Knowledge management driven firm performance: the roles of business process capabilities and organizational learning

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims at defining a model to properly evaluate knowledge management (KM) value. Empirical studies have found little or no improvement in organizational performance despite large KM investments. Design/methodology/approach – The KM-driven performances are rooted in knowledge resources based on the knowledge-based view. Further, the KM-driven performances are mediated by business process capabilities. Organizational learning is critically complementary to KM for being a moderator to knowledge resources. A model was proposed for defining the performance with the relationships between these issues. A survey was conducted for collecting empirical data. Partial least squares was used for path analysis. Findings – Knowledge resources lay a foundation on the KM-driven performance through the mediator of business process capabilities. Specifically, knowledge assets and process capabilities are two different but relevant drivers in a value creation process. The findings particularly provide evidence to explain the knowledge-based view and the mediator of business process capabilities. Practical implications – While an organization owns important knowledge resources in the industry, it should dedicate its effort to the improvement of business process capabilities for well-achieving final performance. The KM-driven performance should be considered for both financial and non-financial indicators in a complementary manner. Originality/value – Extant theories may provide inadequate methods to evaluate KM-enabled performance. This study attempted to define an effective model for this issue. This model empirically demonstrated its capability to work on this issue.