Determinants of top-down knowledge hiding in firms: an individual-level perspective

While effective knowledge management is vital in supply chain networks, it is important to note that senior managers can also engage in the process of hiding knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to explore factors, which motivate senior managers of buying and supplying firms to deliberately hide knowledge from their managers in the supply chain context. Findings from multiple case studies suggest that, senior managers intentionally hide knowledge from their managers based on five individual-level reasons: indispensability, career prospects, job security, restricted permissions by business partners, and higher own profits. This paper concludes by discussing its implications to theory and practice, alongside limitations and future research directions.