The joint effects of supervisor knowledge hiding, abusive supervision, and employee political skill on employee knowledge hiding behaviors

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Purpose: Knowledge hiding, intentionally withholding work-relevant information, is detrimental to organizations, yet practiced by supervisors and employees. Based on social learning and social exchange theories, this study aims to uncover the effects of supervisor knowledge hiding, abusive supervision and employee political skill on employee knowledge hiding behaviors, namely, evasive hiding, playing dumb and rationalized hiding. We compare the two destructive supervisor behaviors in their predictive values toward employee knowledge hiding and examine the role of employee political skill in mitigating their effects. Design/methodology/approach: Based on survey data collected from 598 German-speaking employees, we used path analysis to test the hypotheses. Findings: The two destructive supervisor behaviors and employee political skill predicted employee evasive hiding and playing dumb; supervisor knowledge hiding additionally predicted employee rationalized hiding. The predictive value of supervisor knowledge hiding was 2.5 times larger than that of abusive supervision and political skill. The effects of destructive supervisor behaviors were weaker for more politically skilled employees. Originality/value: We examine two destructive supervisor behaviors conjointly and show the differences between them regarding their predictive value toward employee knowledge hiding. Furthermore, we investigate the role of political skill in knowledge hiding.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Knowledge Management
Volume27
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)1209-1227
Number of pages19
ISSN1367-3270
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 05.05.2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Author contribution : Both authors contributed equally.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

    Research areas

  • Abusive supervision, Destructive leadership, Knowledge hiding, Political skill
  • Management studies

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Insights into the accuracy of social scientists’ forecasts of societal change
  2. Spatial scale affects seed predation and dispersal in contrasting anthropogenic landscapes
  3. Albert Viethen
  4. Can promoting compassion and gratitude through a four-week online training program improve women's mental health? A randomized controlled trial
  5. Towards a ‘Sustainable University’
  6. Threshold stress during tensile and compressive creep in AE42 magnesium alloy
  7. The technology-mindset interactions
  8. Am Grund des Anderen
  9. Moving beyond the heuristic of creative destruction
  10. Anstelle des Staates
  11. Skizze
  12. OH-radical reactivity and direct photolysis of triphenyltin hydroxide in aqueous solution
  13. Fostering preservice teachers’ noticing with structured video feedback: Results of an online- and video-based intervention study
  14. Scoping Review of Existing Evaluations of Smokeless Tobacco Control Policies
  15. Industrial relations without conflicts and state interference?
  16. Environmental capacity and airport operations
  17. The Making of Les Immatériaux
  18. The hidden power of language
  19. Datenbasierte Selbst- und Fremdevaluation
  20. Changing mass priorities
  21. Environmental commitments and rhetoric over the Pandemic crisis
  22. Widerstand und Antisemitismus
  23. An intra-firm perspective on wage profiles and employment of older workers with special reference to human capital and deferred compensation
  24. A dynamic account of self-efficacy in entrepreneurship
  25. Assessment of key competencies
  26. Gaseous nitrogen losses from urea applied to maize on a calcareous fluvo-aquic soil in the North China Plain
  27. § 347
  28. Foliar application of lambda-cyhalothrin modulates root exudate profile and the rhizosphere bacteria community of dioecious Populus cathayana
  29. Environmental factors and seasonal variation in density of mussel larvae (Mytilus edulis) in Danish waters
  30. Supply chain management and reverse logistics
  31. Effect of the gap width in AZ31 magnesium alloy joints obtained by friction stir welding
  32. Correction: Establishing an infrastructure for collaboration in primate cognition research(PLoS ONE (2019) 14:10(e0223675) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223675)
  33. Management and organization in the work of Michel houellebecq unplugged - voices
  34. Corruption and Social Values
  35. Messen, evaluieren, regulieren
  36. § 177a
  37. Fallstudie