Investigating the Impact of Servant Leadership on Knowledge Management in the IT Sector: A mediating Role of Intellectual Capital.

Abstract

Purpose—This research aims to investigate the relationship between servant leadership and knowledge management in the organization, with a mediating role of intellectual capital, i.e., human, structural, and relational.

Study Design/methodology/approach—Data were gathered primarily via the use of a questionnaire that had been carefully crafted to elicit responses pertinent to the study's aims and hypotheses. The researchers used Google Forms to create, organize, and disseminate the survey. PLS-SEM has been applied using the software Smart PLS for the analysis and testing of hypotheses.

Findings—The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between servant leadership and knowledge management. The three components of intellectual capital were considered in the study, namely Human, Structural, and Relational intellectual capital. In the process of hypothesis testing, servant leadership was found to be significant with knowledge management; similarly, it also showed significance with all three dimensions of intellectual capital. In the next attempt at testing direct hypotheses, human, structural, and relational intellectual capital is regressed with knowledge management. Human intellectual capital remained unable to show its significance in knowledge management. In the next step, the indirect effects were estimated where structural and relational intellectual capital partially mediated the relationship between servant leadership and knowledge management. However, human intellectual capital does not mediate the relation.

Research Practical Implications—The results have significant real-world implications, underscoring the need for IT organizations to cultivate and boost the culture of servant leadership and effective knowledge management.

Originality/value—This study shapes an integrated model related to servant leadership, intellectual capital, and knowledge management, offering its directions to IT practitioners, developers, and designers. To secure the current IT practices and other intellectual evidence, the robust findings of this study encourage the upper management to adopt the practices of servant leadership and take the best initiatives for the preservation of knowledge.