Knowledge hide and seek: Role of ethical leadership, self-enhancement and job-involvement

Abstract

This paper tests the mediating role of knowledge hiding in the ethical leadership–employee well-being relationship. The moderated mediation examines the impact of individual characteristics (self-enhancement motives and job involvement) on employee well-being through knowledge hiding. The hypotheses are supported by multi-source data collected at two points from 410 employee and co-worker dyads from emerging Indian multinational enterprises. Results reveal that ethical leadership reduces knowledge hiding behavior, which, in turn, strengthens the well-being of employees. Individual characteristics moderate this relationship such that the negative impact of ethical leadership on knowledge hiding is more pronounced when self-enhancement motives and job involvement are high. Finally, the moderated mediation suggests that individual characteristics act as catalysts and ameliorate the indirect negative impact of ethical leadership on employee well-being through knowledge hiding.