An Integrated Model Of Knowledge Management: From Development Of A Short-Form Of Kmq To Empirical Validation Of The Model

The purposes of this research are to develop and validate a short-form of Knowledge Management Questionnaire (KMQ; Cardoso, 2003), and to present and empirically validate an integrated and procedural model of knowledge management processes that includes strategic knowledge management, cultural orientation towards knowledge, knowledge management practices and social and discursive knowledge management. This research took the form of a cross-sectional questionnaire study. Three different samples were used: subjects from the Portuguese industrial sector (n = 1215), from the Brazilian industrial sector (n = 633), and from the Portuguese local government sector (n = 1361). The Knowledge Management Questionnaire (KMQ) appears to be a good measurement/psychometric instrument for the assessment of workers' perceptions of the applicability of knowledge management processes. However, due to its length, administration of the instrument is rather time-consuming, hindering its use in preliminary organizational diagnosis and in research contexts. Thus, we developed the 15-item KMQ-SF (Short Form), and investigated its psychometric characteristics and invariance in three different samples. The core of the integrated model proposes that strategic knowledge management affects knowledge management practices and social and discursive knowledge management through the mediation of cultural orientation towards knowledge. Tests of the model were undertaken through structural equation modelling using maximum-likelihood estimation procedures. The various measures of goodness of fit used indicated that the proposed model had a good fit with the data. These results demonstrate strategic knowledge management as an engine of the whole process and cultural orientation towards knowledge management as a core vector of knowledge management. We discuss the implications of this study for research and practice, shedding light on the process of knowledge management.