Purpose Despite burgeoning interest in knowledge hiding (KH), there are still significant gaps in the understanding of the boundary conditions under which KH is more or less likely to occur. To address this research gap, the researchers examined abusive supervision as an interpersonal antecedent of KH. In addition, this paper aims to investigate the moderating roles of negative reciprocity beliefs (NRB) and moral disengagement (MD) in the relationship between abusive supervision and KH. Design/methodology/approach Two-wave data using a non-experimental face-to-face method was collected from 257 service employees in Pakistan, which supported the hypothesized model. Considering minimum sample size requirements (i.e. n = 208) in partial least squares structural equation modeling, the researchers analyzed a two-stage approach to test the measurement model and the structural model. Findings The study found that abusive supervision was positively related to evasive hiding and playing dumb but not associated with rationalized hiding. Further, the results confirm the moderating roles of NRB and MD. The positive relationships between abusive supervision and evasive hiding and playing dumb are intensified at high levels of NRB and MD. Originality/value Given the complicated nature of KH, this is one of the few efforts that outstretch the boundary conditions of KH.

PurposeEmployee silence is a pervasive workplace phenomenon that can cause severe economic losses to service organizations. Drawing on conservation of resource theory, the present research aims to investigate interpersonal antecedents of employee silence, specifically workplace ostracism while considering the moderating role of negative reciprocity beliefs (NRBs).Design/methodology/approachTwo-wave data collected from 355 employees working in service organizations in Pakistan supported the theorized model. The study used SmartPLS (v 3.2.7) to examine the measurement model and the structural model.FindingsAs projected, the authors found that workplace ostracism was positively related to acquiescence silence and defensive silence, but not related to prosocial silence. Besides, this study’s findings supported two-way interaction involving workplace ostracism and NRB on acquiescence silence and defensive silence, but not on prosocial silence. In particular, the presence of high NRB makes the adverse effects of workplace ostracism even worse.Originality/valueThis study explores the boundary conditions under which employee silence is more likely or less likely to occur. This just makes the current research all the more salient that why and when ostracized employees resort to remain silent in the workplace.

PurposeExtant research has shown that workplace ostracism (WO) elicits counterproductive work behaviors, such as employee silence (ES), culminating in reduced job performance. However, lesser is known about the factors that buffer against this underlying linkage. With an emphasis on conservation of resource (COR) theory and social identity theory, this study investigates the hitherto unexplored moderating roles of moral identification (MI) and organizational identification (OI) in the relationship between WO and ES.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a time-lagged design to collect multi-source data from 250 employees working in the service sector organizations in Pakistan. Data are analyzed in SMARTPLS (v 3.3.3) to assess the measurement model and the structural model.FindingsResults reveal that WO is positively correlated with ES and negatively correlated with job performance. At the same time, ES mediates the negative relationship between WO and job performance. In addition, MI and OI buffer against the positive connection between WO and ES. The positive association between WO and ES is less pronounced at high levels of MI and OI and vice versa.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that there is potential value in developing MI and OI, for which several interventions are discussed.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few efforts to outstretch the boundary conditions of ES. Moreover, this is the first study to investigate the role of identity-based perspective in the relationship between WO and ES.

Employee silence is a pervasive workplace phenomenon that can cause severe economic losses to service organizations. Drawing on the norms of reciprocity and social identity theory, the present study investigates the direct effects of workplace ostracism on acquiescence silence and defensive silence and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs (NRB), organizational identification and moral identification. The study collected three-wave data from 305 hospitality employees in 20 hotels in Pakistan and analyzed in SMARTPLS (Version 3.3) to assess the measurement model and the structural model. As predicted, the study found that workplace ostracism is positively related to acquiescence silence and defensive silence. Besides, this study’s findings supported two-way interaction involving workplace ostracism and NRB on acquiescence silence and defensive silence. Furthermore, the findings also revealed that both organizational identification and moral identification moderate the relationship between workplace ostracism and employee silence such that at higher levels of organizational identification and moral identification, the association between workplace ostracism and acquiescence silence and defensive silence are weaker and vice versa. In particular, the presence of high NRB makes the adverse effects of workplace ostracism even worse; however, both organizational identification and moral identification buffer the negative association. The study explores the boundary conditions under which employee silence is more or less likely to occur. This is the first study investigating the moderating roles of NRB, organizational identification, and moral identification in the relationship between workplace ostracism and employee silence.