۱- INTRODUCTION

۲- KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN THE ARAB REGION

۳- LITERATURE REVIEW

۴- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

۵- RESULTS

۶- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Abstract

The purpose of this research study is to investigate the relationship between knowledge management (KM) processes and the level of business performance of organizations in Kuwait. The research utilized a survey that was administered to 500 employees of 139 private and government companies in Kuwait. Tests of validity and reliability confirmed the use of the survey instrument whereas factor analysis revealed 4 main factors whose impact on performance was assessed. The research results revealed that all 4 KM processes examined (i.e., knowledge generation and development, codification and storage, transfer and sharing, and use and evaluation) have a positive and significant impact on perceived business performance. Additionally, the research revealed that KM processes have the highest impact on innovation performance. The limitation of this study is mainly related to the limited geographical scope of the research, because the survey covered only companies from Kuwait. The originality of the research comes from geographical area covered. Virtually, no empirical research has been undertaken in area of knowledge management in Kuwait, as an oil‐dependent country.

Introduction

In today’s knowledge economy, competition is intensifying to the point where the concept of sustainable competitive advantage may be replaced with transient competitive advantage, which represents a set of time‐bound competitive advantages. For today’s companies to stay ahead, they need to start new strategic initiatives on a continuous basis, building and exploiting many transient competitive advantages at once. These advantages are by their nature temporary, but they can keep companies in the lead in the long run when they are intelligently created as a portfolio (McGrath, 2013). The modern competitive situation looks very much like the famous Red Queen’s race, where “it takes all the running one can do, to keep in the same place. If they want to get somewhere else, they must run at least twice as fast” (Carroll, 1871). In this sense, competitive advantage in the contemporary business environment is reached by those companies that “run at least twice as fast” and, in doing so, manage their resources and capabilities in a more efficient and more effective way when compared with their competitors. These are the reasons why the contemporary knowledge‐based economy supports a completely different business model that relies mainly on wealth creation through development, deployment, and utilization of companies’ knowledge‐based assets. Hence, the main drivers of modern companies’ performance include knowledge, competence, intellectual property, brands, reputation, and customer relationships (Dzenopoljac, Janosevic, & Bontis, 2016). Knowledge and information enable companies to create optimum combinations of tangible and intangible resources that will lead to desired financial and market results. However, it is evident that in the information age, the success of companies depends more on available knowledge, as this is the key pillar of both tangible and intangible resources (Bontis, 1999). Unlike tangible resources, the intangible ones are a greater source of competitive advantage because they are more difficult for competitors to acquire or imitate (Volberda et al., 2011). For many organizations, achieving desirable business performance not only depends on successfully deploying tangible assets but also on managing knowledge effectively (Lee & Sukoco, 2007).