Assessing Perceived Knowledge Creation: The Role of Organizational Knowledge and Market Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of organizational knowledge factors and market knowledge factors on knowledge creation among Thai innovative companies. 464 questionnaires were distributed to Thai innovative companies registered under the National Innovation Agency (NIA) and 217 were returned. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used to determine the effect of two sets of knowledge creation sources: organizational knowledge (social interaction, organizational routines and information system) and market knowledge (customer orientation, competitor orientation and supplier orientation) on knowledge creation (product and service outcome, process outcome and market outcome). The results indicated that the integration of organizational knowledge and market knowledge is the main driver of knowledge creation. Furthermore, the findings suggest that social interaction and customer orientation are the most significant predictors of knowledge creation. This study provides an empirical analysis on the importance of different sources of knowledge in the knowledge creation process in SMEs and its impact on companies’ innovative knowledge outcomes.

Keywords

• organizational knowledge
• market knowledge
• knowledge creation
• National Innovation Agency (NIA)