The moderating effect of collectivistic workplace culture on the link between political skill and knowledge sharing among faculty members

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of political skills of faculty members in Chinese universities on their tendency to obtain knowledge shared by their colleagues, as well as their tendency to share knowledge with their colleagues. Moreover, this study investigated the role of collectivistic culture in a workplace as the moderating variable that may influence the effect of political skill on knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were obtained from 387 faculty members across six universities located in the northern and the central cities of China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used as the statistical method for data analysis. Findings The results provided significant evidence that supported the positive effect of political skill on knowledge sharing. Furthermore, the moderating effect analysis showed that in the workplaces that had strong collectivist culture, the degree to which employees obtained knowledge shared by others, as well as the willingness of employees to share their knowledge to others, was more likely to happen as compared to that in the workplaces that had a weak collectivist culture. Practical implications As part of human capital development policies, political skill training could be an intervention to promote knowledge sharing among faculty members. The training may be particularly helpful to promote knowledge sharing in a workplace that adopts individualistic culture more than in a workplace that adopts collectivistic culture. Originality/value This study provided new evidence that extended previous studies by unveiling the moderating effect of collectivist culture in a workplace that was found to reduce the effect of political skill on knowledge sharing.