Understanding the influence of communication visibility in preventing knowledge sabotage: a knowledge power perspective

Purpose This study explores the potential impact of enterprise social media (ESM) communication visibility on knowledge sabotage to reduce knowledge sabotage within organizations. Design/methodology/approach We collected data from 389 Chinese employees across three stages and used hierarchical regression analysis and the bootstrap method to test our hypotheses. Findings Communication visibility negatively affects knowledge sabotage, and the loss of knowledge power mediates the relationship between communication visibility and knowledge sabotage. Digital work connectivity strengthens the negative relationship between message transparency and loss of knowledge power but weakens the negative relationship between network translucence and loss of knowledge power. Therefore, digital work connectivity plays a dual role. Practical implications Managers can encourage employees to share their knowledge advantages through ESM and seek cross-disciplinary knowledge cooperation, which helps restrain knowledge sabotage from the source. At the same time, maintaining appropriate digital work connectivity enables employees to leverage their knowledge interaction advantages of ESM, thereby fostering their knowledge competitiveness. Originality/value This study is the first to reveal the internal mechanism (loss of knowledge power) through which ESM communication visibility affects knowledge sabotage and explores the boundary condition (digital work connectivity) impacting the effectiveness of communication visibility. It contributes to a deeper understanding of the inherent nature of knowledge sabotage from an information technology perspective and offers novel technical insights into its management.