Towards Transient Advantages: the role of knowledge management on productivity

This empirical study delves into the impact of knowledge management initiatives (Knowledge-Oriented Leadership, Knowledge Process Capabilities, and Knowledge Management Behavior) on knowledge-worker productivity, aiming to uncover valuable insights for organizations seeking competitive advantages in a rapidly evolving landscape. While the importance of knowledge management in organizational success is widely recognized, the specific relationship between these initiatives and knowledge-worker productivity remains a topic of exploration. This research is particularly urgent given the increasingly intricate nature of knowledge management and its indispensable role in organizational advantages. Focusing on knowledge-workers within the financial services industry, this study investigates the interplay between knowledge management initiatives and knowledge-worker productivity, considering the moderating influence of affective commitment. By blending both inductive and deductive methodologies, a pragmatic philosophical stance was adopted, and the mixed-methods approach was employed in the endeavor to comprehensively identify, explore, and test effective knowledge management initiatives and their impact on knowledge-worker productivity. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research design, data collection unfolded in two distinct phases. First, qualitative insights were gathered through ten semi-structured interviews with employees from the global Credit Specialties department of a multinational enterprise: quota sampling was deployed. Second, quantitative data was collected through an emailed questionnaire survey, yielding 294 valid responses providing a response rate of 32.81%. This multi-phased approach facilitated the testing of a robust framework encompassing knowledge-oriented leadership, knowledge process capabilities, knowledge management behavior, affective commitment, and knowledge-worker productivity. The findings of this study, analyzed through SmartPLS 3, reveal significant connections among the studied variables. Notably, it underscores the pivotal role of the relationships between knowledge-oriented leadership and knowledge process capabilities, knowledge process capabilities on knowledge management behavior, knowledge management behavior on knowledge-worker productivity and knowledge-oriented leadership on knowledge-worker productivity directly. This research contributes novel insights into the nuanced dynamics of knowledge management within organizations, providing actionable recommendations for enhancing knowledge-worker productivity and competitiveness in the financial services sector. Further, this is one of the preliminary studies to empirically examine the association of knowledge-oriented leadership, knowledge process capabilities, knowledge management behavior and affective commitment on knowledge-worker productivity under the knowledge-based dynamic capabilities lens carried out in the financial sector on a global scale using a mix methods approach. The findings revealed a positive link between knowledge-oriented leadership and knowledge process capabilities; knowledge process capabilities and knowledge management behavior; knowledge management behavior and knowledge-worker productivity; knowledge-oriented leadership and knowledge-worker productivity.