Subterfuge at the station: understanding knowledge hiding within organizations

Purpose This paper aims to explore the conditions that give rise to knowledge hiding within organizations. Given the centrality of trust in exchange relationships and building on existing research, we examine the role played by trust in knowledge hiding. Design/methodology/approach The study followed a qualitative, inductive methodology, drawing on a dataset of 106 interviews from two UK policing organizations, including interviews with both police officers and police staff. Data were analysed via a process of thematic analysis, which produced three distinct contributions to knowledge. Findings The contributions to knowledge are (1) in situations where individuals are fearful that ideas could be co-opted by others, knowledge related to those new ideas is hidden; (2) trust disintegrates when there is a perceived lack of fairness within an organization and (3) individuals are strategic in decisions related to their knowledge, with the share/hide decision made based on how they perceive the balance of benefits and risks to themselves. Originality/value We make several contributions to the knowledge-hiding literature. First, we show a fear of ideas being co-opted leads to individuals hiding new ideas. Second, we find trust disintegrates when there are perceptions of a lack of fairness. Finally, we show instrumental behaviour underlies the strategic sharing of knowledge, which depends on how individuals perceive the benefits and/or risks to themselves.