A thesis submitted to the Council of the College of Administration and Economics, University of Kerbala, as a part of the requirements for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration Sciences.

Written by

Ali Abd Al Razaq Alaboody

 Supervised

Prof. Dr.Meethaq Hatif Al-Fatlwi Prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Amanah

Abstract

Contemporary organizations are awash with knowledge. The abundance and sharing of information is the ideal approach for modern organizations, based on the principle of “more is better.” However, they face the challenge of being able to manage and invest this knowledge effectively. The presence of negative behaviors that hinder knowledge sharing and utilization is an administrative problem that organizations need to study, analyze, and resolve. Hence, the current study aimed to examine the role of knowledge-oriented leadership in reducing counterproductive knowledge behavior within the framework of the interactive role of job resources at a group of public universities in the Middle Euphrates region (University of Kufa, University of Al-Qadisiyah, University of Babylon, University of Karbala, and Al-Muthanna University) Based on the main problem of this study, which focused on knowing the nature and level of the relationship of association and influence between knowledge-oriented leadership and counterproductive knowledge behavior, and what is the interactive role of job resources in that relationship, the descriptive analytical approach was adopted in presenting, interpreting and analyzing the study information to embody a clear picture of the phenomenon under study, in order to achieve the desired goals. If the study sample included a group of faculty members in those universities, and the sample size reached (469) instructors.

The questionnaire is the main tool for collecting data, which was according to the seven-point Likert scale. Several statistical methods were used, including the validity and reliability test of the approved measurement tool, its confirmatory validity test, and the Cronbach alpha test. A set of descriptive statistical methods, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, structural equation modeling, linear regression, and stepwise regression were also used to test the interactive relationship between the variables.

The study reached a set of conclusions, the most prominent of which was that providing job resources enhances the effect of knowledge-oriented leadership on counterproductive knowledge behavior. This means that providing the necessary resources in the colleges of the research sample contributes to enhancing and supporting the effect of knowledge-oriented leadership in reducing counterproductive knowledge behavior. Based on these conclusions, the study presented a set of recommendations, the most important of which was the need for colleges to continue to enhance and follow up on the application of knowledge-oriented leadership practices in the colleges included in the study sample, which enables organizations to acquire new insights and knowledge that are linked to their existing knowledge base, anticipate their future, and help extract their latent value, assimilate it, disseminate it, and share it among the relevant parties within the organization.

Keywords : knowledge-oriented leadership, job resources, Counterproductive Knowledge Behavior