Why should I let them know? Effects of workplace incivility and cynicism on employee knowledge hiding behavior under the control of ethical leadership

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine if individual cynicism mediates the relationship between workplace incivility (WI) and knowledge hiding (KH). Additionally, it is examined whether ethical leadership has a moderating role regarding the effect of WI on KH.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two multi-wave studies, each with two times of data collection. Study 1 included data from 390 members of 30 teams from knowledge-intensive organizations. In study 2, data was collected from 437 software professionals working in diverse organizations.FindingsResults showed that cynicism mediated the impact of WI on KH. Furthermore, the positive direct and indirect effect of WI on KH was shown to be moderated by perceived ethical leadership such that high ethical leadership mitigates the effects.Originality/valueThis study extends the research on knowledge management by explaining a new mechanism and framework in which KH can occur and provides important practical recommendations for human resource managers to contribute to the overall organization's success.