The dual effects of job design on knowledge hiding: expanding job demands–resources theory to employee rational-choice behaviour

Abstract

Human resource management (HRM) literature often uses motivational theories to examine how job design motivates employees to manage newly established employee behaviours such as knowledge-hiding. However, the literature finds that whereas job-design characteristics reduce knowledge hiding, others unexpectedly encourage it. By integrating the cost-benefit analysis framework into the job demands–resources (JD–R) theory, we examine how job demands and job resources as two distinct types of job-design characteristics influence the expected costs and benefits of sharing solicited knowledge to affect knowledge hiding differently. In summary, we find that job demands encourage knowledge hiding, whereas job resources lower it. We contribute that job-design characteristics act as job demands or resources to affect knowledge hiding differently. Further, we explain the unexpected findings concerning why and how job-design characteristics – as job demands – encourage knowledge hiding by stimulating the expected costs but do not motivate employees to produce the expected benefits. In addition, by integrating the cost-benefit analysis framework into the JD–R theory, we contribute that job demands and resources affect the cost-benefit analyses, influencing employees’ rational choice behaviour. This integration considerably expands the JD–R theory’s application scope from employee well-being and performance to rational choice behaviours.