Knowledge hiding research has traditionally focused on the ways in which knowledge is hidden in the context of interactions between employees. This study advances knowledge hiding research by highlighting the benefits of moving away from the dyadic level of analysis to a multilevel analysis across individuals, groups, and organizations. We also elaborate how knowledge hiding is influenced both by the nature of knowledge and by the modes of knowledge creation in organizations. We propose a theoretical framework that juxtaposes the nature of knowledge – tacit vs. explicit and component vs. architectural – against the four modes – socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization – of the knowledge creating process in organizations. The framework developed in our study also enables us to identify four distinct root causes of knowledge hiding in organizations – functional bias, misaligned incentives, dysfunctional resource allocations, and value incongruence.

知识隐藏研究传统上侧重于知识在员工之间互动的背景下隐藏的方式。本研究强调了从二元分析水平转向跨个人、团体和组织的多层次分析的好处，从而推进了知识隐藏研究。我们还阐述了知识隐藏如何受到知识性质和组织中知识创造模式的影响。我们提出了一个理论框架，将知识的性质（隐性与显性、组件与架构）与组织中知识创造过程的四种模式（社会化、外化、组合和内化）并列。