Identifying and modeling the antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior: a three-study analysis

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify and classify the range of antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior (CKB) to provide a better understanding of their implications for addressing CKB.

Design/methodology/approach

The study includes three studies. Using meta-analysis (Study 1) and meta-synthesis (Study 2), the authors reviewed extant primary quantitative and qualitative studies to aggregate information on the antecedents of CKB identified to date. In Study 3, these antecedents were modeled schematically by using the matrix of cross-impact multiplications (MICMAC) analysis.

Findings

The meta-analysis and meta-synthesis (Studies 1 and 2) yielded 28 antecedents of CKB. These were categorized into five groups of characteristics, relating to the workplace, leadership, interpersonal, individual differences and knowledge. Then, in Study 3, the antecedents were categorized according to their interrelatedness and strength of effects (using four quadrants comprising autonomous, dependence, driving and linkage factors).

Originality/value

This study takes an integrative approach to the CKB literature, both by aggregating underlying constructs (knowledge hoarding, hiding, etc.) and in aggregating quantitative and qualitative literature. This prevents silos and integrates knowledge across a range of CKB studies. Besides, the authors reveal the relative role of antecedents by modeling them.

Citation

Afshar-Jalili, Y., Cooper-Thomas, H.D. and Fatholahian, M. (2021), "Identifying and modeling the antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior: a three-study analysis", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 1362-1386. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2020-0343