knowledge Management, 23(8), 1586–1604. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2019-0201

Li, S., & Chen, Y. (2018). The relationship between psychological contract breach and employees’ counterproductive work behaviors: The mediating effect of organizational cynicism and work alienation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01273

Mohsin, M., Zhu, Q., Wang, X., Naseem, S., & Nazam, M. (2021). The empirical investigation between ethical leadership and knowledge-hiding behavior in financial service sector: A moderated-mediated model. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.798631

Oliveira, M., Curado, C., & de Garcia, P. S. (2021). Knowledge hiding and knowledge hoarding: A systematic literature review. Knowledge and Process Management, 28(3), 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1671

Peng, H. (2013). Why and when do people hide knowledge? Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(3), 398–415. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-12-2012-0380

Radaelli, G., Mura, M., Spiller, N., & Lettieri, E. (2011). Intellectual capital and knowledge sharing: The mediating role of organisational knowledge-sharing climate. Knowledge Management Research and Practice, 9(4), 342–352. https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2011.29

Rahaman, H. M. S., Camps, J., Decoster, S., & Stouten, J. (2020). Ethical leadership in times of change: The role of change commitment and change information for employees’ dysfunctional resistance. Personnel Review, 50(2), 630–647. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2019-0122

Ulfa, A. K., Mujib, M., Kusuma, P. J., & Sari, R. A. A. R. P. (2023). Membangun budaya knowledge sharing sebagai upaya pencegahan perilaku knowledge hiding pada dosen. Jurnal Eksos, 19(2), 163–172.

Xia, Q., Yan, S., Li, H., & Duan, K. (2022). A bibliometric analysis of knowledge-hiding research. Behavioral Sciences, 12, 1–19.

Xiao, M., & Cooke, F. L. (2019). Why and when knowledge hiding in the workplace is harmful: A review of the literature and directions for future research in the Chinese context. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 57(4), 470–502. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12198

Xu, Q., & Jiesen, Y. (2022). Effects of knowledge hiding in dual teaching methods on students’ performance—evidence from physical education department students. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.833285

Yadi, E., Rahmat, A., & Abdillah, M. R. (2022). Ethical leadership and knowledge hiding behavior: Mechanism moral identity. Jurnal Manajemen, 26(2), 240–258. https://doi.org/10.24912/jm.v26i2.858

Yao, Z., Zhang, X., Luo, J., & Huang, H. (2020). Offense is the best defense: The impact of workplace bullying on knowledge hiding. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(3), 675–695. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-12-2019-0755

Zutshi, A., Creed, A., Bhattacharya, A., Bavik, A., Sohal, A., & Bavik, Y. L. (2021). Demystifying knowledge hiding in academic roles in higher education. Journal of Business Research, 137, 206–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.030

Downloads

Published

2024-09-28

How to Cite

Mujib, M., & Ulfa, A. K. (2024). Say no to knowledge hiding: can ethical leadership help prevent it?. Jurnal Penelitian Ekonomi Dan Bisnis, 9(2), 129–140. Retrieved from https://publikasi.dinus.ac.id/index.php/jpeb/article/view/11601

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Obs.: This plugin requires at least one statistics/report plugin to be enabled. If your statistics plugins provide more than one metric then please also select a main metric on the admin's site settings page and/or on the journal manager's settings pages.