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Does intraorganizational competition prompt or hinder performance? The risks for proactive employees who hide knowledge

Yunita Sofyan (School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China)
Dirk De Clercq (Goodman School of Business, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada)
Yufan Shang (School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 11 March 2022

Issue publication date: 2 May 2023

1016

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines whether employees' perceptions of intraorganizational competition, defined as beliefs that the organization evaluates their performance in comparison with others, result in lower supervisor ratings of their conscientiousness if the employees, particularly those with proactive personalities, respond to the resource-draining, competitive work situation with knowledge hiding behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Multisource data were collected from employees and supervisors in different industries at three points in time. The research hypotheses were tested with hierarchical multiple regression analysis, in combination with PROCESS macro-based bootstrapping, to assess mediation and moderated mediation.

Findings

Beliefs about highly competitive organizational climates are counterproductive, in that they lead employees to conceal knowledge intentionally from other organizational members. This mediating role of knowledge concealment is particularly prominent among employees with a strong desire to take the initiative to protect themselves against the hardships created by a climate of internal competition.

Research limitations/implications

The research design does not allow for formal tests of causality.

Practical implications

For human resource managers, this research pinpoints self-protective knowledge hiding as a key, detrimental mechanism. It imposes dual harms: employees feel threatened by the strict performance-oriented climate, and their defensive reactions make them appear less conscientious to supervisors. This downward spiral is particularly likely to initiate among employees who exhibit a disposition toward action.

Originality/value

This research investigates novel connections between specific organizational elements and outcomes, by specifying why and when employees' beliefs about performance-oriented organizational climates might backfire, due to their negative behavioral responses, such as purposeful knowledge hiding.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 72032006, 71731009, and 71772149).

Citation

Sofyan, Y., De Clercq, D. and Shang, Y. (2023), "Does intraorganizational competition prompt or hinder performance? The risks for proactive employees who hide knowledge", Personnel Review, Vol. 52 No. 3, pp. 777-798. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2021-0294

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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