Leadership Research Summary:
- The present study examined the direct and indirect (via relational social capital) relationships between supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding. It also tested the moderating role of instrumental thinking in the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding and the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and relational social capital. Data were collected from 245 employees in different firms spanning different manufacturing and service sectors. The results showed that supervisors’ ethical leadership was negatively related to knowledge hiding, both directly and via relational social capital.
- The results revealed that instrumental thinking moderated the positive relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and relational social capital, such that the relationship was weak when instrumental thinking was high. The results also showed that instrumental thinking moderated both direct and indirect relationships between supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding, such that the relationships were weak when instrumental thinking was high. The study carries important practical implications for managers concerned about the destructive consequences of knowledge hiding.
Leadership Research Implications and Findings:
- The study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, by revealing relational social capital as a mediator of the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding, we contributed to the literature on the links between supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding (Tang et al., 2015; Men et al., 2018). By doing so, we advanced the scope of role modeling role of supervisors’ ethical leadership by indicating that ethical leaders’ demonstration of integrity, honesty, and altruism through their behaviors can improve their followers’ relational social capital. Given the scarcity of research (Tang et al., 2015; Men et al., 2018) on the mediating mechanisms of supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding, this contribution is timely and relevant.
- Second, contemporary literature provides evidence about the positive effects of relational social capital on several employees’ work-related behaviors, attitudes, and performance outcomes, such as knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, individual and organizational learning, and job performance (Gulati and Gargiulo, 1999; Kale et al., 2000; Yang and Farn, 2009). However, the mediating role of relational social capital as a mediator of the relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding has not been studied. By empirically showing that relational social capital mediates the negative relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding, we advanced the nomological networks of antecedents and outcomes of relational social capital and also presented relational social capital as a potential means for deterring knowledge hiding. In doing so, we responded to the recent calls (e.g., Connelly et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2019; Zhao and Xia, 2019) to further explore the influence of employees’ interpersonal relational dynamics on their knowledge-hiding behaviors.
- Third, there is a paucity of research on the boundary conditions of the relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding. Specifically, to date, no study has provided empirical evidence of the individual differences as boundary conditions of the direct and indirect (via relational social capital) relationships between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding. We contributed to the literature on the links between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding (Tang et al., 2015; Men et al., 2018) by theorizing and providing evidence that instrumental thinking, an individual difference factor, acts as a boundary condition of the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ relational social capital. Likewise, the work at hand provided evidence that instrumental thinking moderates the direct and indirect relationships between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding, In doing so, the present work responded to the calls for further research unveil the interaction effects of ethical leadership and individual differences on the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ work-related attitudes and behaviors (Kacmar et al., 2013; Men et al., 2018; Yang and Wei, 2018; Moore et al., 2019), as well as the calls for further investigation into the contingencies of the relationship between ethical leadership and knowledge hiding behaviors (Tang et al., 2015; Men et al., 2018).
- Finally, by revealing that instrumental thinking as the boundary condition of the relationship between supervisors’ ethical leadership and knowledge hiding, we provided important insight into the role of instrumental thinking in the organizational context. Several scholars have indicated that instrumental thinking is linked with several dysfunctional and unethical behaviors, such as deception, corruption, bending, cheating, and other unethical behaviors (Rauthmann, 2012; Rijsenbilt and Commandeur, 2013; Watts et al., 2013). However, to date, to the best of our knowledge, the role of instrumental thinking as a moderator of the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ knowledge-hiding behaviors is not yet known. Thus, our study is important, because it suggests the researchers and practitioners to pay attention to individuals who are high on instrumental thinking to appreciate the intricacies enmeshed in the leader-follower interaction while attempting to address employees’ knowledge-hiding behaviors.
- Our study provides valuable insight into how managers can discourage employees’ knowledge-hiding behaviors. It is suggested that supervisors can play an important role in discouraging followers’ knowledge-hiding behaviors by facilitating the formation of followers’ relational social capital. Supervisors can do so by demonstrating honesty, integrity, altruism, and other such traits through their behaviors and actions. The present study also suggests that top leadership needs to encourage supervisors to demonstrate honesty, integrity, altruism through their behaviors and actions to inspire their followers to imitate such behaviors that would help the followers develop trust-based relationships with their colleagues and enhance cooperation among the followers. The trust-based relationships among the followers would encourage them to extend selfless care for their colleagues’ personal and professional information and knowledge needs rather than hiding knowledge from them.
- However, researchers insist that managers should focus on understanding the individual differences that can mitigate the effects of their ethical behaviors on employees. This study informs managers about employees’ knowledge-hiding behaviors that can emerge as a result of high instrumental thinking and brings to the fore why some employees, unlike others, see value in high-quality relationships with coworkers. Depending on the levels of instrumental thinking, individuals may show different levels of responsiveness to their leaders’ behaviors, and thus we may observe varying levels of ethical leadership’s influence on employees’ relational social capital and their knowledge-hiding behaviors.
- Understanding such roles of instrumental thinking are particularly relevant when employees with high instrumental thinking can be seen as a more effective means of achieving economic objectives. Understanding the attitudes and behaviors of employees with, both high and low instrumental thinking can help managers address the dilemma of ‘ethics versus productivity.’ Specifically, managers need to pay attention to employees with high instrumental thinking, because such employees may not give much weight to ethical leaders’ pro-social characteristics as honesty and altruism that are important for developing employees’ trust-based relationships with their colleagues and deterring their knowledge-hiding behaviors.
- Although leaders can pay customized attention to employees with high instrumental thinking to discourage such thinking by advocating the importance of pro-social values, such as honesty and altruism, we suggest that hiring decisions should go beyond from consideration for individuals’ competence to understand their levels of instrumental thinking. According to Lee et al. (2015), in organizational contexts, monetary rewards, personal development, and personal career growth are important determinants of a person’s instrumental thinking. Moreover, individuals high on instrumental thinking act forcefully and assertively to send competence signals to those who observe them (Anderson and Kilduff, 2009). We suggest that managers responsible for hiring decisions should understand such signals as the manifestations of high instrumental thinking and avoid hiring people based on competence alone, as it could prove a short-sighted strategy. For this purpose, managers should be trained in creating a balance between employees’ social and economic orientations.