Knowledge Management and Performance: A Fit Perspective

The impact of knowledge management systems on organizational performance continues to be an under researched area. What complicates the area of knowledge management is the lack of understanding about the concept of knowledge. This paper focuses on knowledge to tease out the differences between information and knowledge as used by information systems. The thrust of the paper is to develop a model for understanding how a knowledge management system impacts performance. The paper presents a research model that argues that performance needs to be examined in terms of the fit between two constructs, knowledge sharing needs and knowledge processing capacity. The antecedents of each of these constructs are developed. Finally, we outline a research study using the model developed. The study focuses on the use a knowledge portal, as an instance of knowledge management system, as an intervention to improve knowledge processing capacity.