Knowledge management processes and organizational performance: the mediating role of organizational learning

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to analyze the individual influence of different knowledge management practises (KMP) on firm performance. Second, it aims to analyze the mediating role of organizational learning (OL) between each KMP and performance.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> <jats:p>A telephone-survey was applied in 2018 to the managers of 400 Spanish firms. The data retrieved was analyzed by using multiple regression analysis.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> <jats:p>Knowledge generation (KG) and knowledge flow (KF) promote firm performance, while there is not a direct association between knowledge storage and performance. OL mediates the relationship between KG and performance, as well as between KF and performance.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title> <jats:p>First, this research confirms that not all the KMP have a direct effect on firm performance, thus, future research would need to differentiate between different KMP. Second, this paper is pioneering in providing empirical evidence that OL mediates the KMP – performance relationship. Third, the empirical study was performed in a context non-researched yet by the literature considering KMP individually: Spain.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title> <jats:p>First, besides the results managers should focus their efforts in practises related to KG and application. Second, OL mediating suggests that managers should invest in managerial commitment to promote a shared culture, shared vision, open-mind to new ideas and a lot of dialogue.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> <jats:p>This is the first study that investigates how KMP contribute to firm performance by incorporating the mediating impact of OL. The results will help organizations to identify the KMP improving the performance.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Dispersed knowledge management in ecosystems

“…Knowledge, and, consequently, KM are essential to a firm’s survival (Obeso et al , 2020; Del Giudice et al , 2019; Oliva and Kotabe, 2019; Oliva et al , 2019; Biscotti et al , 2018; Bolisani and Bratianu, 2017). Loon (2019) explains that KM has a rich history with roots in different disciplines, such as economics (knowledge economy), social phycology (groups and individual dynamics in knowledge sharing) and management (learning, knowledge exchange).…”

“…A significant research stream explored the role of knowledge and the development of routines (Carayannis et al , 2017) and capabilities (Bingham et al , 2019; Eggers and Kaplan, 2013). Meanwhile, the understanding of the strategic notion of knowledge and KM for business performance can be considered a turning point in the field of research (Paoloni et al , 2020; Ensslin et al , 2020; Zia, 2020; Pellegrini et al , 2020; Obeso et al , 2020; Heisig et al , 2016; Nag and Gioia, 2012). Recently, scholars (Zhang et al , 2020; Loon, 2019) have defined KM as a comprehensive three-set of strategies, processes and practices concerning knowledge generation, dissemination and application.…”

Knowledge management within a strategic alliances context: past, present and future

“…KM is defined as a firm’s ability “to create, transfer, assemble, integrate and exploit knowledge assets” (Inkpen, 2000, p. 1020). Although there is no single definition of KM as it has been conceptualized in a variety of ways such as management process, organizational ability and, more recently, as a type of dynamic capability (Bamel and Bamel, 2018; Obeso et al , 2020), majorly it is considered as a process that enables firm “to leverage knowledge to enhance competitiveness” (Heisig et al , 2016). It is suggested that an effective KM process includes knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation, knowledge generation, knowledge storing, knowledge sharing, knowledge dissemination and knowledge utilization (Malik et al, 2020).…”

Organizational learning, innovativeness and performance of financial service firms in an emerging market: examining the mediation effects of customer-focused strategy

“…Oh (2019) studied how organizational learning processes influence organization performance and find that organizational justice and trust in managers moderate this relationship. Obeso et al . (2020) find that organizational learning mediates the relationship between knowledge generation and performance, and between knowledge flow and performance.…”