Abstract:
Sri Lanka’s Information Technology (IT) sector has become a key driver of national
economic growth, characterized by a rapidly expanding workforce and increasing
integration into global markets. The sector relies heavily on teamwork, innovation, and
effective knowledge sharing to maintain competitiveness. However, the collaborative
nature of IT work also heightens the influence of interpersonal relationships, which may
either enable or constrain knowledge flows. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory
(SET), this study investigates the effects of Social Leader–Member Exchange (SLMX)
and Economic Leader–Member Exchange (ELMX) on knowledge hiding behavior. It
further examines prosocial motivation as a moderating factor, proposing that higher
prosocial motivation strengthens the negative association between SLMX and
knowledge hiding, while ELMX is expected to promote knowledge withholding
through transactional and self-interested exchanges. Using a deductive quantitative
design and convenience sampling, data were collected from 280 IT professionals across
seven organizations located in Colombo. Correlation analysis, regression techniques,
and conditional effects modeling were employed to test the hypothesized relationships.The results indicate that ELMX does not have a significant effect on knowledge hiding
(β = .08, p > .05), whereas SLMX shows a significant negative relationship with
knowledge hiding (β = −.33, p < .001). Moreover, prosocial motivation significantly
moderates the SLMX–knowledge hiding relationship, with stronger negative effects
observed at higher levels of prosocial motivation (β = −.46, p < .001). Theoretically,
this study advances understanding of how distinct social and economic dimensions of
Leader–Member Exchange differentially influence knowledge-related behaviors in the
workplace. Nevertheless, the use of a cross-sectional design limits causal
interpretations, suggesting that future research should adopt longitudinal or
experimental approaches to strengthen causal inference.
