Impact of Knowledge Management Capabilities on Knowledge Management Effectiveness in Indian Organizations

Abstract

Executive Summary Since the existence of organization, organizational knowledge has been managed more informally than in formal ways. This was done through a knowledge supporting culture, by trusting and managing the employees. This was possible due to the small size of the organizations and co-location of employees. However, increasing global competition and growth of marketplaces have created a competitive incentive among many companies to consolidate and reconcile their knowledge assets as a means of creating value that is sustainable over time. In such a scenario, a need was felt to formally manage knowledge by developing capabilities. The objective of this research article is to explore the knowledge management (KM) capabilities in large Indian organizations and their impact on knowledge effectiveness. It is based on the premise that together the perspectives of KM infrastructure and KM processes provide a useful theoretical foundation for defining important aspects of knowledge effectiveness in organizations. Knowledge management capabilities are explored with respect to infrastructure, structure, and culture. Knowledge management processes comprise creation/acquisition, storage, dissemination, and application. This research has found evidence that large Indian organizations have started realizing the importance of managing knowledge as a strategic asset. However, the approach is different in different organizations. Some organizations rely more on creating knowledge infrastructure capabilities through culture and structure while others equally emphasize the need of process approach to manage both tacit and explicit knowledge within the organization. KM effectiveness is defined in terms of improved communication, enhanced collaboration, improved employee skills, better decision-making, and improved productivity. Data collected from 156 organizations was subject to structural equation modelling. The results established that both infrastructure capabilities and process capabilities play an important role in improving KM effectiveness.

Knowledge Management and the Sustainable Development of Social Work

“…From the perspective of organizations, it is particularly important to determine the effectiveness of knowledge management and its overall contribution to organizational performance. As knowledge is an intangible strategic asset of an organization, its measurement possesses a serious challenge [20]. However, [21] argues that it is possible to measure the effectiveness of knowledge management with changes in soft measures such as enhanced communication, enhanced collaboration, enhanced learning and enhanced performance.…”

Reinforcing Innovation through Knowledge Management: Mediating Role of Organizational Learning

“…The success of KM depends on the ability of organizations to promote a critical synthesis between KM processes capabilities and KM infrastructure capabilities. Bharadwaj, Chauhan, and Raman (2015) investigate the impact of KM capabilities (i.e., creation/acquisition, storage, dissemination, and application) and infrastructure capabilities on organizational knowledge effectiveness. They conclude that organizations have started realizing the importance of managing knowledge as a strategic asset.…”

Firm Performance in the Context of Knowledge Based Intensive Sector: A Theoretical Review

“…These later studies have used both conceptual reasoning and empirical data to establish the relationships between major constructs of the operations strategy process, content, context and operations performance. However, due to the inherent limitations of the methods used, including the adoption of predominantly deductive or positivist approaches to research, and the level of analytical abstraction employed, most of these empirical studies have only been able to examine these relationships at an aggregate (macro) level (Bharadwaj, Chauhan & Raman, 2015).…”

“…Besides, there is limited information or research linking operational strategy, customer based competence and firm performance in the knowledge based intensive sector. Instead, they have focused on relationship between operations strategy, strategic planning process, planning flexibility, innovativeness and size of the firm (Aranda, 2012;Huggins & Weir, 2012;Dibrell, Craig & Neubaum, 2014;Bharadwaj, Chauhan, & Raman, 2015;Maicas & Sese, 2015).…”