Abstract
This study examined the impact of workplace ostracism on employees’ knowledge hiding behavior. Based on the conservation of resource theory, this study seeks to identify the effects of job tension as a mediator and the moderating effect of employee loyalty. Using a time-lagged research design, we collected the data from 392 employees of the textile industry. Results indicate that workplace ostracism positively influences the knowledge hiding behavior such as evasive hiding and playing dumb, whereas it is not significantly related with rationalized hiding. More specifically, workplace ostracism increases the feeling of job tension, while job tension mediates the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge hiding. In addition, we found that workplace ostracism demolished the benefits of employee loyalty, as high workplace ostracism more strongly influences the feeling of job tension. We also discussed the theoretical and practical implications.
Highlights
The growing importance of knowledge sharing has emerged as one of the key steps in organizational success
A significant positive association was found between workplace ostracism and job tension, which implies that workplace ostracism depletes resources and targets feel psychological stress and disturbance to fulfill job demands
The rationale for such positive association could be the fact that employees want to stay with this job but social exclusion reaps the benefits of such loyalty and increases psychological stress, which restricts them in fulfilling their job demands
Summary
The growing importance of knowledge sharing has emerged as one of the key steps in organizational success. Many scholars highlighted that such phenomenon is crucial for production companies to promote innovation and improve performance [1,2]. These studies encourage knowledge sharing, Connelly, et al [3] noted that employees choose not to provide access to their knowledge, defined as knowledge hiding. Zhao, et al [4] reported that workplace ostracism negatively affects the employees’ pro-social behavior. It appears that as a work stressor it may be a key predictor of knowledge hiding
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