Original scientific paper
The influence of knowledge management on the competitive advantage of companies
Roko Buterin
orcid.org/0000-0002-9331-0248
; University of Applied Sciences Vern' , Zagreb, Croatia
Ivica Katavić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5899-5301
; University College of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Management Nikola Subic Zrinski, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The topic of this paper is the influence of knowledge management on the competitive advantage of companies. The emphasis is put on effective knowledge management in a company, which leads to utilizing the full potential of the knowledge that all the employees of a company possess. The main objective of the research was to: (a) identify the contribution of knowledge management to the company's competitive advantage and (b) determine whether there is a difference in knowledge management among managers from the public and private sector. The intent of the paper was to determine if and how knowledge management contributes to the competitive advantage of a company. In addition, by empirical research, it was to determine if there are any differences in approach to knowledge management between the public and private sector managers. Two research studies were conducted for the purpose of the elaboration of the topic. The first research study included gathering and analyzing various scientific literature. The second research study was an empirical research based on interviews with 12 sampled respondents, i.e. managers, in six companies. The first group consisted of the respondents from the private sector and the second group from the public sector. The respondents were interviewed in person and anonymously for the purpose of gaining credible results. The results of the study confirmed that there is an influence of knowledge management on the competitive advantage of a company. It was proven that the companies which implement knowledge management system (hereinafter KM system) gain the competitive advantage over the companies which do not implement them. However, the research study showed that there are no significant differences in knowledge management among companies from different industries and sectors. Furthermore, the influence of politics was present in all decision making situations, including those concerning knowledge management, in the companies which had not implemented the KM system or in which it had partially been implemented. Since the study proved that the influence of politics is the key obstacle, it is necessary to change such a practice and employ managers who recognize knowledge as a key resource.
Keywords
knowledge as a key resource; knowledge management system; competitive advantage; examples of (non)implementation of the KM systems in the public and private sector
Hrčak ID:
213868
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2018.
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