The Impact of Knowledge Management on Organizational Performance - Research Proposal Example

Management Research Project Research Research Paper Selected: ID: Contents Contents 2 Introduction 4 1 The Research paper selection 4 1.2 Structure of the report 4 2. Summary of purpose, rationale, and related literature 5 2.1 The purpose/rationale of the study 5 2.2 Clarity of the research question 5 2.3 The conceptual foundations 5 Research methodology and design 6 3.1 Describe and evaluate the methodology adopted 6 3.2 Future use of the design 8 4. Main findings and implications 8 4.1 Main findings of the research 8 4.2 Implications of the findings 9 4.3 Limitations of the research 10 5. Conclusion 10 5.1 Highlighting the key points 10 5.2 Suitability of the design of the research 11 References 12 1. Introduction 1.1 The Research paper selection The selected research paper for the study is “The Impact of knowledge management on organizational performance” by Jelena Rasula, Vesna Bosilj Vuksic and Mojca Indihar Stemberger. This article was published in the Economics and Business review in 2012. Knowledge management is a commonly and critically discussed topic which has high significance in modern day management. The role of knowledge management is becoming more critical due to the high impacts it has on the performances of different organizations across the globe. Many scholars and academicians have been discussing the topic of whether and to what extent knowledge management can impact the performance level of an organization. Therefore, this research paper is identified to be a highly relevant and resourceful paper in the modern business world and is thus, considered suitable for selection for the purpose of review. 1.2 Structure of the report The structure of the review report would include a summary of the key purpose, scope and rationale and the relevant literary sources that have been used for the research in section 2. This would be followed by a discussion of the research methodologies that have been used in the research. The analysis of the research methodologies in section 3 would include a discussion of the selected sample, data collection processes, data interpretation techniques as well as the ethical considerations that have been taken for conducting the research in an ethically compliant manner. An idea of how these research methodologies can be used for conducting a similar type of research is also presented. The main findings from the research and the limitations of the research are discussed in section 4 of the review. The research review is conducted with summarizing the key points identified from the research and the review would also include a reference to the suitability of this research design to a new research project that may be undertaken in the future in section 5. 2. Summary of purpose, rationale, and related literature 2.1 The purpose/rationale of the study The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of knowledge management on the performances of various organizations. The main aim of the research is to prove the existence of positive linkages between knowledge management and organizational performances. The research is also aimed at investigating how knowledge management can impact the performances of various organizations. 2.2 Clarity of the research question The research question is carefully formulated and is a valid research question from the perspective of the modern day global business environment. The research aims at defining the knowledge management maturity model, developing a relevant survey to measure knowledge management, and using the measures on a number of companies from two countries, Slovenia and Croatia. This is in line with the objectives of the research. Thus, the research question identified is much relevant and clear in conceptual terms. 2.3 The conceptual foundations (Source: Rasula, Vuksic and Stemberger, 2012) As per the literary works considered for this research and the experiences of the researchers from their business practices, the researchers have established that there exists a strong correlation between information technology, knowledge management and organizational elements and performances. The beliefs of the researchers and the findings from other literary works have been included to form a suitable hypothesis for the research. The conceptual foundations of the research include the use of three main hypotheses. The first hypothesis H1 is that the organizational elements like collaboration, culture and climate have positive effects on the different elements of knowledge as related to the context of knowledge management in an organization. The second hypothesis H2 for the research has been formulated as there being an indirect positive effect of the Information Technology systems on the adoption of knowledge management that is being done through different elements of the organization. The third hypothesis H3 taken for the research work is that knowledge management has a positive effect on the performance level of an organization. This is in line with the knowledge management maturity model impacting the organizational performances in a positive manner. Research methodology and design 3.1 Describe and evaluate the methodology adopted a. Research site/context The context of the research is knowledge management and organizational performances. For this purpose the knowledge management maturity model is considered. Also the key constructs of knowledge management i.e. knowledge, organizational elements and information technology systems are considered which would lead to the fourth construct called organizational performance. b. Methods of data collection An empirical research is carried out to establish the hypotheses selected for the research. The methods of data collection include the use of a questionnaire that has been administered on the selected sample size. The questionnaire used in the research is based on the findings that have been identified from the literature review related to the research work. The questionnaire includes 23 open ended questions on knowledge management and 16 open ended questions on organizational performance. The 23 questions on knowledge management have been divided into three main sections which are related to organization, knowledge management and information technology. A Likert scale of 7 point is used in the questionnaire to specify and evaluate the level of agreement displayed by the respondents towards the statements given in the questions. a. Methods of data analysis Data analysis is done through the use of statistical models to accept or to reject the selected hypotheses for the study. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used as a main statistical technique to verify the selected hypotheses in an empirical manner. Also, a specialized Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) programming tool known as the LISREL 8.51 was used extensively for the analysis of the collected data. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique is a statistical method used for estimating and testing causal relationships between the selected variables through the use of qualitative assumptions and the collected statistical data relevant to the research (Lee and Choi, 2006). This technique has the capacity to model the selected constructs as significant latent variables thereby allowing the researcher to estimate and establish the structural relationships between these latent variables in an accurate and valid manner. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tools and structural models are also used for proper analysis of the collected data. c. Sample size The sample selected for the company include different organizations in Croatia and Slovenia. The data collection was done from a sample of 3089 organizations in both the countries out of which 1339 organizations were included from Slovenia. The response rate of the respondents was 9.6% in Slovenia and that in Croatia was higher at 11.4%. The organization selected in the sample included more than 50 employees each. In Croatia, 1750 questionnaires were distributed among the selected samples and 200 responses were received from the selected group of respondents. d. Ethical issues identified No specific ethical issues have been identified in the selected research report. However, it can be established that adequate considerations have been given to conduct the research in an ethically compliant manner and valid methods of data collection and data analysis have been used. None of the methodologies and findings of the research have any associated ethical discrepancies. 3.2 Future use of the design The use of quantitative and qualitative research designs is suitable for a wide array of research works. The empirical research process can be used for any new management research that would be conducted in the future. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) is a popular statistical analysis technique used for data analysis which finds application in a wide range of management researches especially when quantitative data analysis is a requirement for the research work. The constructed questionnaire that has been used in this research can be used as a standard data collection tool for measuring the knowledge management maturity in different companies and also for evaluating the effect of these knowledge management models in organizational performances. Other organizations can use the survey of this research as a benchmark to evaluate the relations between organizational performances and the three components of knowledge managements which are knowledge, information technology and organization (Mattenson, 2008). 4. Main findings and implications 4.1 Main findings of the research The main aim of the research was to establish and evaluate the existence of a positive correlation between knowledge management and performances in organizations. The findings of the research indicate that there are specific linkages between organizational performance and the three main constructs of knowledge management i.e. information technology, knowledge and organization. The findings also indicate that there should be adequate organizational, informational technology and knowledge related resources in the organization to support the development of knowledge management and to ensure that the knowledge management practices have positive impacts on the efficiency and performance of the organization. A new survey has been developed for this study which is tested in order to establish the effects of knowledge management on organizational performances. This survey has proved to be a justified and successful measure of evaluation. The findings of the study include the establishment of a newly defined model of knowledge management maturity. This model consists of three constructs which have been empirically tested. This new conceptual model of knowledge management maturity is useful in establishing the constructs as suitable measures of knowledge management and also helps to create a measurable scale that can be used to put organizational performances on a chart of 0-4 level. The findings of the research include a definition of the knowledge management maturity model, a statistical establishment of the fit of the selected constructs for the research, the development of a survey that is used as a measure of knowledge management maturity in various organizations, an application of the measures on the chosen sample of companies in Croatia and Slovenia and the assessment and empirical establishment of the theoretically established effects of knowledge management maturity with adequate consideration given to the constructs for the study on the organizational performances. The research covers all the relevant aspects of knowledge management and uses the knowledge management maturity model as the selected assessment tool. The most important finding that has been established from the research is that the key components of knowledge management have direct, positive and far reaching effects on organizational performances. 4.2 Implications of the findings The results of the study have several significant implications. The first implication of the findings from this research is that the feedbacks collected from the selected businesses indicate that the theoretical references and the proposed hypotheses of the study are revenant in the practical business scenario. This implies that in order to establish positive effects of knowledge management on the performance levels of an organization the key components of knowledge management maturity which are information technology, organization and knowledge should be developed, integrated and managed sufficiently. Also, these components should be integrated in all aspects of the practices and processes followed in the organization. The second implication of the findings from this research is that knowledge management is highly dependent on technology. The need for suitable information technology systems and resources is mandatory for the successful knowledge management processes in an organization. Information technology resources and systems would have positive impacts on the knowledge management processes and practices of an organization if it is adequately supported and backed by factors like positive changes in the organizational processes, organizational climate and changes among the human resources of the organization (Sherif, Hoffman and Thomas, 2006). This also implies that knowledge management cannot be established effectively without significant cultural and behavioral changes made in the organization. Trust, transparency and a strong culture are identified to be the pre requisites for successful knowledge management development. 4.3 Limitations of the research The main limitation that has been identified in this research is associated with the limited scope of empirical research. The limited scope of empirical research in this study can be accredited to the fact that only two countries are selected as the population for the research. Slovenia is one of the two countries which is a member of the European Union and the other country selected for the study is Croatia which is not a member of the European Union. The significant differences between the backgrounds of the two countries from which the samples are selected may act as a limiting factor for the scopes of the research. Also, the sample size chosen and the response rate for the research is a main constraint for the research. The total sample size selected for the research is 3089 organizations from the two countries. However, the average response rate for both the countries was around 10%. Therefore, only 329 respondents responded adequately by filling up the questionnaires in an analyzable form. A bigger size of sample would have increased the relevance and validity of the research and would also have helped to cross validate the selected models like knowledge management maturity models. If the research involved more countries for the data collection process, it would have helped to get more relevant and comparable results from the analysis. 5. Conclusion 5.1 Highlighting the key points The research paper is concluded by presenting the three key components which are significant in knowledge management. These key components are information technology, knowledge and organizational element like culture, collaboration, organizational environment etc. A combination of the three components leads to the construction of noticeable organizational performances. Therefore, these three factors are critical in impacting organizational performance levels. The establishment of the hypotheses and the validation of the conceptual models are done through the use of empirical research to establish the connections between the key components of knowledge management. The empirical data analysis indicates that the organizational elements like climate, culture and collaboration have direct positive impacts on the components of knowledge management. This is established through the acceptance of hypothesis 1. Thus a positive organizational change can lead to enhanced sharing and application of knowledge in an organization and also lead to the subsequent development of effective knowledge management processes in the organization. The establishment of hypothesis 2 validates the positive and indirect effects of information technology systems and their applications in the knowledge management maturity levels of various organizations. Information technology systems are found to have an indirect effect on the knowledge management practices. The establishment of hypothesis 3 confirms the positive linkages between knowledge management and organizational performances. These findings can be suitably used for improving the knowledge management practices of different organizations. The possible applications of these findings would be in business processes, human capital management, restricting initiatives, knowledge mapping, cross functional working, introduction of more teams and channels for the purpose of knowledge distribution and knowledge sharing and in emphasizing on collaborations. 5.2 Suitability of the design of the research The same investigation can be done on other organizations in other countries and the collected data can be used to compare the results and assess the development of knowledge management maturity in the compared countries (Alavi and Leidner, 2007). There is scope for conducting the survey again by the repeated use of the questionnaire so that the new results can be compared with the old results and the level of improvement can be judged. References Alavi, M. & Leidner, D. 2007. Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues. MIS Quarterly. Vol. 25(1). Lee, H. & Choi, B. 2006. Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes, and Organizational Performance: An Integrative View and Empirical Examination. JMIS: Journal of Management Information Systems. Vol.17 (1). Mattenson, M. 2008. A critical review of knowledge management as a management tool. Journal of Knowledge Management. Vol. 4(3). Rasula, J., Vuksic, V. B. & Stemberger, M. I. 2012. The Impact of knowledge management on organizational performance. Economics and Business. Vol. 14(2). Sherif, K., Hoffman, J. & Thomas, B. 2006. Can technology build organizational social capital? The case of a global IT consulting firm. 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