Participative leadership, cultural factors, and speaking-up behaviour: An examination of intra-organisational knowledge sharing

This study examines the influence of participative leadership and cultural factors on employees’ speaking-up behaviour and knowledge-sharing in supplier development initiatives in the garment industry. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of leadership effectiveness, cultural dimensions, and individual characteristics using surveys and interviews. Our findings indicate that participative leadership positively correlates with employee speaking-up behaviour. However, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) results show that language proficiency and region significantly influence employees’ willingness to speak up, although the differences in knowledge-sharing scores across cultural groups are statistically insignificant. Mediation analysis further reveals that perceived leadership effectiveness partially mediates the relationship between participatory leadership and knowledge-sharing intentions. The interview findings provide deeper insights into the roles of cultural intelligence, communication barriers, and social identity in shaping knowledge flow. These findings offer practical implications for organisations seeking to enhance supplier development initiatives. To foster an inclusive environment that empowers employee voice and encourages collaborative knowledge sharing, organisations can adopt participative leadership, accommodate cultural and linguistic diversity, and promote effective leadership perceptions. We anticipate that future research will explore the generalisability of these findings across industries and examine additional cultural dimensions that influence knowledge-sharing dynamics.