Investigating the effect of knowledge management on employees' performance (a case study of Miandoab city scientific-applied training center)

Master's Thesis in Executive Management (M.A)

Strategic Orientation

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of knowledge management on the performance of employees of the scientific-applied training center in Miandoab city. For this purpose, knowledge management based on the theory of Nonaka and Takeuchi in four dimensions; Socialization of organizational knowledge, externalization of organizational knowledge, connection and combination of organizational knowledge, internalization of organizational knowledge are defined and in this regard, a main hypothesis and four sub-hypotheses are set. The statistical population of the current research is the employees (formal, contract, specified work contract) of the scientific-applied training center of Miandoab city, whose number is 63 people, and due to the limited statistical population, the entire statistical population was selected as a statistical sample, that is, the census method was used. The data collection tool in this research was a standard questionnaire based on knowledge management components to measure knowledge management and the ACHIEVE questionnaire related to Hersey and Goldsmith to measure employee performance. The reliability of the questionnaires was confirmed using the Cronbach's alpha method for knowledge management 0.873 and for employee performance 0.921 and the validity of the instrument was confirmed with the content method. After measuring its validity and reliability, it was provided to the statistical community. After collecting the questionnaires, the resulting information was summarized and classified using descriptive statistical methods, and to test the research hypotheses, the inferential statistical methods of Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Pearson's correlation coefficient and ANOVA were used using SPSS software. The results show that knowledge management and its dimensions have an effect on the performance of the employees of the scientific-applied training center of Miandoab city.

Key words: knowledge management, employee performance, ACHIEVE model

Introduction

In recent years, various organizations and companies have started to join the knowledge process and new concepts such as expertise, knowledge force, knowledge management and knowledge organizations (knowledge-oriented organizations) announce the intensification of this process. By using these words, Peter Drucker has announced the creation of a new type of organization in which the power of the mind rules instead of the power of the arm. According to this theory, in the future, societies will expect development and progress that have a greater share of knowledge. A knowledge organization achieves capabilities that can turn a small force into a huge power (Alvani, 2010, 283). Organizational knowledge management is one of the most important success factors of companies in competitive conditions and the information age. The importance of this issue is so much that today a number of organizations measure their existing knowledge and reflect it in their reports as intellectual capital and as an index for ranking companies. These institutions consider the establishment of knowledge management in the organization as a part of the organization's strategy as essential (Stacey, 2009). Many experts believe that knowledge, as the most important strategic resource, will play an increasing role and importance in the success of organizations and the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage, so that the effective management of knowledge will become the main challenge of organizations (Swebi 1996, Spender 1996, Davenport 1998, Drucker 1993). Continuous changes in knowledge have also created a new imbalance situation for organizations. The endless flow of knowledge has put the markets in a state of continuous change, which requires organizations to make continuous changes and also creates many limitations regarding imitation (from this point of view, a special emphasis is placed on the knowledge-based economy) (Asili et al., 2014). Politicians also believe that the global economic system has begun a new phase, which is referred to as the "knowledge economy". Rapid change is a characteristic of the knowledge economy, accepted business practices, even practices that are considered universal, quickly become obsolete. Organizations should turn to the real cycle of knowledge creation by increasing, disseminating and internally expanding this knowledge, and beyond that, create and strengthen effective mechanisms for maintaining, processing and retrieving knowledge in the organization (Alborzi, 2014). Knowledge is considered the most strategic organizational resource and the core of competition and even survival in non-competitive environments. For this reason, it is necessary to manage this strategic resource for them. Knowledge strategy helps organizations to identify their current and future knowledge needs and consciously manage this knowledge (Akhan and Heydari, 2016).. Knowledge management seeks to capture the knowledge, wisdom, and value-added experiences of the organization's employees, as well as implement, recover, and maintain knowledge as the assets of the organization. According to Peter Drucker, "the secret of the organization's success in the 21st century is knowledge management". Therefore, the management of organizations should find the possibility of making more reasonable decisions on important issues and improving knowledge-based functions by relying on superior knowledge. In fact, knowledge management is considered a more important category than knowledge itself, which organizations seek to explain and clarify how to transform individual and organizational information and knowledge into individual and group knowledge and skills (Tabarsa and Ormezdi, 1387). "Lawrence Prusak" (in "Townley", 1380) believes that six environmental requirements lead organizations to pay attention to knowledge. First, the world is changing rapidly, which means the rapid deterioration of knowledge and the need to create new knowledge as quickly as possible. Knowledge must be consciously managed and if employees learn quickly, the organization will be able to survive in a competitive situation. Second, in smart productions such as the production of software companies, knowledge is provided as a part of production. Such information must be up-to-date if it is to have productive value. Third, globalization creates distributed production systems. Based on this, the more the organization relies on information from outside the organization, the more effort must be made to provide the required access to knowledge and its dissemination. Fourth, change and transformation throughout the organization is increasing. People's knowledge and work experience are formed over a period of time, but today, jobs in organizations change and people move frequently. As the speed of change increases and people frequently change their jobs, information and knowledge, which was usually concentrated in a specific person and process, is increasingly provided by multi-functional teams [1] while quickly adapting to changing systems and environments and in limited time intervals. Change is today's recommendation, increasing change and organizational information has caused a great need for knowledge management to achieve effectiveness. Fifth, more mental knowledge is needed to perform virtual activities more effectively. Sixth, knowledge is the producer of new knowledge. At the same time as the systems become more insightful and interactive, new opportunities arise to use new knowledge proactively. According to the above definitions, it can be said that knowledge management is fully accepted as a necessity in today's organizations, therefore, organizations must create an environment for sharing, transferring and exchanging knowledge among their members and train people to conceptualize their interactions. This is an issue in cultural organizations where intellectual capital and intangible assets are very important in this type of organization, knowledge plays a vital role. If the process of change and evolution of knowledge in the contemporary society is carefully evaluated, this important result is obtained that today's post-industrial society is an information society in which power-increasing technologies are gradually replaced by knowledge-increasing technologies (Ahmad Pourdariani, 2011, 87-85). All organizations need new ideas and fresh ideas to survive. New thoughts and opinions are breathed into the body of the organization like a spirit and save it from nothingness and annihilation. In order to survive in today's turbulent and changing world, one must turn to innovation and creativity (Alvani, 2015, 223). Knowledge is the real asset of organizations that strive for a successful presence in the highly competitive global arena and the integration of their organizational systems, values ??and resources. Knowledge management deals with technical tools and multiple human values, so it can show how smart and learning organizations can redesign their processes using a "knowledge-oriented" approach. Both scientific and business communities believe that knowledge-based organizations can maintain their long-term advantages in competitive arenas. Sources of criticism and competitive perspectives of organizations show the effects of this perspective in the strategic arenas of business organizations (Nelson and Winter, 1992). Organizational knowledge should be applied to organizational products, services and processes. If an organization cannot easily determine the correct form of knowledge in its appropriate place, it will face problems in competitive arenas