How authentic leadership promotes individual knowledge sharing: viewing from the lens of COR theory

Abstract Fostering knowledge sharing has been one of the most vital tasks for organizations in the knowledge based economy. Thus, investigating the antecedents of knowledge sharing behavior is of great interest to both academics and practitioners. The impact of leadership on knowledge sharing has been reported in the literature. However, the direct and indirect impacts of authentic leadership on knowledge sharing is under-researched. Furthermore, because knowledge is an individual resource, knowledge sharing can be investigated in the light of the conservation of resource theory. This study applies conservation of resource theory to examine the influence of authentic leadership on knowledge sharing with relational psychological contract and organizational based self-esteem as mediators. Data collected from survey using questionnaire were used to test the hypotheses in a quantitative research design. Structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques are applied for data analysis. The results showed that authentic leadership positively and significantly influence individual knowledge sharing. Furthermore, relational psychological contract and organizational based self-esteem have been found to mediate the above relationship. Discussion of research findings, theoretical and practical implications are also detailed. Finally, the study outlines limitations of research and provides directions for further knowledge sharing studies.