Interactions among factors influencing knowledge management in public-sector organizations: A resource-based view

In public administration, knowledge management (KM) is increasingly advocated for improving novelty and agility in policy development and service delivery. This study identifies factors influencing KM, theorizes their interaction effects based on the resource-based view, and assesses the impact of KM on organizational effectiveness. Physical resources invested specifically to promote KM (e.g., KM technology) are hypothesized to interact with organizational and human resources to influence public organizations' KM capability in capturing, sharing, applying, and creating knowledge. Data collected from 101 public organizations indicate that senior management championship, social capital, and employees' job expertise enhance the effectiveness of physical KM resources while organizational structure has a suppressing effect. Among them, senior management championship has the strongest enhancing effect. The findings also support the general expectation that developing a strong KM capability improves organizational effectiveness. Clarifying the interaction effects has important implications for the theoretical understanding of KM in public administration, while providing empirical evidence for the performance impact of KM informs public management. (c) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.