Restraining knowledge leakage in collaborative projects through HRM

Purpose Collaborative projects require overlapping skills and capabilities to facilitate knowledge transfer. However, not all kinds of learning are virtuous and some may lead to leakage of commercially valuable knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to explain and restrain leakage of organizational competitive knowledge in collaborative projects. Design/methodology/approach A total of 398 survey questionnaires are collected from project-based firms in Pakistan. We gathered data from horizontal and vertical collaborations. Analysis is conducted with transaction cost economics lens through Process Macro 3.0. Findings Findings suggest that partner’s learning intent (PLI) and distrust positively affect knowledge leakage, whereas human resource management (HRM) practices have negative effect on knowledge leakage. Furthermore, HRM practices negatively moderate the relationship between PLI and knowledge leakage and distrust positively mediates it. Research limitations/implications This study integrates HRM with knowledge management to restrain knowledge leakage and contributes to knowledge management and strategic management. This study examines knowledge leakage in the presence of passive opportunism. Originality/value This study explains how passive opportunism translates into opportunistic behavior. Besides, effectiveness of HRM practices are least surveyed to restrain passive and active opportunisms.