Leader generosity and employee knowledge sharing: an episodic perspective of generalized reciprocity

Purpose Despite the acknowledgment of the significant role leaders play in knowledge management, there has been limited focus on the dynamic relationship between one particular leader’s behavior and knowledge sharing of employees. This study aims to investigate the impact of leader generosity on employee knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon the generalized reciprocity theory, we develop a process model that examines the impact of leader generosity on knowledge sharing, and empirically tests the resulting mechanism. Based on event-contingent ESM that collected 1147 episodic data points, the data are analyzed by Mplus 8.30 and R software. Findings The findings indicate that employee gratitude and prosocial motivation respectively play a mediating role in the relationship between leader generosity and knowledge sharing. Additionally, leader generosity has an indirect impact on knowledge sharing via employee gratitude and prosocial motivation. Furthermore, relational self positively moderates the relationship between leader generosity and employee gratitude, while also moderates the chain mediation effect between leader generosity and knowledge sharing. Originality/value By exploring the important influence of leaders in implementing knowledge management practices, the authors demonstrate that a specific leader behavior (i.e. leader generosity) shapes the positive emotion and reciprocal motivation of employees and its subsequent impact on knowledge sharing. This paper complements the focus on knowledge sharing in the daily behavior literature of leaders, suggesting that leader generosity matters for employee knowledge sharing.