Development of a Measure for Knowledge Management: an Empirical Test and Validation of the Knowledge Management Orientation Construct

In spite of abundant literature on knowledge management the intricacy of knowledge management performance remains relatively under researched. Current understandings of knowledge management performance are either wholly conceptual or case anecdotes. There is a severe paucity in empirical evidence, and what evidence exists is largely of a descriptive nature. The lack of effective knowledge management measurement constructs is a key reason for the lack of empiricism in the field. This lack hinders both corporate practice as well as academic research into the role of knowledge management in yielding performance outcomes. Through extensive literature review this paper adopts a capability-based view to develop a construct, named knowledge management orientation. The construct consists of five components, namely the knowledge system, organisational memory, knowledge sharing, a learning culture and knowledge benchmarking. The construct is tested using confirmatory factor analysis performed in AMOS 4.0. The construct validity and reliability are reported in this paper. Theoretical and methodological issues for adoption of the knowledge management orientation construct are discussed.