Perceptions of organizational politics, knowledge hiding, and employee creativity: The moderating role of professional commitment

Abstract In this paper, we examine the relationships between perceived organizational politics, knowledge hiding, and employee creativity. In addition, we aim to examine the moderating role of professional commitment in the relationship between perceived organizational politics and knowledge hiding. The sample of the study comprised 316 faculty members and matched supervisors from three large public sector universities in Islamabad, Pakistan. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and hypotheses were tested with linear regressions. We found that perceived organizational politics positively predicts knowledge hiding that, in turn, negatively predicts employee creativity. Further, professional commitment attenuated the positive relationship between perceived organizational politics and knowledge hiding. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating that perceived organizational politics exerts its negative effects on employee creativity directly as well as indirectly through its impact on knowledge hiding behaviors. A number of practical implications are also discussed.