The Mediating Role of Knowledge Management and the Moderating Part of Organizational Culture between HRM Practices and Organizational Performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational performance on the basis of 247 valid and reliable questionnaires distributed to managers at different management levels working in Jordanian manufacturing firms. The study also aimed to explore the mediating role of knowledge management as well as the moderating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance. Ten HRM practices and 10 indicators of organizational performance were adopted for the purpose of this study. Knowledge management was measured by examining three processes; knowledge creation, sharing and utilization. Organizational culture was measured according to passive/defensive, aggressive/defensive and constructive cultures. The results of the study supported the presumed hypotheses. Hence, HRM practices significantly predicted organizational performance. Knowledge management mediated the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance. Finally, it was found that organizational culture moderated the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance as well as the relationship between HRM practices and knowledge management. Constructive cultures play a positive role in the relationship between HRM practices and organizational performance (OP), while defensive cultures negatively affect the relationship between HRM practices and knowledge management (KM). The main contribution of this study to the literature on HRM, KM and OP derives from the lack of prior studies addressing the same purposes as this study. The study informs researchers and managers that both knowledge management and organizational culture mediate and moderate the impact of HRM practices on organizational performance to a considerable extent.

Building knowledge stock and facilitating knowledge flow through human resource management practices toward firm innovation

“…Empirical studies that examine the effects of knowledge stock and flow simultaneously are rare, particularly at the firm level, and hence, accepting the present findings single‐mindedly and judging that only knowledge flow is important for firm innovation would be premature. Nevertheless, the present empirical findings based on a multiyear longitudinal design suggest the potential “primacy” of knowledge transfer and integration over the presence of accumulated knowledge reservoir (Al‐Tit, ; Mahoney & Kor, ). From the KBV of firms, the current findings suggest that knowledge creation through collective knowledge transfer and exchange (i.e., knowledge flow) may supersede knowledge creation based on individual knowledge retention (i.e., knowledge stock; Argote et al, ; Grant, ; Swart & Kinnie, ; Tallman & Chacar, ).…”

“…The role of people and people management has long occupied a central position in knowledge management (Al‐Tit, ; Kang et al, ; Kwan & Chiu, ; Mabey & Zhao, ; Özbağ et al, ). In this regard, understanding how people management practices develop effective knowledge management is important because the accumulation and utilization of knowledge are crucial sources of innovation and competitive advantage of firms (Chang et al, ; Donate & Guadamillas, ; S. Wang & Noe, ).…”

“…On one hand, stock‐building HRM practices develop and expand the firm‐level knowledge reservoir by providing many opportunities to improve task‐related skills and competence (Chang et al, ; Hatch & Dyer, ; Pastor et al, ). On the other hand, flow‐facilitating HRM practices enable firms to apply and utilize effectively the knowledge resources they possess by legitimizing and alleviating the cost incurred by knowledge exchange and activation among employees and motivating them to engage in such activities (Al‐Tit, ; Mäkela & Brewster, ). Considering the distinct processes of firm‐level knowledge management spurred by different dimensions of HRM practices, undifferentiated approaches to these processes appear to oversimplify the complex firm‐level dynamics involving HRM, knowledge, and innovation.…”

“…The content perspective focuses on the quantity and quality of knowledge stock or repositories in the overall pool of information, skills, and abilities of organizational members (Griffith & Sawyer, ). The process perspective focuses on knowledge flow or redeployment process that enables the transfer, application, and utilization of knowledge among members (Al‐Tit, ; Basadur & Gelade, ; Mahoney & Kor, ). Thus, previous studies differentiate knowledge stock and flow and demonstrate their distinct functions toward team and organizational performance (Chang et al, ; Gardner et al, ; Mabey & Zhao, ).…”

The impact of knowledge management process and business intelligence on organizational performance

“…Knowledge creation includes all processes through which the organization seeks to produce and acquire knowledge, whether it is between implicit knowledge and explicit knowledge (Obaid & Rabea, 2016), in which it is an interaction between implicit knowledge and explicit knowledge through new knowledge is created and created within the organization to secure the various types of knowledge in favor of future decisions (Al- Kasasbeh, 2015, Abualoush et al, 2018aZawaideh et al, 2018). Knowledge generation is a process by which new knowledge is created through four sub-processes of the continuous knowledge generation theory (Shujahat et al, 2019;Al-Tit, 2016). Knowledge generation includes socialization; the conversion of implicit knowledge to anew implicit knowledge such as the exchange of experience among staff in an organization.…”