What is not hidden about knowledge hiding: Deciphering the future research directions through a morphological analysis

Abstract Knowledge hiding is an intentional attempt by an individual to withhold knowledge. Though knowledge hiding as a research area has gained popularity only in recent years, the withholding of information has been a concern for business organizations for a long time, having significant implications for knowledge management. Accordingly, knowledge hiding as a construct has received enough deliberations from the practitioners. However, academic researchers have called for more systematic research on knowledge hiding, giving us enough motivation to carry out a research study on the same. First, this article attempts to decipher the term “knowledge hiding” by defining it and differentiating it from several synonymous terms. Second, some of the existing knowledge hiding frameworks are analyzed. Finally, a morphological analysis of the selected literature, including a qualitative rating, estimating the extent of the work is undertaken, which throws light into the areas that have already been studied and underscores the pertinent 184 research gaps worthy of further investigation. In addition to the identification of these distinct research gaps, the analysis categorically establishes two outcomes. The findings suggest that around half of the total research literature on knowledge hiding evolved in the last 2 years, which makes it a salient area of research. The extent of work done in knowledge hiding, captured by an average qualitative rating score of 2.55 out of 5 underscores that this novel construct bears large research potential. Therefore, a morphological analysis, as carried out in this article, strengthens the current understanding on knowledge hiding and provides the impetus for further research in the area.