Key enablers for enhancing knowledge management processes: a means of competitive advantage for small and medium sized enterprises in Vietnam

RIS ID

33654

Publication Details

Nguyen, Q. & Neck, P. A. (2008). Key enablers for enhancing knowledge management processes: a means of competitive advantage for small and medium sized enterprises in Vietnam. Proceedings of The SME Entrepreneurship Global Conference (pp. 1-24). Melbourne, Australia: Monash University.

Abstract

To remain sustainable and competitive in the turbulent, dynamic environments of today, firms are required to achieve strong dynamic capabilities by governing a variety of knowledge management (KM) activities. To harness the dynamism of these processes in providing a firm its competitive advantage (CA), many organisational resources have been investigated. However, research to date has mostly explored their relationships in isolation or in conceptual nature while a limited number of empirical studies were mainly grounded in advanced, developed countries from a large company perspective. This study, therefore, attempts to develop a research model that interconnects key KM enablers, KM processes and organisational CA. Subsequently, an empirical test is conducted with the objective of assessing a KM model within the specificities of Vietnam, an emerging Asian less developed economy dominated by a Confucian culture and a majority of small and medium sized enterprises. The key findings support the dynamic capability view of KM demonstrating that KM process capabilities significantly contribute to a firm’s CA, among which knowledge application processes have the most influence. While information technology (IT) and organisational culture alone are found not to directly improve firm competitiveness, they are positively correlated and their critical role as key KM enablers is fully mediated through KM process capabilities.

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