Gauging the impact of knowledge management practices on organizational performance – a balanced scorecard perspective

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore knowledge management (KM) literature to understand the relationships among different KM practices and organizational performance (OP) in terms of the four balanced scorecard (BSC) outcomes, i.e. learning and growth, internal process, customer satisfaction and financial performance, as a measure of OP. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles has been carried out of theoretical and empirical articles to understand the linkages between KM practices and OP, accessed mainly through sources, such as ProQuest, EBSCO host, Google Scholar and other e-databases. Measures of OP have also been extracted from the literature and grouped under the four BSC outcomes to gauge the gravity of the effect. An integrated conceptual framework helps to explore the relationship between the said variables. Findings This study provides a conceptual model of the effect of various KM practices on different aspects of OP measured through BSC. It contributes to organizations by helping them understand the importance of integration of the KM efforts to obtain desirable results. It will, for the first time, put the entire organization in perspective and help managers draw a bigger picture to understand the overall effect of KM practices. Research limitations/implications First, the KM practices shortlisted for this research are extensive but the list may not be exhaustive. Second, the model is not empirically proved. Findings of the study would help in creating a roadmap to enhance performance by a successful implementation of KM practices. Originality/value This paper contributes to KM literature by adding the fact that KM practices not only affect learning and growth perspective of an organization but also have far-reaching effects on OP in terms of customer service perspective, internal process perspective and financial perspective.