Theoretical Appraisal Model of Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning Practices in Accredited Business Schools

Purpose: Education 4.0 paves the way for a new form of the university where academicians teach, research and provide services in different ways, which raises the question of the readiness of academicians to face the challenges. This study attempts to explain to which extent the university and its academic staff are ready to face Education 4.0 challenges through the initiatives of knowledge management and organizational learning. Research Methods: Questionnaires were administered to all academic staff in one education university in Malaysia and 218 completed questionnaires were received and analyzed in this study. Data were collected using modified items from two sources to measure knowledge management and organizational learning practices at the university. Items for measuring staff readiness for Education 4.0 were developed based on criteria found in the recent literature. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Findings: Results indicated that the academic staff and the university were ready to face the Education 4.0 challenges. The level of organizational learning practiced by the academic staff is high, the same as the knowledge management practiced by the university. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that both organizational learning and knowledge management practices had significant positive relationships with the readiness of academic staff for Education 4.0. However, multiple regression analysis with stepwise procedures found that only one knowledge management practice and one organizational learning practice were the predictors of the readiness of the academic staff in facing the Education 4.0 challenges. Implications for Research and Practices: This study provides new insight into Education 4.0 through the perspective of knowledge management and organizational learning. Universities need to put more initiatives for knowledge creation, knowledge organization, knowledge storing, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application. Furthermore, academicians also need to put more effort into supporting new learning and ideas, formal learning and external/interface learning.

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of knowledge management and organizational learning practices on organizational performance. Moreover, this study aimed to show whether knowledge management and organizational learning practices differed between higher-rated and lower-rated organizations and among five selected industries. An empirical study was performed using a survey questionnaire, which was distributed to 130 organizations in the five industries. The sample included 36 higher-rated organizations and 94 lower-rated organizations. The listing of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon was used for the rating of the organizations. Out of 130 questionnaires, 102 were returned and were usable, reflecting a response rate of 78%. Descriptive statistics were conducted followed by Reliability Test, Factor analysis, Multiple Regression with Stepwise method, Independent Sample T-Test and One-Way Anova. Empirical evidence from this study showed that a number of knowledge management and organizational learning practices has a statistically significant positive relationship with different aspects of organizational performance: organizational effectiveness and efficiency, vii innovation, customer satisfaction, employee motivation and satisfaction, workforce flexibility, and breakdown of communication barriers. Moreover, the study revealed that most of the practices that impact organizational performance differ in higher-rated and lower-rated organizations, as a result of which higher-rated organizations have increased organizational effectiveness and efficiency, enhanced innovation, increased workforce flexibility and less communication barriers than lower-rated organizations. Finally, the study revealed that the average knowledge management and organizational learning practices, as well as the average organizational performance, does not differ among the five selected industries. The study recommended to the managers of organizations in Lebanon to better manage knowledge and encourage knowledge sharing, to empower employees, and nurture a learning culture where trust and transparency prevail.

PurposeThis paper aims to report the preliminary findings of the difference in learning organization (LO) practices across industries. It also reports the impact of knowledge management (KM) dimensions on LO and whether this impact is different across manufacturing, IT and IT‐enabled services (ITES) and power generation and distribution in India.Design/methodology/approachIn this exploratory study, a convenience sample of 51 respondents from Indian manufacturing, IT/ITES and power generation and distribution industries are taken. Based on the literature, a number of hypotheses are formulated and tested to illustrate whether KM and LO practices vary across industry groups.FindingsAn inference to the research questions suggests that IT and ITES industry score highest on most of the LO dimensions. Testing of hypothesis reveals that most of the KM dimensions have a positive impact on LO. Type of industry did not have any statistical differential impact on the dimensions of LO in most cases.Research limitations/implicationsThe study includes 15 responses from ITES and eight from power generation and distribution. A larger sample from these two industries would have been desirable.Practical implicationsFindings of the study can serve as input to organizations to integrate the two disciplines by developing KM best practices to create a LO for improving performance.Originality/valueWhile KM has been studied in the Indian manufacturing, pharmaceutical and IT industries, its comparison across industries has not been carried out.

This paper proposes a conceptual model for comprehending the knowledge management and organisational learning process at business schools located in Antioquia (Colombia). It is essential to understand how they create value through the PhD education of their professors. The methodology used for this research is qualitative reflexive. The document analysis was the strategy used to identify, in higher education institutions (HEIs), the current models of knowledge management and organisational learning. The theoretical-methodological starting point was the model proposed by Burrell and Morgan (1979). The authors have built a four-dimensional model that will enable researchers and deans of business schools to assess and discuss what are the knowledge management and organisational learning practices that fit into their knowledge management strategy (KMS), their value generation expectations and their long-term goals.

This paper proposes a conceptual model for comprehending the knowledge management and organisational learning process at business schools located in Antioquia (Colombia). It is essential to understand how they create value through the PhD education of their professors. The methodology used for this research is qualitative reflexive. The document analysis was the strategy used to identify, in higher education institutions (HEIs), the current models of knowledge management and organisational learning. The theoretical-methodological starting point was the model proposed by Burrell and Morgan (1979). The authors have built a four-dimensional model that will enable researchers and deans of business schools to assess and discuss what are the knowledge management and organisational learning practices that fit into their knowledge management strategy (KMS), their value generation expectations and their long-term goals.

This research aims to empirically examine the role of learning organization practices in enhancing sustainable organizational performance, utilizing knowledge management and innovation capability as mediating variables. The study was conducted in public IT companies across China, which is a vital sector for driving innovation and economic growth. A mixed-methods approach was employed, with quantitative methods accounting for 70% and qualitative methods for 30% of the research. Purposive sampling was utilized to distribute questionnaires to 546 employees from 10 public IT companies. Statistical analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings indicate that learning organization practices significantly influence knowledge management practices (β = 0.785, p < 0.001) and innovation capability (β = 0.405, p < 0.001). Furthermore, knowledge management practices positively contribute to sustainable organizational performance (β = 0.541, p < 0.001), while innovation capability also has a positive effect (β = 0.143, p < 0.001). Moreover, knowledge management practices partially mediate the relationship between learning organization practices and sustainable performance, with a total effect of 0.788 (p < 0.001). The mediating role of innovation capability is also significant, with a total effect of 0.422 (p = 0.045). The study further includes qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 managers from 10 IT companies across five regions in China: East, South, West, North, and Central. Senior managers were selected through a stratified sampling method to ensure comprehensive representation by including both the largest and smallest companies in each region. These findings underscore the critical role of learning organizations in promoting sustainability through effective knowledge management and innovation capabilities within the IT sector.

Decades of research on workplace learning has reinforced that professionals learn through work; however, organisational learning practices have often not shifted to recognise or facilitate this learning. This article presents findings from an interview-based study of professionals in Australia that investigated their experiences of work and learning in a variety of complex adaptive organisations. The focus of this article is on a particular aspect of the study’s findings which identified that, despite the organisations studied espousing support for learning through work, the professionals interviewed described learning through engaging in ‘fluid work’, and that organisational learning and development systems and practices were still largely oriented towards formality and structure. The study contributes to the research field of work and learning, through the use of complex adaptive systems theory to examine how organisational complexity influences professionals’ experiences of work and learning. It also empirically indicates the interrelatedness of work and learning in complex adaptive organisations. The implications of this study suggest that the focus for understanding and reforming organisational learning and development systems and practices needs to shift away from structure and measurement and towards the interplay of organisational complexity, fluidity of work, and experiences of learning primarily through work.

<span lang="EN-US">The concept of knowledge management (KM) and organizational learning (OL) has been embraced by organizations to complement each other. Higher education institutions have embraced KM and OL as a means to improve organizational efficiency. This research explores the link between KM and OL. The target population included all the 432 academicians and administrators from 35 public universities in Iraq. The sampling was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. The correlation among the components of KM and OL was tested as well as the effect of KM components on OL. The findings were derived using smart partial least square. The findings showed that there is significant correlation between components of KM and components of OL. The regression analysis showed also that the effect of KM and its components; knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge storage, knowledge application and knowledge acquisition on OL are significant. These findings provide insights to universities management on strategies to implement KM practices that can align with OL practices to assure dynamic lifelong mechanisms for the basic daily activities such as teaching, learning, researching, and supervision.</span>

PurposeLeveraging upper echelon theory and knowledge-based view of the firm, this paper aims to explore how chief executive officers’ (CEO) sustainability orientation influences explorative and exploitative knowledge management practices, which in turn influence incremental and radical sustainable innovation under boundary conditions of CEOs’ temporal focus and regional affiliation in the home country.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a nonprobability convenience sampling strategy. Using survey-based research, the authors tested the study hypotheses using partial least squares structural equation modeling on a sample of 298 CEOs from Indian small and medium enterprises. This study also tested the reliability and validity of the study variables by using internal consistency tests and convergent and discriminant validity procedures.FindingsThe study finds that CEO sustainability orientation affects incremental and radical sustainable innovation via the mediating effect of explorative and exploitative knowledge management practices. Furthermore, CEOs’ past temporal focus increases the influence of orientation on exploitative knowledge management. In contrast, future temporal focus increases the influence of CEO sustainability orientation on exploratory knowledge management practices. Finally, CEOs from the southwest, west and northwest regions of India increase the influence of exploratory knowledge management on radical sustainable innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has significant implications for understanding upper-echelon factors that drive knowledge management practices. CEO temporal focus (time orientation) and demographic aspects (regional affiliation) influence CEOs’ investment in different knowledge management and, hence, sustainable innovation management practices. However, this study does not explore cross-cultural differences and the role of the entire top management team in influencing sustainability values on sustainability innovation via knowledge management practices.Practical implicationsThis study comprehends upper-echelon factors that drive investment in knowledge management and sustainable innovation practices. Findings imply that CEOs with past and future temporal focus can influence sustainable innovation, but their investment in knowledge management strategies differs. Past temporal-focused CEOs invest more in exploitative and future temporal focus more in explorative knowledge management for influencing sustainable innovation.Originality/valueThe study provides novel insights into the influence of upper-echelon traits on knowledge management and sustainable innovation practices. Extant literature has largely explored firm-level factors such as organizational culture influencing a firm's knowledge management practices. However, by integrating the upper echelon with the knowledge-based view of the firm, we explain how the traits of the CEO, especially the temporal perspective, influence knowledge management and sustainable innovation practices of firms.

The purpose of this study was to review the socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) model of knowledge management (KM), and to explore the trends of its use, challenges, and best practices in the model’s application in KM practice in the period from 1995 to 2018. Using the methodology known as the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA), we sought to do the following: establish whether the SECI model was more widely accepted than other KM models; examine specific demographic details of research studies on the SECI model; investigate the weaknesses of the model in practice; and generate a compendium of the use of the model in respect of the period we reviewed. Four databases were explored to search for open access, peer-reviewed, empirical journal articles. The study found that the SECI model continued to be widely accepted and used in spite of criticism levelled at it. Weaknesses that we noted in our review included the limitations of certain modes of the model in some areas of application and the non-linearity of the model in other areas. The study found evidence of exponential growth in the SECI model’s usage in the period reviewed. Also noted was the wide application of the model in knowledge creation studies in Africa. The study suggested that organisations could employ the model for their knowledge creation activities, but with the support of factors that enabled knowledge sharing. The model’s socialisation mode stood out as a mode of high impact, implying that the management teams of organisations needed to pay a lot of attention to it for effective organisational KM. This study generated a compendium for the practical application of the SECI model.

Neglected till recently in management research, expansion of interest in wisdom and its practical application across a wide range of disciplines is observed. Embrace of the ancient wisdom traditions such as Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and wider acceptance of spirituality and soul in the workplace exemplify the trend. Facets of wise thought and action are central to burgeoning disciplines such as business ethics, sustainability, transformational leadership, corporate citizenship and social responsibility, and workplace democratization. Built on the principles and practices of organizational learning and knowledge management, but surpassing them in their ability to foster learning, understanding, commitment, and the right thing, organizational wisdom provides an aim worth striving for. This paper identifies and explains important elements of organizational wisdom, and describes their interaction as a dynamic, complex system. Understanding this system illuminates causes of organizational learning problems, permits targeting key sticking points and levers for change, and suggests strategies for more effective learning and the achievement of important performance outcomes. A New Era Unfolds If the last decade of the 20th Century and the early years of the 21st may be termed the era of the learning organization, the period that supercedes it might aptly be termed the era of organizational wisdom; that is, if we can understand and overcome the barriers holding us back. Despite the explosion of research and writing on organizational learning, knowledge management, and related subjects since 1990, there continues to be concern as to how to become a learning organization, exploit intellectual capital, and best value, develop, and get the most out of our human resources. It is not the intent of this paper to exhaustively review or to rehash the organizational learning / learning organization literature, but to provide a working foundation upon which the ideas of organizational wisdom can be developed. A sample of those sources drawn on more heavily includes Argyris (1982; 1991), Argyris and Schon (1978), Garvin (1993), Gorelick, Milton, and April (2004), Griffey (1998), Kirn (1994), Lichtenstein (2000), Reynolds and Ablett (1998), Schein (1993; 1999), Senge (199Oa; 199Ob), Shaw and Perkins (1992), Shelton and Darling (2003), Tucker, Edmondson, and Spear (2002), Ulrich, Von Glinow, and Jick (1993). These sources indicate that we have certainly achieved a profound increase in awareness about the need for change and adaptation, and the mechanism viewed as the best solution, learning organizations; but, paradoxically, we have fallen woefully short of becoming them. The components of organizational learning do not tell the story. It is the way they are arranged, fueled, and operate synergistically that explains how organizations learn (or fail to) and what they need to do to achieve greater levels of wisdom and effectiveness. At the core of the system [model] are a couple of simple elements whose dynamic relationships animate and at least partially explain the organizational learning system and, potentially, wisdom. Effectively contending with context, learning, reflection, and biases, beliefs and assumptions assures organizational learning occurs; it is their interaction that enables organizational learning and converts it to wise thoughts and actions. Without reflection in context, for example, learning is minimized and effectiveness of strategies cannot truly be assessed. Organizational wisdom transcends organizational learning in its commitment to doing the right thing over doing things right. Doing the right thing continually while contending with immediate crises-and sometimes in opposition to business logic-requires courage, commitment to core values that include the greater good, understanding of the big picture, and a willingness to trade short-term profit or ease with longterm viability. …

The purpose of this paper is to explore how managers transform human, renewal, and entrepreneurial capital through specific organizational learning practices into superior innovation performance. We draw implications for managing organizational learning and guiding companies on how to create innovation‐based competitive advantages grounded in the human aspects of intellectual capital. The study is based on a survey of companies located in the transitional economy of Serbia. We found that human, renewal, and entrepreneurial capital all positively affect organizational learning practices. Furthermore, organizational learning practices contribute to innovation performance on their own and in combination with the tested human‐based intellectual capital dimensions. The integration of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) confirms a pattern of equifinality, as there are multiple combinations of static and dynamic conditions leading to superior innovation performance. This paper is among the first attempts to merge the disciplines of intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management (KM) and combine symmetrical and asymmetrical techniques to determine which configurations may yield organizational benefits in terms of innovation performance outcomes.

The human resource development aspect is an important and significant element in ensuring a school organization to achieve and realize the vision and goals of the school organization. To ensure that school organizations respond appropriately, responsively and efficiently to all challenges and expectations in the 21st century, school organizations are required to implement transformation and transition into a genuine learning organization in order to survive and maintain their excellence. The current study aims to investigate the level of implementation of learning organization practices in school organization according to teachers' perceptions in Melaka Tengah District, Melaka. This study employed a quantitative research design. Using the instrument, Learning Organisation Practices Profile (LOPP), the study collected data from 500 teachers from thirteen school organization located in Melaka Tengah District, Melaka that is chosen based on cluster and simple random sampling. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 25 for Windows was used to analyze the Learning Organization practices in the school organization. Based on the analysis of mean scores obtained from the twelve components contained in LOPP, it was found that the level of learning organization practice in the school organizations studied is at a high level. The most practiced components in the school organization studied are organizational climate, information flow and executive practices while the least practiced and need to be given more emphasis are the reward and recognition component, management practices and performance goals and feedback. The findings of this study show the importance of developing human resources by cultivating a culture of learning organization in school organizations.

COVID‐19 pandemic unleashed uncertainties around the world. Organizations scrambled to ensure business continuity. COVID‐19 pandemic was unprecedented as disruptions were far beyond business continuity scenarios planning with respect to severities, timelines, and geographies. Initially, business disruptions were assumed to last just for a few days or weeks at a local governing region, county, or state level. However, the pandemic lasted much longer and sustained efforts were needed to stay compliant with ever‐evolving and changing local, state, federal, and international guidelines, rules, and regulations. Prolonged work from home became an unavoidable and only way to ensure business continuity for many service‐oriented organizations. Organizations not only tried to leverage existing knowledge management (KM) practices but also were compelled to critically relook at the efficacy and effectiveness of KM practices. Organizational KM systems and practices (OKMSP) in a typical Indian engineering consulting and design organization were studied. The changes in employee perceptions about OKMSP during the pandemic period were captured and critically analyzed. The study evaluated employee perceptions related to four critical aspects of OKMSP namely, KM processes, usage of KM tools, KM effectiveness, and KM culture. Lack of face‐to‐face meetings during the COVID‐19 period made an important change in the way of working. This paper captures COVID‐19 pandemic‐induced changes and provides pointers to further research opportunities in the field of OKMSP. The study highlights the need for robust knowledge management systems to face pandemic‐induced disruptions.

PurposeThis paper aims to review the concepts and constructs of some common models and frameworks advocated for knowledge management (KM) and organisational learning (OL) in literature. It sets forth a critical enquiry towards the integration of KM and OL practices and their relationship with the concepts of the learning organisation (LO) and chaordic organisation/enterprise (CO/CE).Design/methodology/approachA literature search of KM and OL was conducted through the use of multiple ProQuest databases spanning the period from 1996 to 2009. This paper reviews 18 studies, focusing on recognition of major KM and OL approaches and contributions adopted in industry. Besides, a host of 14 KM and OL models and frameworks is used to identify various important considerations in practice.FindingsMany researchers and practitioners have been attempting to integrate the theories of KM and OL into organisational practice. A considerable number of them are concerned largely with information systems and technology. Conceptual knowledge transfer, knowledge acquisition and creation, and learning models underlie much of the work being done in the field. Some studies have forwarded the call for systems integration and organisational effectiveness. Systems approaches, culture, and the LO and CO/CE concepts are among the most popularly cited factors for the development of a holistic model.Research limitations/implicationsA close relationship between KM and OL has emerged during the past 14 years, with applications related to LO and CO/CE emerging slowly in the past decade. Further research is needed to expand the integrative relationship through the development of explicitly stated theories and models with empirical evidence.Originality/valueThere is a need to integrate the theories of KM and OL with the OL concepts to make them more comprehensible, better aligned and applicable to specific fields of work and to best management practice.