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Assessing the Effects of Knowledge Management Strategies on Firms' Performance: Based on Complementarity Theory  

Choi, Byoung-Gu (College of Business Administration, Kookmin University)
Lee, Jae-Nam (Korea University Business School)
Publication Information
Information Systems Review / v.12, no.1, 2010 , pp. 107-130 More about this Journal
Abstract
Knowledge management strategy is considered a key determinant of successful knowledge management. However, theoretical and empirical researchers disagree on how knowledge management strategies improve firms' performance. The inconsistent results of prior studies may be attributed to the fact that complementary relationships among knowledge management strategies have not been adequately taken into consideration. While the previous literature has focused on investigating the impact of knowledge sourcing strategies on firms' performance one-at-a-time, in reality firms adopt several different knowledge management strategies together. By drawing on complementarity theory, this study revisits this research problem and develops three complementarity hypotheses. Surveys collected from 139 firms in Korea were analyzed to test the hypotheses by using super modularity function. The results confirmed complementary relationships between system- and person-oriented, and between internal- and external-oriented knowledge management strategies. Our results found no complementarity among the four different knowledge management strategies. This study sheds new light on knowledge management research by developing a new conceptual framework and using advanced analytical approaches to explore the relationship between knowledge management strategies and firms' performance. Implications for practice highlight that a successful knowledge management strategy requires a judicious combination of system- and person-oriented, or of internal- and external-oriented knowledge management strategies.
Keywords
Knowledge Management; Knowledge Management Strategies; Knowledge Based Theory; Complementarity Theory; Firm Performance; Supermodularity;
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