Knowledge hiding as an organisational phenomenon has started to attract research attention only in the last decade or so, although it may be a common behaviour in the workplace. Emerging research findings suggest that knowledge hiding is not necessarily a negative act with detrimental outcomes. Why do employees hide their knowledge? What can organisations do to encourage knowledge sharing in the workplace? Drawing on 52 studies published in academic English and Chinese journals over the period of 1997–2017, this study conducts a systematic review on knowledge hiding to clarify the concept, analyse existing research findings, identify research gaps and shed light on future research direction theoretically and empirically. The study has practical implications for organisations in terms of what human resource management interventions may be adopted to minimise undesirable knowledge hiding behaviours and to build trust among employees and enhance organisational effectiveness.
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) has been an important strand of research in the HRM field for over three decades, and has attracted heated debates in recent years. One main critique of the state of SHRM research is its increasing detachment from HRM practice, in the pursuit of more theoretical rigor and methodological sophistication. Our review article has two main tasks. First, we review SHRM research published in two leading HRM journals—Human Resource Management and Human Resource Management Journal—in the light of the criticisms on SHRM research and use this as a backdrop of our second task. Second, we critically examine SHRM research conducted in the Chinese context by drawing on a systematic review on extant literature. In doing so, we draw on a wider range of HRM journals such as Human Resource Management Review, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, and so forth. We find that while the trend of psychologization in SHRM research is gathering pace, the range of theoretical perspectives mobilized to inform the studies is actually expanding. We call for SHRM research to be more contextualized and more practical phenomenon‐driven SHRM research. We indicate several avenues for future research, using China as an example.
This review study was conducted in memory of Professor David Lepak, the late Editor-in-Chief of The International Journal of Human Resource Management, for his contribution to the development of strategic human resource management (HRM) research and the influence of his work in strategic HRM research in the Chinese context. Drawing on 133 articles from 49 English journals, we show that Lepak and colleagues' four major theoretical frameworks (universal and contingency perspectives of HRM, HR architecture, employee-oriented perspective of HRM and multiple dimensions of HR systems) have been the most instrumental in guiding strategic HRM research in China. We also assess the extent to which China-based studies have extended the conceptual arguments and analytical frameworks that Lepak and co-authors have put forward. By discussing some of the changes in the way businesses in China have (re)configured their business models, we draw attention to several avenues to make strategic HRM research more reflective of the societal context and relevant to practice.
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