Abstract
Background: South Africa is witnessing a growth in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Given this rise in SMEs, there is a need to pay attention to those factors that influence how these enterprises perform. Aim: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of knowledge management (KM) on innovation capabilities (IC) in SMEs with a special focus on Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Setting: This study is the first to investigate the effects of KM on IC in SMEs operating in South Africa. Given the scarcity of studies on KM in SMEs in the sub-Saharan region, this study contributes to the literature on the effects of KM on IC. Method: A quantitative research approach was followed in carrying out this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses of the study. The respondents ( n = 280) were SME representatives operating in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Results: Knowledge management is found to exert a positive effect on SMEs’ IC. Conclusion: Findings from the study can assist various practitioners, directly or indirectly involved with development of business, to develop strategies that improve SMEs’ growth and sustainability. These practitioners include strategic management researchers, policymakers, SME owners and managers and lecturers.
Highlights
BackgroundSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) are becoming an increasingly influential factor behind economic growth across the world (Comeig, Fernández-Blanco & Ramírez 2015)
The analysis revealed that the adjusted R2 of the model was 0.152, which means that the linear regression explains 15.2% of the variance in the data
The overall discussion of the results of this study showed that knowledge management (KM) has a positive effect on small and medium enterprises (SMEs)’ IC
Summary
BackgroundSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) are becoming an increasingly influential factor behind economic growth across the world (Comeig, Fernández-Blanco & Ramírez 2015). The South African government in 2014 created the Ministry of Small Business Development with the aim of supporting SMEs, maintaining and promoting growth and sustainability in small business (Maziti, Chinyamurindi & Marange 2018). It has been discovered that to attain success and organisational growth, SMEs must sustain and create a stable base of knowledge resources. This necessitates instituting of knowledge management (KM) as a strategic move (Teece, Pisano & Shuen 1997). South Africa is witnessing a growth in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Given this rise in SMEs, there is a need to pay attention to those factors that influence how these enterprises perform
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