Understanding the Knowledge Concealment Predictors: A Proposed Framework for Knowledge Practitioners in Malaysia

This paper explores the knowledge concealment (KC) predictors among knowledge practitioners in Malaysia. It highlights that knowledge concealment (KC) is widely recognized as having a detrimental impact on individuals and organizations. Moreover, KC poses a significant challenge for organizations that are striving to enhance their knowledge management initiatives due to the difficulty in recognizing the existence of the information and the uncertain nature of its impacts. In addition, the prevalence of employees concealing their knowledge and expertise despite the organization's efforts to cultivate a culture of knowledge sharing. Thus, the act of concealing knowledge in an organization has an impact on the Sustainable Development Plan 9 (SDGs), which focuses on industry, innovation, and infrastructure, the Sustainable Development Plan 8 (SDGs), which targets decent work and economic growth to accelerate human capital development for an advanced nation, and the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (2021–2025), which emphasizes human capital through training and education. Therefore, it is crucial to study these predictors as they facilitate the prompt execution of proactive strategies to mitigate KC among knowledge practitioners. This study additionally proposes a novel conceptual framework that explores the relationship among variables, namely the lack of rewards in knowledge sharing, moral disengagement, internal competition, and psychological entitlement with a specific focus on knowledge concealment (KC). This framework presents significant potential for facilitating future research endeavors undertaken by other scholars.