Linking Knowledge Management and Innovation Culture for Business Performance Improvement

Purpose:To gain insights on how the linkages between knowledge management and innovation culture evolve in an organisation and that facilitate in making an impact on the business performance, and propose a conceptual model that captures the relationship between knowledge management, innovation culture, and business performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A comprehensive review of previous literature and document analysis using secondary data method and reference of books, journals, industry reports, statistics, and different surveys undertaken for the purpose of the study to gain insights into the evolution of the linkages between knowledge management and innovation culture and its impact on business performance.

Findings: The study clearly establishes that once the linkages between knowledge management and innovation culture evolve in organisations, then they have the potential to achieve breakthrough performances. It is also evident from the study of one of the organisations where the linkages evolved and matured, it resulted in launching of a new line of business, an exponential expansion in product offerings, and higher profitability. Based on the initial findings the extended literature review further reinforces that such linkages also exist in IT & Non IT organisations as well.

Research Limitations/Implications: The conceptual paper evolved from the researcher's insights and experiences in the industry though initially the idea was unclear, however as the study progressed more insights obtained that resulted in proposing a conceptual model linking the KM, innovation culture, and business performance. Similar studies using the proposed model once performed on other organisations will provide further insights and enable to overcome implementation challenges.

Practical Implications: The literature review points out that organisations tend to view KM initiatives in isolation, and as a result, failures are more and tend to be costly for organisations. A strong business case proposed to forge linkages between KM and innovation culture, which has enormous potential to create an impact on the business performance in organisations. The leadership of the organisation can also expect more success rate with the implementation of such a strategic initiative.

Originality/Value: Surprisingly fewer research streams are available in the literature that investigates and integrates KM and innovation culture though individually each of the aspects discussed at length in the literature, and its implication on the performance of the organisation well understood. The proposed model will enable the organisations to tread a journey of integrating KM&Innovation culture, and may ultimately lead to more innovations and better business performance in the organisations.