International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies (3 papers in press)

• Growing Companies and Innovation: The influence of managing knowledge (enhancement, acquisition and infrastructure) on innovativeness
  by Michael Lewrick, Robert Raeside, Thomas Peisl, Maktoba Omar 
  Abstract: The effective management of knowledge has a strong impact on innovation. This study is designed to explore more deeply the impact of knowledge on different innovation typologies. The study starts with an overview on knowledge management and a brief literature review on innovation and knowledge. Three hypotheses are outlined and tested using data from over 200 innovative companies in a high tech cluster. Factor analysis has been used to construct variables which reflect knowledge infrastructure, enhancement and acquisition. These are then used to assess the impact of knowledge on innovativeness. Further, the study provides new insights on the use of knowledge in start-up and mature companies in diverse sectors. An interesting research result is that start-up companies utilise the knowledge infrastructure while mature companies aim to enhance knowledge to become innovative. Generally it is confirmed that investment in knowledge management leads to greater innovative activity.
  Keywords: innovation; knowledge management strategy; knowledge acquisition; organisational learning
   
• Paved with good intentions: Discrepancies in Knowledge Sharing among High-Tech Workers
  by Iris Reychav, Jacob Weisberg 
  Abstract: Academics and practitioners alike have stressed the significance of managing knowledge in today's competitive environment. Numerous efforts have been made to foster attitudes towards knowledge sharing given the gap between individuals' intentions and actual sharing. This study examines the discrepancy between intention and behavior to donate and collect explicit and tacit knowledge. The data were collected from 278 Hi-Tech workers in two telecommunications companies. The findings reveal a significant gap in the knowledge sharing process between intention and behavior to give and receive both explicit and tacit knowledge. This study contributes to management practice by exploring the issues involved in turning intention to share knowledge into actual behavior.
  Keywords: Intention, Behavior, Knowledge Sharing, Explicit Knowledge, Tacit Knowledge, Donate Knowledge, Collect Knowledge
   
• The impact of knowledge tasks and roles on firm competitiveness and performance: a structural model.
  by Pietro De Giovanni 
  Abstract: This article investigates the benefits gained by firms when driven by the Knowledge Manager (KM). In particular, several research hypotheses investigate the influence of roles and tasks carried out by the KM on firm competitiveness and economic performance. Contrarily to previous theoretical contributions missing any empirical support, this research develops a quantitative analysis in order to quantify the advantages created by the KM by analyzing his roles and tasks. Although the research hypotheses developed have been well assessed theoretically, the literature misses any empirical study testing whether they are confirmed in practice. The results obtained create awareness about the real advantages that the KM provides; he appears one of the most important firm’s lever to attain competitiveness and significantly increase economic performance. Finally, the research ends providing the scales of the most important roles and tasks, underlining which of them impacts mostly on firms’ competitiveness and economic performance.
  Keywords: Knowledge Manager, Economic Performance, Competitiveness, Empirical Analysis.