A meta-analysis of the nomological network of knowledge hiding in organizations

Over the past two decades, knowledge hiding has rapidly emerged as an important research stream in organizational behavior and knowledge management literature. However, our understanding of this phenomenon is limited, because of a lack of synthesis across the nomological network of knowledge hiding and its related constructs. Therefore, we present the first comprehensive meta-analysis (k = 104 studies, representing N = 31,822 employees) of the nomological network of knowledge hiding. We examined twenty-five antecedents and seven outcomes of knowledge hiding along with its three dimensions (i.e., evasive hiding, playing dumb, and rationalized hiding). We also examined the distinctiveness between knowledge hiding and knowledge sharing as well as among evasive hiding, playing dumb, and rationalized hiding dimensions of knowledge hiding to establish their relative contribution to the nomological network of knowledge hiding. Additionally, we conducted exploratory analyses considering the association between demographics and knowledge hiding and the moderating effects of demographic, methodological, and industrial settings. Overall, we present the first meta-analytic study that not only summarizes the extensive body of empirical knowledge hiding literature but also follows contemporary meta-analytic methods and best practices to produce scientific findings that are transparent and reproducible. Our results likewise contribute to theorizing on knowledge hiding and offer practical implications and actionable directions for future research on knowledge hiding.