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Knowledge hiding in organizations
Author(s) -
Connelly Catherine E.,
Zweig David,
Webster Jane,
Trougakos John P.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of organizational behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.938
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1099-1379
pISSN - 0894-3796
DOI - 10.1002/job.737
Subject(s) - distrust , construct (python library) , knowledge management , knowledge sharing , set (abstract data type) , knowledge transfer , interpersonal communication , psychology , knowledge worker , computer science , social psychology , work (physics) , mechanical engineering , engineering , psychotherapist , programming language
Summary Despite the efforts to enhance knowledge transfer in organizations, success has been elusive. It is becoming clear that in many instances employees are unwilling to share their knowledge even when organizational practices are designed to facilitate transfer. Consequently, this paper develops and investigates a novel construct, knowledge hiding. We establish that knowledge hiding exists, we distinguish knowledge hiding from related concepts (knowledge hoarding and knowledge sharing), and we develop a multidimensional measure of this construct. We also identify several predictors of knowledge hiding in organizations. The results of three studies, using different methods, suggest that knowledge hiding is comprised of three related factors: evasive hiding, rationalized hiding, and playing dumb. Each of these hiding behaviors is predicted by distrust, yet each also has a different set of interpersonal and organizational predictors. We draw implications for future research on knowledge management. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.