Perceived relationships among knowledge management, total quality management, and organization innovation performance: a Thai study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among Knowledge Management (KM), Total Quality Management (TQM), and organization innovation performance (INNO), and to determine the role of KM implemented through TQM in INNO. KM was adopted as an independent variable with four subgroups: knowledge acquisition and creation, knowledge capturing and storage, knowledge dissemination and transfer, and knowledge application. TQM was adopted as a second independent variable and as a mediator with five subgroups: top management support, employee involvement, continuous improvement, customer focus, and database decisions. Two subgroups of INNO were explored as the dependent variable: product innovation and process innovation. Data were collected via a paper-and-pencil questionnaire using postage distribution to 500 human resource development managers in Thailand, with responses from 470 usable responses, for a response rate of 94%. The nine instruments were combined and translated into Thai by two linguistics professors in Thailand. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL. Factor analyses and Structural Equation Model (SEM) analyses were conducted in order to answer two research questions: (a) are there positive relationships among KM, TQM, and INNO? and (b)to what extent does KM implemented through TQM improve INNO? Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to identify a variable factor structure of independent variables, dependent variables, and mediators. SEM analysis was performed to investigate the relationships among the three variables in general and their relationships through mediation. The results showed that: (a) KM strongly and positively influenced INNO and TQM, and TQM enhanced INNO; therefore, hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 were supported; (b) the overall relationship via TQM as a mediator was supported; therefore, hypothesis 4 was supported. In brief, all four hypotheses were positively supported. A conclusive summary is provided along with a contributive discussion. Implications and contributions to HRD researchers and practitioners are discussed, and recommendations are offered. Also included are conclusive final thoughts accompanied by the limitations of this study.