Abstract—The key to understanding the development of
competitive advantage is understanding knowledge and how it
is managed and shared. Organisations not only need to
understand comprehensively the concept of knowledge in order
to manage it effectively, but also to create and maintain
competitive advantages, especially as the business environment
has become increasingly competitive. The aim of this study is to
understand how the knowledge management concept can be
harnessed as a vital factor in the enhancement of productivity,
performance and the competitiveness of organisations. In this
paper, we have used grounded theory strategy, which provides
in-depth information relevant to KM implementation. Data
were collected from face-to-face semi-structured interviews
with 24 top managers from 19 different top-ranking companies
operating in Saudi Arabia. It found that the most important
factor influencing the success of KM implementation is the
employees’ willingness to participate in KM activities and share
their knowledge. A theoretical model based on the findings of
this study was developed and the theoretical and practical
contribution to this model is discussed, as well as the findings.
Index Terms—Critical successful factors (CSFs), employees’
willingness, knowledge management (KM), organisational
performance (OP).
Rafat Amir is with The University of Manchester, Manchester (e-mail:
rafat.amir@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk ).
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Cite:R. Amir and J. Parvar, "Harnessing Knowledge Management to Improve Organisational Performance," International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance vol.5, no.1, pp. 31-38, 2014.