The curvilinear relation between coworker knowledge hiding and employee job crafting

Abstract

Drawing on relative deprivation theory, we explored the mechanism for the influence of coworker knowledge hiding on employee job crafting and the moderating role of supervisor developmental feedback from the perspective of status competition. Thus, we tested the tripartite interpersonal interactions among knowledge-hiding individuals, knowledge-seeking employees, and supervisors. We conducted a two-wave time-lagged study on 354 employees who worked for Chinese owned and operated companies in China. We found that there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between coworker knowledge hiding and employee job crafting, in which an employee's sense of relative deprivation played a mediating role. Furthermore, supervisor developmental feedback negatively moderated the relationship between coworker knowledge hiding and an employee's sense of relative deprivation. To increase the level of employee job crafting, managers should pay attention to the degree of employeeâ–™s sense of relative deprivation and attempt to moderate that by providing supervisor developmental feedback.