Knowledge Acquisition Capability, Strategic Response Capability, and Organizational Performance: A Mediation Analysis

This study examined the effect of knowledge acquisition capability on organizational performance of firms in multiple industries in Oyo State, Nigeria, more so, it investigated the indirect effect of strategic response capability on the interaction between knowledge acquisition capability and organizational performance. The cross-sectional survey is designed with a sample of 343 employees from multiple industries; including banks, insurance, FMCGs, telecoms and small and medium enterprises in Oyo State, Nigeria. The multiple regression analysis to test the mediation hypotheses was conducted. The results show that knowledge acquisition capability has a positive and significant effect on organizational performance (R2 =0.306, F (1,341) = 150.057, β= 0.489, t= 12.250, p= 0.000),). Further analysis shows that when strategic response capability was incorporated into the model as a multiple regression analysis, (Adj. R2 = 0.462, F(2,340) =148.135 p= 0.000) reveals that while the coefficient of strategic response capability had significant effect (β=0.732, t= 10.092, p= 0.000) on organizational performance, the coefficient of knowledge acquisition capability became insignificant (β= -0.084, t= -1.262, p= 0.208) suggesting that a full mediation effect was established. The findings suggest that knowledge acquisition capability benefit organizational performance through the deployment of strategic response capability. Therefore, the study recommended that firms should strengthen their competency to develop innovative means of acquiring knowledge either from within or outside the organization, more so they should develop highly creative means to respond to both competitive rivalry and environmental challenges. This is because both capabilities can be adopted as competitive strategies in responding to changing environment and achieving significant superior performance