SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEES’ KNOWLEDGE HIDING BEHAVIOR: TESTING MEDIATING ROLE OF SELF-EFFICACY

Abstract

The fundamental objective of this study was to assess the effect of servant leadership on nurses' tendency to conceal knowledge in the context of a selected healthcare institution in Erzincan, Turkey. In order to evaluate the research hypotheses, we used a convenient sampling technique and collected data at two different time intervals from relevant sources. The initial data collection phase yielded a final sample of 400 valid and complete responses from nurses, which we subsequently analyzed using SPSS version 25. Our findings exposed a important relationship between servant leadership and knowledge withholding behaviour among nurses. Furthermore, the variable of self-efficacy emerged as a partial mediator between servant leadership and knowledge-hiding tendencies. This research donates to the understanding of knowledge-hiding behaviour, a critical component of knowledge management, through the lens of servant leadership, drawing on insights from both social exchange and leader-member exchange (LMX) theories