SECI model questionnaire validation for hospitality establishments

Abstract

Nonaka and Takeuchi, who have been broadly acknowledged as two of the most distinguished theorists in knowledge management, in their book The Knowledge-Creating Company, How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, (1995), which was a benchmark for knowledge management, postulate that knowledge is perpetually conversed and develop through the stages of socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation, building the (SECI) model named by the acronym of the aforementioned four stages, which indicates the constant knowledge transformation, development, and transfer. Nevertheless, this model was developed through qualitative research and thus, no structured questionnaire was employed. The primary research objective and aim of this paper was to develop and validate the SECI model knowledge management questionnaire for quantitative research in the tourism sector (SMQ-T). For that reason, a survey was administered amongst a convenient sample of 365 employees in the tourism sector in Greece, with a questionnaire of 48 items. Methodologically, validation was performed using Cronbach's alpha test to check internal consistency and reliability, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to verify the extracted factor and their loading, and finally confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).