An empirical examination of knowledge management and organisational performance among Malaysian manufacturing SMEs

Knowledge management has gained increased attention recently, as many researchers have revealed its significant roles on enhancing organisational performance. This study aims to examine the relationship between knowledge management and organisational performance in the context of Malaysia. Knowledge management was conceptualised as capabilities made up of knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application, and knowledge protection. One hundred sixteen respondents comprising of the top management from manufacturing SMEs had participated in this study. SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) was employed to examine the hypothesised relationships between knowledge management and organisational performance. The results revealed that among the four knowledge management capabilities, only knowledge acquisition and protection had a significant positive relationship with organisational performance, whereas knowledge conversion and application had not. Implications, limitations as well as directions for future research were further discussed.