Practices that Mitigate Organizational Knowledge Hiding: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The importance of Knowledge sharing (KS) within organizations is well recognized. Despite efforts by firms to facilitate KS, employees are sometimes unwilling to share their knowledge. Inefficient KS can lead to reduced productivity and innovation and increased employee frustration. Knowledge hiding (KHi) occurs when someone withholds knowledge when asked to share it. While the literature contains much about the antecedents of KHi, our systematic literature review found very few articles that discuss how to mitigate it. Hence, this study sought to associate KS practices with organizational KHi motivations and to find ways to mitigate the behavior. To do so, a systematic literature review was conducted in two main sources: Scopus; and Web of Science. The collected data were then subjected to content analysis. The results show KS practices designed to reduce organizational motivations for KHi are based on HR practices (recruitment, training, and mentoring) and organizational structure (teamwork, interdependence between tasks, job rotation, knowledge mapping, best practices, and communities of practice). KS practices such as face-to-face interaction and informal conversation appear to build trust and reduce KHi. Organizational antecedents of KHi, such as workplace bullying and incivility, are related with the organizational culture, and leadership is relevant to avoid negative events. Explicit and tacit KS practices can mitigate KHi. This research offers academic and managerial contributions on the KHi and how to mitigate it. Building on this study, future research could empirically test the relationship between KHi motivations and KS practices to mitigate KHi.