KNOWLEDGE WITHHOLDING AND LEADER BEHAVIOR: FIVE U.S. GENERAL AND FLAG OFFICERS

Abstract

Knowledge withholding may co-occur with knowledge sharing, but current research has a negative connotation and focuses on quantitatively investigated antecedents. However, the social context seems to play a crucial role in this phenomenon. We therefore investigated knowledge withholding and leader behavior. In doing so, we applied a qualitative methodology and analyzed five memoirs of U.S. general and flag officers. The 1,853 memoir pages revealed 247 knowledge-withholding instances and eight different actors. We developed a framework of interdependence theory and social identity theory to order and explain the data. We found that the general and flag officers, as well as the other actors, withheld knowledge. Also, knowledge is withheld to (a) gain an advantage over another actor (negative interdependence), (b) yield a benefit for oneself and a trusted actor or to gain an edge over an untrusted actor (positive interdependence), (c) adhere to predetermined processes (neutral interdependence), and (d) create an advantage for the group with which a person socially identifies (social identity). Most importantly, the general and flag officers use knowledge withholding as a tool to achieve their goals. These findings indicate that this phenomenon in leader behavior may have been overlooked and should undergo further research.