Knowledge sharing, abusive supervision, and support : A social exchange perspective

Knowledge sharing is essential for achieving sustainable competitive advantages for organizations. Yet, there is a paucity of studies examining how a supervisor’s behavior, particularly, abusive supervision may become a barrier of individuals’ knowledge sharing. Drawing on insights from social exchange theory, this study investigates the influence of abusive supervision on knowledge sharing, moderated by support from organization and coworker. Consistent with our hypotheses, abused employees do not share their knowledge, but the negative effect could be buffered when they perceive high organizational support. Implications and future research directions are discussed.