To Share or Hide? A Social Network Approach to Understanding Knowledge Sharing and Hiding in Organizational Work Teams

Abstract

Although knowledge sharing is almost ubiquitously promoted in today’s organizations, knowledge hiding is still prevalent. Extending transactive memory systems (TMS) theory and the dialectical tension model, this study employs a social network approach to empirically examine how knowledge sharing is related to knowledge hiding, and how work and social relationships are related to knowledge sharing and hiding in organizational work teams. Whole-network survey data were collected from 200 employees in 31 organizational work teams across the U.S. and China. Exponential random graph modeling (ERGM) analyses of these network data show that knowledge sharing is not significantly related to knowledge hiding. Moreover, while work relationships such as work-related communication and task interdependence are positively related to knowledge sharing, social relationships such as interpersonal justice, social communication, and trust are negatively related to knowledge hiding. These findings validate the dialectical tension model by revealing a co-existent relationship between knowledge sharing and hiding, and endorse the critical role of work-related and social communication in TMS development.