493 © 2020 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved. HIDDEN MOTIVATION FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING BEHAVIOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL RECOGNITION: THE MODERATING ROLE OF NEED FOR STATUS Zhao Li 1 Shalendra S. Kumar 2+ Rohit Kishore 3 Bimal Krishna 4 Shiu Lingam 5 1,2 Ph.D. Candidate, School of Business Administration, Chungnam National University, Korea. 3 Dean, College of Business, Hospitality, and Tourism Studies, Fiji. 4 Department of Banking and Finance, Fiji National University, Fiji. 5 Department of Accounting, Fiji National University, Fiji. (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 23 October 2020 Revised: 12 November 2020 Accepted: 2 December 2020 Published: 17 December 2020 Keywords Knowledge sharing Organizational recognition Need for status Costly signaling theory Self-prestige Self-enhancement Impression management Self-recognition. This study aims to examine the relationship between the hidden motives for sharing knowledge, organizational recognition and the moderating role of the need for status. The survey data was collected from 798 employees through convenient sampling from public sector organizations in Fiji. The findings revealed that the need for status significantly moderated the relationship between hidden motives to share knowledge and organizational recognition. In congruence with the costly signaling theory (CST), the study identified an underlying motive that can motivate individuals to proactively engage in sharing valued resources to gain social prestige and self-recognition. The findings also revealed that by sharing highly valued resources individuals maintained social status and at the same time earned preferential treatment in the organization. As such, this became our major contribution to the existing literature on knowledge management. Finally, this study brings a new dimension to unleashing the hidden motivation of knowledge sharing behavior through the individual need for status and the real benefit of managing individuals in an organization. Organizations can effectively create a work context that would encourage more proactive knowledge sharing behavior and also set a platform for the fulfillment of the individual need for status. Moreover, it becomes the responsibility of leaders to elicit belief in individuals that efforts made to share knowledge is highly valuable and distinguishable, and any cost incurred will not be wasted. The limitations and suggestions for further research are also discussed. Contribution/Originality: This is one of the few studies that sheds light on costly signaling theory to explain how an individual's hidden motivation to share knowledge can be unleashed through the need for status beyond self-sacrificing behavior. 1. INTRODUCTION Knowledge is a crucial resource for organizations and sharing such a resource provides a greater competitive edge in today's volatile economy. Knowledge sharing is a process in which individuals mutually share knowledge and jointly generate new sets of knowledge (Van den Hooff & de Ridder, 2004). However, knowledge sharing often creates a dilemma for individuals for various reasons (Cabrera, Collins, & Salgado, 2006). First, sharing of knowledge can lower the value of an individual and damage their status and know-how relevant to employment and Humanities and Social Sciences Letters 2020 Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 493-504. ISSN(e): 2312-4318 ISSN(p): 2312-5659 DOI: 10.18488/journal.73.2020.84.493.504 © 2020 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.