Does spiritual leadership foster prosocial knowledge sharing in the workplace? A social dilemma perspective

Abstract

PurposeThe current challenges to traditional business practices increasingly involve spirituality. However, existing literature on spiritual leadership (SL) has not been used to date for obtaining a better understanding of why and how knowledge sharing (KS) occurs in organisations, particularly from the perspective of social dilemmas and work compassion. This paper aims to examine whether SL, through fostering experiences of compassion at work, leads followers to share knowledge prosocially in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conceptualise KS action as the result of a social dilemma whereby followers decide to share knowledge rather than selfishly succumb to the temptation to withhold it for short-term gain. The authors hypothesise that SL cultivates experiences of compassion at work, which acts as a mediator that explains how and why SL encourages KS. The authors propose a model that includes a unique higher-order construct of SL assessed using Fry's 17-item scale. Data were collected from a sample of 384 leaders and their followers from 14 manufacturing and service companies in India and analysed using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results revealed significant relationships between SL, KS and compassion at work. Notably, compassion mediated the relationship between SL and KS. Findings suggest that SL encourages employees to engage KS, cultivating a compassionate work environment. This discourages them from succumbing to the selfish, individualistic or uncooperative temptations to withhold knowledge for short-term benefits.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates a novel relationship between SL and compassion, as well as a relationship between SL and prosocial KS in which compassion at work acts as a mediator.