Knowledge management and organisational performance: a literature review

Although knowledge management is considered as a very recent phenomenon,
research in to knowledge and the management of the knowledge within the business context
has grown dramatically over the last few years, in a number of different directions. As a result,
a great deal about, what knowledge is and the ways in which knowledge is managed, have been
addressed by many authors. However, despite the growing body of theory, there are relatively
few knowledge management texts that make an explicit connection between knowledge and
performance. Knowledge is not always utilised and that utilised knowledge does not always
result in improved performance. Thereby measurement of performance is of utmost importance
for an organisation to ensure the successful implementation of knowledge management
exercise. This paper is aimed at reviewing literature on both knowledge management and
organisational performance. Based on the review it was underlined knowledge management as
a strategy which leads to performances. The paper highlighted the extreme importance of
looking into the performance measures which can be deployed in knowledge organisations and
recommends further research to be carried out on this regard.