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1 – 10 of 61Miha Škerlavaj, Catherine E. Connelly, Matej Cerne and Anders Dysvik
The belief that knowledge actually expands when it is shared has been deeply rooted in the mainstream knowledge management literature. Although many organizations and managers…
Abstract
Purpose
The belief that knowledge actually expands when it is shared has been deeply rooted in the mainstream knowledge management literature. Although many organizations and managers expect employees to share their knowledge with their colleagues, this does not always occur. This study aims to use the conservation of resources theory to explain why employees who experience greater time pressure are more likely to engage in knowledge hiding; it further considers how this behavior may be moderated by these employees’ prosocial motivation and perspective taking.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses quantitative multi-study research design as a combination of two-wave field study among 313 employees at an insurance company and a lab experimental study.
Findings
In the field study (Study 1), the authors find that perceived time pressure is positively related to knowledge hiding. Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by prosocial motivation: employees who perceive greater time pressure hide knowledge only when they are low in prosocial motivation. An experiment (Study 2) replicates these findings, and finds that perspective taking mediates the moderating effect of prosocial motivation on the relationship between time pressure and knowledge hiding.
Research limitations/implications
Despite its many contributions, the present research is also not without limitations. Study 1 was a cross-lagged sectional field study with self-reported data (although the two-wave design does help alleviate common-method-bias concerns). Causality concerns were further alleviated by using additional experimental study.
Practical implications
The paper highlights important reasons why people hide knowledge at work (because of experienced time pressure) as well as identifies two interlinked potential remedies (prosocial motivation and perspective taking) to reduce knowledge hiding.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to expanding nomological network of knowledge hiding construct by extending the set of known antecedents and contingencies.
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Tomislav Hernaus, Matej Cerne, Catherine Connelly, Nina Poloski Vokic and Miha Škerlavaj
Academic knowledge work often presumes collaboration among interdependent individuals. However, this work also involves competitive pressures to perform and even outperform…
Abstract
Purpose
Academic knowledge work often presumes collaboration among interdependent individuals. However, this work also involves competitive pressures to perform and even outperform others. While knowledge hiding has not yet been extensively examined in the academic environment, this study aims to deepen the understanding of the personal (individual-level) and situational (job-related) factors that affect evasive knowledge hiding (EKH) within academia.
Design/methodology/approach
A field study was conducted on a nation-wide sample of 210 scholars from both public and private business schools in a European Union member state. A series of paired sample t-tests were followed by hierarchical regression analyses to test moderation using the PROCESS macro.
Findings
The results suggest that scholars hide more tacit than explicit knowledge. The findings also indicate a consistent pattern of positive and significant relationships between trait competitiveness and EKH. Furthermore, task interdependence and social support buffer the detrimental relationship between personal competitiveness and evasive hiding of explicit knowledge, but not tacit knowledge.
Originality/value
The research provides insights into several important antecedents of EKH that have not been previously examined. It contributes to research on knowledge transfer in academia by focusing on situations where colleagues respond to explicit requests by hiding knowledge. The moderating role of collaborative job design offers practical solutions on how to improve knowledge transfer between mistrusted and competitive scholars. The collaboration–competition framework is extended by introducing personal competitiveness and relational job design, and suggesting how to manage the cross-level tension of differing collaborative and competitive motivations within academia.
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Katja Babič, Matej Černe, Catherine E. Connelly, Anders Dysvik and Miha Škerlavaj
Although organizations expect employees to share knowledge with each other, knowledge hiding has been documented among coworker dyads. This paper aims to draw on social exchange…
Abstract
Purpose
Although organizations expect employees to share knowledge with each other, knowledge hiding has been documented among coworker dyads. This paper aims to draw on social exchange theory to examine if and why knowledge hiding also occurs in teams.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies, using experimental (115 student participants on 29 teams) and field (309 employees on 92 teams) data, explore the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) on knowledge hiding in teams, as well as the moderating role of collective (team-level) prosocial motivation.
Findings
The results of experimental Study 1 showed that collective prosocial motivation and LMX reduce knowledge hiding in teams. Field Study 2 further examined LMX, through its distinctive economic and social facets, and revealed the interaction effect of team prosocial motivation and social LMX on knowledge hiding.
Originality/value
This study complements existing research on knowledge hiding by focusing specifically on the incidence of this phenomenon among members of the same team. This paper presents a multi-level model that explores collective prosocial motivation as a cross-level predictor of knowledge hiding in teams, and examines economic LMX and social LMX as two facets of LMX.
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Cindy Zhiling Tu, Yufei Yuan, Norm Archer and Catherine E. Connelly
Effective information security management is a strategic issue for organizations to safeguard their information resources. Strategic value alignment is a proactive approach to…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective information security management is a strategic issue for organizations to safeguard their information resources. Strategic value alignment is a proactive approach to manage value conflict in information security management. Applying a critical success factor (CSF) analysis approach, this paper aims to propose a CSF model based on a strategic alignment approach and test a model of the main factors that contributes to the success of information security management.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model was proposed and empirically tested with data collected from a survey of managers who were involved in decision-making regarding their companies’ information security (N = 219). The research model was validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling approach.
Findings
Overall, the model was successful in capturing the main antecedents of information security management performance. The results suggest that with business alignment, top management support and organizational awareness of security risks and controls, effective information security controls can be developed, resulting in successful information security management.
Originality/value
Findings from this study provide several important contributions to both theory and practice. The theoretical model identifies and verifies key factors that impact the success of information security management at the organizational level from a strategic management perspective. It provides practical guidelines for organizations to make more effective information security management.
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Jane Webster, Graham Brown, David Zweig, Catherine E. Connelly, Susan Brodt and Sim Sitkin
This chapter discusses why employees keep their knowledge to themselves. Despite managers’ best efforts, many employees tend to hoard knowledge or are reluctant to share their…
Abstract
This chapter discusses why employees keep their knowledge to themselves. Despite managers’ best efforts, many employees tend to hoard knowledge or are reluctant to share their expertise with coworkers or managers. Although many firms have introduced specialized initiatives to encourage a broader dissemination of ideas and knowledge among organizational members, these initiatives often fail. This chapter provides reasons as to why this is so. Instead of focusing on why individuals might share their knowledge, however, we explain why individuals keep their knowledge to themselves. Multiple perspectives are offered, including social exchange, norms of secrecy, and territorial behaviors.
Catherine E. Connelly, Daniel G. Gallagher and Jane Webster
This empirical study aims to determine whether justice perceptions formed in one context (i.e. the agency or the client) relate to work behaviors in another context (i.e. the…
Abstract
Purpose
This empirical study aims to determine whether justice perceptions formed in one context (i.e. the agency or the client) relate to work behaviors in another context (i.e. the client or the agency). To provide a balanced perspective, it seeks to examine both organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWBs). It also aims to understand how workers' “volition” or their attitudes towards temporary employment would affect their behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypotheses, 157 temporary agency workers were surveyed; these data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). To ensure that the measures were appropriate for the context of temporary agency employment, a two‐stage pretest was conducted.
Findings
The results suggest that temporary agency worker perceptions of interpersonal justice from their agencies and their client organizations “spillover” and are indeed related to their OCBs and CWBs in both contexts. Furthermore, the extent to which workers voluntarily chose temporary agency employment related to agency‐directed OCBs, while a preference for permanent employment related to client‐directed OCBs.
Originality/value
This study provides insight into the ways in which perceptions formed in one context (i.e. interpersonal justice) may spill over and affect behaviors in another context. The findings also contribute to the broader literature on how volition affects temporary agency worker behaviors.
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Kathleen McDonald, Sandra Fisher and Catherine E. Connelly
As e-HRM systems move into the ‘smart’ technology realm, expectations and capabilities for both the automational and informational features of e-HRM systems are increasing. This…
Abstract
Purpose
As e-HRM systems move into the ‘smart’ technology realm, expectations and capabilities for both the automational and informational features of e-HRM systems are increasing. This chapter uses the well-established DeLone and McLean (D&M) model from the information systems literature to analyze how a smart workforce management system can create value for an organization.
Methodology/approach
The chapter is based on an exploratory case study conducted with a North American industrial products firm. We review three systems-level predictors of success from the D&M model (system quality, information quality, and service quality) and evaluate the company’s systems on these attributes.
Findings
The company’s e-HRM systems fall short on the information quality dimension, which limits potential for overall system success related to smart workforce management.
Research limitations/implications
The e-HRM literature focuses on individual-level factors of system success, while the D&M model uses more macro factors. Blending these may help researchers and practitioners develop a more complete view of e-HRM systems. Conclusions from this chapter are limited due to the use of a single, exploratory case study.
Practical implications
Companies must pay attention to all three predictors of system quality when developing smart workforce management systems. In particular, implementation of a data governance program could help companies improve information quality of their systems.
Originality/value
This chapter adds to the literature on smart workforce management by using a model from the information systems literature and a practical example to explore how such a system could add value.
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Catherine E. Connelly and E. Kevin Kelloway
This study investigated whether organizational factors such as employees’ perceptions of management’s support for knowledge sharing, their perceptions of the organization’s social…
Abstract
This study investigated whether organizational factors such as employees’ perceptions of management’s support for knowledge sharing, their perceptions of the organization’s social interaction culture, the organization’s size, and the organization’s available knowledge sharing technology, as well as whether individual factors such as age, gender, and organizational tenure had a significant impact on employees’ perceptions of a knowledge sharing culture. New measures to assess employees’ perceptions of management’s support for knowledge sharing, their perceptions of the organization’s social interaction culture, and the perceived knowledge sharing culture were developed. We found that perceptions of management’s support for knowledge sharing, and perceptions of a positive social interaction culture were both significant predictors of a perceived knowledge sharing culture. In addition, gender was a significant moderator: female participants required a more positive social interaction culture before they would perceive a knowledge sharing culture as positive as that perceived by their male counterparts.
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Amitabh Anand, Florian Offergelt and Payal Anand
Because of its impact on organisational growth, innovation and employee performance, knowledge hiding (KH) as a construct has gained increased attention from scholars and…
Abstract
Purpose
Because of its impact on organisational growth, innovation and employee performance, knowledge hiding (KH) as a construct has gained increased attention from scholars and practitioners in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature on KH and take the stock of the current literature, identify research streams and offer recommendations on areas where KH may be investigated further.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors used systematic review methods to investigate the current state of KH research, and using thematic coding, the authors identified the current research streams and offer directions for future research.
Findings
The review of literature identified geographic representation of KH research, methodological approaches to explore KH and the prominent theories adopted to investigate KH, and through research synthesis, the antecedents and moderators/mediators of KH were identified. Subsequently, the authors also found seven research streams where KH has been predominantly studied. Finally, the authors provide suggestions of where the future research in KH might be headed.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few to offer systematic review of KH literature and identify unexplored areas to be investigated in future research – which is the integral part of knowledge management process.
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