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A meta-analysis of horizontal leadership and knowledge sharing

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Abstract

In the era of knowledge economy, knowledge sharing is one of the important factors for organizational success, meanwhile, horizontal leadership is becoming a trend in team leadership. This study conducted a meta-analysis of 23 studies involving 7119 participants to examine the effects of two types of horizontal leadership (shared leadership, and distributed leadership) on knowledge sharing, as well as the contextual moderators of the horizontal leadership-knowledge sharing relationship. Findings revealed that both shared and distributed leadership had a positive impact on knowledge sharing and there was no significant difference in their impact. And national culture (masculine, long-term orientation, uncertainty avoidance) moderated the relationship between horizontal leadership and knowledge sharing. Specifically, the relationship is stronger in feminine, high uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation national cultures. Based on a meta-analysis, this study proved that distributed and shared leadership are redundant in predicting knowledge sharing. Besides, we identified the moderating effects of national culture that influence the horizontal leadership-knowledge sharing linkage, which enriched the boundary conditions for the impact of horizontal leadership on knowledge sharing.

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The author confirms that all data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article. Furthermore, primary and secondary sources and data supporting the findings of this study were all publicly available at the time of submission.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.72272011, Kui Yin; Grant No.72002012, Niannian Dong; Grant No.71902061, Kaili Zhang) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.FRF-BR-23-08B, Kui Yin).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China

    Kui Yin, Jia Niu & Niannian Dong

  2. School of Business, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

    Kaili Zhang

  3. Henley Business School, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Mona Ashok

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  1. Kui Yin
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Correspondence to Niannian Dong.

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Yin, K., Niu, J., Dong, N. et al. A meta-analysis of horizontal leadership and knowledge sharing. Curr Psychol 43, 15507–15521 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05503-2

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