Knowledge management in SMEs: a follow-up literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to structure existing research on knowledge management (KM) in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to offer a comprehensive overview of research strands and topics in KM in SMEs to determine their evolution over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper, which is considered a follow-up literature review, is based on a systematic literature review that covers 180 scientific papers that were published since the review paper by Durst and Edvardsson in 2012 that covered 36 papers.

Findings

The findings of this review and those of the aforementioned review are brought together in the form of an overview that structures research on KM in SMEs based on themes that, in turn, allow the derivation of promising research directions and research questions aimed at structuring future research on KM in SMEs.

Originality/value

By combining the findings of this review with the findings from the review published in this journal in 2012, this paper offers, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the most comprehensive literature review on KM in SMEs produced to date.

Relationship between Big Five personality traits and knowledge sharing behaviour: moderating role of Islamic work ethics

Purpose

The existence of intense competition in turbulent markets confirms the importance of using ethical employee practices in knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) to ensure organisational growth. This is especially applicable in developing countries' markets where this intensive competition usually results in organisations following illicit practices. This paper aims to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality traits (i.e. openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and KSB using Islamic work ethics (IWE) as the moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research method using a survey instrument collected 182 responses from employees in the Pakistani telecommunication industry. The partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the collected data.

Findings

The results found that IWE has a positive impact on KSB and a positive moderating impact on the relationship between the Big Five personality traits except neuroticism and KSB. Also, openness to experience and agreeableness positively impacted KSB.

Practical implications

This paper contributes to the field of human resource (HR) management by helping managers in the hiring process or developing employee's personalities. Additionally, policymakers are encouraged to create Islamic values platforms to increase KSB amongst employees.

Originality/value

This study indicates the importance of IWE in boosting the impact of personality on KSB and provides insights into IWE's role in enhancing an organisation's competitive advantages in turbulent markets.

Extraction of knowledge from open government data

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish a new conceptual iterative framework for extracting knowledge from open government data (OGD). OGD is becoming a major source for knowledge and innovation to generate economic value, if properly used. However, currently there are no standards or frameworks for applying knowledge continuum tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to improve elicit knowledge extraction from OGD in a consistent manner.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a comprehensive review of literature on both OGD and knowledge management (KM) frameworks. It provides insights into the extraction of knowledge from OGD by using a vast array of phased KM TTPs into the OGD lifecycle phases.

Findings

The paper proposes a knowledge iterative value network (KIVN) as a new conceptual model that applies the principles of KM on OGD. KIVN operates through applying KM TTPs to transfer and transform discrete data into valuable knowledge.

Research limitations/implications

This model covers the most important knowledge elicitation steps; however, users who are interested in using KIVN phases may need to slightly customize it based on their environment and OGD policy and procedure.

Practical implications

After its validation, the model allows facilitating systemic manipulation of OGD for both data-consuming industries and data-producing governments to establish new business models and governance schemes to better make use of OGD.

Originality/value

This paper offers new perspectives on eliciting knowledge from OGD and discussing crucial, but overlooked area of the OGD arena, namely, knowledge extraction through KM principles.