Linking knowledge management drivers to innovation performance: An exploratory study

Organizations in today's globalised world must innovate to compete. KM has appeared as a key issue to ongoing innovation, becoming one of the most vital part in management practices. KM is the process of converting information and intellectual assets into lasting value. The ways in which the intellectual capital, or knowledge held within an organization is transformed into innovation is now a central concern to management. Organizations that rapidly capture and implement new knowledge across the organization can be able to foster innovation as compared to those organizations that don't focus on this aspect. Innovation shows up in the quality and quantity of ideas and the efficiency and effectiveness of implementation of those ideas. These two parameters are independent, however, when combined they form the definition of innovation performance (IP). This study aims to provide empirical support for the relationship between KM and IP.Literature states that KM process needs a supportive infrastructure to enable the implementation of effective KM processes within and inter organizations. KM processes are described as the use of knowledge to create valuable knowledge through a series of coordinated knowledge processes, and KM infrastructure is the supportive structure to assist KM processes. This study suggests that knowledge process architecture of knowledge acquisition, development, distribution, utilization and retention are essential capabilities for effective IP. The literature offers theoretical support as well as some empirical support for a positive relationship between KM and IP. Through the analysis of a survey collected from 143 MBA students, all representatives of organizations, this paper explores the effects of KM on the IP, applying the PLS regression analysis. The results show that both KM processes and KM infrastructure positively and significantly influence IP. Although KM processes was found to be more significantly affecting IP than KM infrastructure, it is of particular interest to observe the impact of infrastructure, namely organizational structure and culture, in innovation environment which indicates the importance of context and background of KM.