Knowledge management strategy, enablers, and process capability in U.S. software companies

Managers are increasingly aware of how knowledge can affect their company's competitive position and are attempting to use knowledge to sustain organizational performance and gain market share. Unfortunately, knowledge management research is fragmented across a variety of disciplines. It is also fragmented conceptually, particularly with respect to the concepts that researchers and organizations identify as significant. We constructed an integrated framework for measuring the various aspects of knowledge management strategy, knowledge management enablers, and knowledge management process capability to assess their effectiveness in improving knowledge management performance. Studying a sample of firms from the United States software industry, we found support for the importance of knowledge management strategy and knowledge management enablers in improving knowledge management performance, and mixed results for the importance of knowledge management process capability in improving knowledge management performance. Keywords knowledge management, knowledge management strategy, knowledge management enablers, knowledge management process capability.