Employee withdrawal and knowledge management: systematic literature review

Purpose Academia has begun to examine employee withdrawal (EW) in the context of knowledge management (KM) only recently, and no comprehensive reviews of their link have been made so far. To fill this knowledge gap, a systematic literature review has been performed with a focus on EW in connection to KM. Design/methodology/approach The methodology applied is the systematic literature review, including the descriptive and thematic analyses, which have established the state of the art with regard to EW and KM. Findings The analysed publications indicate that management science research seldom examines EW itself. Most of the identified papers focused on the relation between employee silence or turnover intention – specific forms of withdrawal behaviour and knowledge sharing, transfer or hiding. Although the existing management literature sheds some light on EW, more studies investigating the specific forms of EW and its impact on various KM processes are required to sketch more explicit picture. Research limitations/implications Although the existing management literature sheds some light on EW, more studies investigating the specific forms of EW and its impact on various KM processes are required to sketch more explicit picture. Originality/value The paper examines EW in the context of KM in the literature. This topic has not been examined so far and, due to the potential negative consequences of EW for KM, is definitely worth exploration.