Understanding counterproductive knowledge behavior: antecedents and consequences of intra-organizational knowledge hiding

Purpose - This paper aims to explore antecedents and consequences of intra-organizational knowledge hiding. Design/methodology/approach - A model was developed and tested with data collected from 691 knowledge workers from 15 North American credit unions. Findings - Knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing belong to unique yet possibly overlapping constructs. Individual employees believe that they engage in knowledge hiding to a lesser degree than their co-workers. The availability of knowledge management systems and knowledge policies has no impact on intra-organizational knowledge hiding. The existence of a positive organizational knowledge culture has a negative effect on intra-organizational knowledge hiding. In contrast, job insecurity motivates knowledge hiding. Employees may reciprocate negative knowledge behavior, and knowledge hiding promotes voluntary turnover. Practical implications - Managers should realize the uniqueness of counterproductive knowledge behavior and develop proactive measures to reduce or eliminate it. Originality/value - Counterproductive knowledge behavior is dramatically under-represented in knowledge management research, and this study attempts to fill that void.