The role of inclusive leadership on the relationship between role conflict, relationship conflict, psychological distress and knowledge hiding

Purpose In contemporary organizational settings, fostering knowledge sharing is essential for enhancing innovation and sustaining competitiveness. However, workplace stressors such as role conflict, relationship conflict and psychological distress can impede this process by encouraging knowledge-hiding behaviors among employees. This study aims to investigate the effects of role conflict, relationship conflict and psychological distress on knowledge hiding. Furthermore, it examines the moderating role of inclusive leadership in mitigating these effects. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a quantitative, time-lagged survey design to empirically test the hypothesized relationships. Data were collected from 413 employees working in manufacturing and service sectors in Pakistan. Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) using IBM AMOS 24 was employed to examine the direct, mediating and moderating relationships among study variables, as this method is well-suited for theory-driven, explanatory research. Findings Results show that role conflict, relationship conflict, and psychological distress positively affected knowledge hiding. Moreover, inclusive leadership moderated the effect of role conflict and relationship conflict on knowledge hiding, such that the positive effect dampens in the presence of inclusive leaders. The study also found that knowledge hiding mediated the links between role conflict, relationship conflict and psychological distress and innovative work behavior. Originality/value It is the first study of its kind to investigate antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding simultaneously, along with a boundary condition, i.e. inclusive leadership. The moderating role of inclusive leadership and mediating role of knowledge hiding addresses the need to dig deeper into underling mechanism through which knowledge hiding occurs.