Driven Online: How Organisational Knowledge-Hiding Fuels Knowledge-Seeking in Virtual Communities

While prior research has primarily focused on personal factors influencing online knowledge-seeking in virtual communities, this study examines the role of organisational factors. Specifically, we investigate how supervisor knowledge-hiding, a behaviour typically associated with negative outcomes, can drive employees to seek knowledge externally. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, we develop and test a conceptual model through a three-wave time-lagged design survey of 370 employees based in the UK and the US. Our findings reveal that when employees experience knowledge-hiding from their supervisors, they are more likely to disengage from internal sources and turn to online virtual communities for knowledge-seeking.