Purpose: This research aims to identify and measure the impact of knowledge hiding behaviors on Innovation work behavior. It also aims to identify and measure the impact of workplace curiosity on Innovation work behavior, and to identify and measure the impact of workplace curiosity on the relationship between knowledge hiding behaviors and Innovation work behavior in the Egyptian public universities included in the study. Furthermore, it aims to determine and measure whether there are statistically significant differences in the opinions of the sample regarding workplace curiosity, knowledge hiding behaviors, and Innovation work behavior, according to the following demographic and organizational variables (gender, age, and job title) in the Egyptian public universities included in the study.
Methodology: The research adopted a descriptive, analytical, and deductive approach to describe the research problem and the relationships between the variables. It also employed a field research method to test the research hypotheses. The sample consisted of 378 faculty members from four public universities: )Cairo University, Ain Shams University, Helwan University, and Benha University(.
Results: The hypothesis testing results revealed a statistically significant negative effect of knowledge hiding behaviors on innovative work behavior. Conversely, the results showed a statistically significant positive effect of workplace curiosity on innovative work behavior. Furthermore, the results indicated a statistically significant positive effect of workplace curiosity on the relationship between knowledge hiding behaviors and innovative work behavior. The findings also revealed no statistically significant differences in the opinions of the sample regarding workplace curiosity, knowledge hiding behavior, and innovative work behavior based on the following demographic and organizational variables (gender, age, and job title) at the universities under study.
Conclusion: The study found a statistically significant positive effect of workplace curiosity on the relationship between knowledge hiding behaviors and innovative work behavior. This suggests that curiosity enhances innovative behavior and mitigates the negative effects of knowledge hiding within the academic work environment. Finally, the research offers several suggestions for future studies and recommendations based on these findings.
Keywords: knowledge hiding behaviors, workplace curiosity, Innovation work behavior.