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- Title
The influence of knowledge risks on corporate sustainability mediated by knowledge management capabilities.
- Authors
Borgia, Michele; Rangone, Adalberto; La Torre, Maura
- Abstract
Since there has been a paucity of empirical research on the impact of knowledge risks on corporate sustainability so far, this paper aims to contribute to the development of this strand by analysing the relationship between knowledge risks and corporate sustainability, with knowledge management capabilities as a mediating variable. Knowledge risks are risks related to knowledge management, defined as "[...] a measure of the probability and severity of adverse effects of any activities engaging or related somehow to knowledge that can affect the functioning of an organization on any level" (Durst & Zieba, 2019, p. 2). Knowledge risks have been classified according to their origin as human, technological and operational (Durst & Zieba, 2019). Human knowledge risks originate within the organisation and mainly concern the relationships between members of the organisation (Durst & Zieba, 2019). Knowledge hiding, for example, is a human knowledge risk as it relates to "[...] an intentional attempts to withhold or conceal knowledge from another individual" (Connelly et al. 2012, p. 65). Technological knowledge risks can arise from the use of technology in the organisation, for example where there is outdated technological equipment or where companies are exposed to the risk of cyber-attacks. (Zieba, Durst & Gonsiorowska, 2022). Operational knowledge risks relate to the overall operations of the organisation, both ordinary and extraordinary. An example of an operational knowledge risk is knowledge waste, which refers to "[...] any failure in the process of knowledge transformation" (Ferenhof, Durst & Selig, 2015, p.161), such as the non-use of valuable knowledge despite it being available in the organisation (Durst & Zieba, 2017). The negative impact of knowledge risks on organisational performance is well established in the literature (Durst, Hinteregger & Zieba, 2019). The same goes for sustainability performance. Previous studies addressed this topic, as Durst and Zieba (2020), which proposed a framework for identifying and managing knowledge risks potentially detrimental to the sustainability performance of organisations from an environmental, economic and social perspective. The study by Bratianu et al. (2020) examined the relationship between knowledge risks and sustainability performance by considering organisational performance as a mediating factor between knowledge risks and sustainability, and decision making as a moderating variable between organisational performance and sustainability. El Khatib and Ali (2022) explored the relationship between knowledge risks and the sustainability of knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs), including the mediating role of organisational performance on this relationship in their analysis. The current paper seeks to contribute to this research strand, which is clearly still in its infancy, by proposing an analysis of the impact of knowledge risks on the firm sustainability, also including in the analysis the mediating role of knowledge management capabilities. It is hypothesised that knowledge risks (human, technological and operational) have a negative impact on the sustainability of firms and, through mediation, on the knowledge management capabilities of employees, which are assumed to have a positive impact on the sustainability of firms. On the basis of the proposed research model, a structured questionnaire was validated and subsequently administered to a sample of 100 SMEs operating in several sectors. The questionnaire consisted of two sections, one dedicated to demographic data (gender, age, education, seniority) and the other to constructs, namely Knowledge Risks (KRs) (human, technological, operational), Firm's Sustainability (FS) and Knowledge Management Capabilities (KMCs). Six items adapted from Zieba, Durst, Gonsiorowska and Zralov (2021) were used to measure KRs, some sample items were "In my company, knowledge is often not shared between colleagues, "In my company, it happens that valuable knowledge is forgotten". FS was measured using four items adopted from Gelhard and Von Delft (2016), some sample items were "My company offers environmentally friendly products/services on the market", "Our competitors see us as a leader in the field of sustainability". For the measurement of KMCs, ten items from the study by Tseng and Lee (2014) were used, some sample items were "My company is able to convert knowledge into the design and realisation of new products/services", "My company has internal processes to apply knowledge gained from past experience". The hypotheses test will be carried out through a structural equation model (SeM) (Hayes 2017).
- Subjects
CORPORATE sustainability; KNOWLEDGE management; PROBABILITY theory; SMALL business; EMPIRICAL research
- Publication
Economia Aziendale Online, 2023, Vol 14, Issue 3, p1
- ISSN
2038-5498
- Publication type
Article