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Job autonomy and knowledge hiding: the moderating roles of leader reward omission and person–supervisor fit

Qiuping Peng (School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)
Xi Zhong (School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)
Shanshi Liu (School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)
Huaikang Zhou (School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)
Nannan Ke (School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 1 October 2021

Issue publication date: 13 December 2022

978

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the moderating roles of leader reward omission and person–supervisor fit in the relationship between job autonomy and knowledge hiding are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 248 employees in a two-wave survey, we performed a hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results revealed that employees with high job autonomy were less likely to engage in knowledge hiding. Moreover, when employees experienced leader reward omission, the negative relationship between job autonomy and knowledge hiding was weakened, and this interesting effect varied by person–supervisor fit.

Research limitations/implications

This study does not explore the mediating mechanism by which job autonomy affects employee knowledge hiding. Moreover, as this research was conducted in a Chinese context, the generalizability of our findings is unclear.

Practical implications

This research has fulfilled its practical aims by providing advice on knowledge-relevant job characteristic factors that can be used to stage interventions regarding the provision of autonomy in jobs, and by carefully considering how to create interdependence between jobs without pushing people to engage in knowledge-hiding behaviors. Furthermore, it is important for leaders to help employees identify work goals and directions and not engage in reward omission.

Originality/value

This study contributes to theoretical advancements in the field of knowledge hiding by revealing boundary conditions that mitigate or enhance the impact of job autonomy on knowledge hiding.

Keywords

Citation

Peng, Q., Zhong, X., Liu, S., Zhou, H. and Ke, N. (2022), "Job autonomy and knowledge hiding: the moderating roles of leader reward omission and person–supervisor fit", Personnel Review, Vol. 51 No. 9, pp. 2371-2387. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2020-0133

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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