Evaluation of knowledge management practices – a leather industry context

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of knowledge management (KM) in terms of organizational performance using structural equation modeling. To enhance organizational performance, KM is used as a powerful strategic tool. The factors such as management commitment, leadership and organizational culture are the KM enabler’s conditions, and the step processes of KM are knowledge capture, creation, organizing/storing and transfer, and through this, KM is analyzed on organizational performance in the context of leathers manufacturing company. This study constructs with questionnaire consist of 34 variables. Design/methodology/approach There are about 101 samples that were collected through the questionnaire survey method in the leather companies in Ranipet. The data were collected from executives and associates in the leather companies. Data were analyzed using the SPSS tool and SMART PLS tool used for framing a research model and the hypothesized relationships were tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling technique. Findings The finding of this study is mandatory to implement a structured KM practice in the leather companies. Application of KM is quite an impact on organizational performance, which leads to profitability and productivity. Originality/value This is the first paper to empirically investigate the KM enablers, process and support for the role of KM practices at leather industry. Further, the positioning of KM practices as a strategic competitive tool can be considered as an influential factor to organizational performance.