Drivers of knowledge hiding in the university context

Abstract

Knowledge hiding, as an emerging novelty, has started to draw research attention since the last decade or so. Previous literature defined knowledge hiding as one’s deliberate attempt to withhold or conceal requested knowledge from another person and contended that three hiding strategies involved are playing dumb, evasive hiding, and rationalized hiding. Previous researchers found that knowledge hiding could be triggered by distrust, characteristics of the requested knowledge, and an intention to adapt to the social context. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons and motivations driving individuals to hide their knowledge in an academic context. A sequential mixed-method research design was adopted to help obtain a better understanding of knowledge hiding phenomena. A qualitative study was firstly conducted, which identified three primary independent constructs that may bring about knowledge hiding – interpersonal relationships, personal traits, sustaining personal knowledge advantage. Then the three constructs were further tested with a quantitative study. Results suggested that “personal traits” and “sustaining personal knowledge advantage” constructs significantly influenced knowledge hiding behavior, but the construct of “interpersonal relationships” had no significant influence on our sample’s knowledge hiding behavior.

Knowledge Hiding as an Unprecedented Auxiliary in the Knowledge Management Process for Protection and to Achieve Innovation: The Case of a Pharmaceutical MNE Operating in Egypt

“…Furthermore, Courpasson and Younes (2018) posit that confidentiality could reinforce rather than damage organizations. Thus, knowledge hiding via absorptive capacity is not harmful or inhibiting to the relationship between knowledge seekers and requesters, nor can it damage trust among individuals and inhibit creativity and innovation as claimed by some authors (Fong, Men, Luo, & Jia, 2018;Yang & Ribiere, 2020). Thus, the findings of the current research, through the lens of the absorptive capacity theory, emphasise that knowledge hiding positively affects innovation and creativity and is a key component that assists the process used by the pharmaceutical MNE in Egypt to protect its knowledge to achieve innovation.…”

Expanding the dimensions of knowledge hiding: testing a moderated mediation model and analyzing the mediating role of psychological distress using PLS-SEM

“…In addition, most studies have focused on students (Zhai et al, 2020), professors (Demirkasimoglu, 2016), and universities (Yang and Ribiere, 2020) to test knowledge hiding. In addition to educational institutions, leveraging knowledge to maintain or gain a competitive advantage in SMEs is particularly important (Jones and Ratten, 2020;Jafari-Sadeghi et al, 2022).…”

The Influence of Knowledge Hiding on University Innovation and Employee Performance: The Private Universities in Mogadishu

“…The phenomenon of knowledge hiding, which is widely observed in work environments, has recently gained research interest, particularly within the past decade (Yang & Ribiere, 2020). The phenomenon of knowledge hiding has recently garnered heightened attention within the academic community of management scholars (Zutshi et al, 2021).…”