Knowledge Leaders as Multipliers

In order for knowledge management (KM) to thrive, an organization requires a combination of conditions that form the runway from which a KM initiative can take off. There is general agreement that technology, human resources, organizational culture, and leadership are among the key enablers of successful KM. The intentions and actions of knowledge leaders in particular can make a profound difference to how KM is institutionalized in an organization. The relationship between leadership and KM has been studied extensively, especially established leadership styles such as transformational and transactional leadership. In this chapter, the authors explore the influence of knowledge leadership on KM through the lens of Liz Wiseman's leadership paradigm, Multipliers. The authors propose that effective knowledge leadership reflects the traits of the multiplier: leaders who draw on certain skills and approaches to effectively “multiply” the intelligence of an organization.

The impacts of ethical climate on knowledge contribution loafing among designers in engineering design firms: mediated effect of knowledge leadership

PurposeKnowledge contribution loafing as one of the major obstacles to knowledge sharing among designers in engineering design firms impedes better achievement of engineering design. The purpose of this paper is to examine different types of ethical climate impacts on knowledge contribution loafing among designers through the mediating effect of knowledge leadership.Design/methodology/approachBy adopting a quantitative research design, data were collected using a survey questionnaire from 352 designers in engineering design firms. The data were analyzed using the partial-least squares structural equation modeling approach to test hypotheses.FindingsEthical climate is an important factor to affect knowledge contribution loafing among designers, and three types of ethical climate (self-interest, social responsibility and law/professional codes) have different degrees of influence on knowledge contribution loafing. In addition, knowledge leadership can alleviate knowledge contribution loafing, and it is a mediator between ethical climate and knowledge contribution loafing.Practical implicationsEngineering design firms should cultivate and strengthen the role of social responsibility, law/professional codes and knowledge leadership and reduce the influence of self-interest to mitigate the negative of knowledge contribution loafing among designers.Originality/valueBy identifying ethical climate as a novel influence factor for knowledge contribution loafing, this research further highlights the role of different types of ethical climate in an engineering design context. Moreover, it delves deeply into the issue around different types of ethical climate affect knowledge contribution loafing among designers through the role of knowledge leadership. This broadens the understanding of how ethical climate affects knowledge contribution loafing among designers in the engineering design organizations and enriches knowledge management literatures in engineering design industry.

Chinese study shows inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge leadership and knowledge hiding

Purpose The authors wanted to study the antecedents of knowledge hiding from a leadership perspective. Design/methodology/approach The authors tested two hypotheses on high-tech employees in China. H1 was: “There is a curvilinear relationship between knowledge leadership and knowledge hiding behaviors.” H2 was: “Psychological ownership moderates the inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge leadership and employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors such that this relationship is more pronounced among employees with high psychological ownership compared to employees with low psychological ownership.” Findings Results revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge leadership and knowledge hiding. Psychological ownership moderates the link between knowledge leadership and knowledge hiding. The inverted U-shaped relationship between knowledge leadership and knowledge hiding was more significant among employees with higher psychological ownership, whereas the inverted U-shaped relationship became weaker among employees with lower psychological ownership. Originality/value The paper was significant because previous researchers had not studied the antecedents of knowledge hiding from a leadership perspective.