Examining the Mediating Effect of Knowledge Management on the Relationship Between Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance

Abstract

Nowadays, organizations with international dimensions are surrounded by fierce competition and extreme, unstable environments. With these hostile conditions, only those organizations that demonstrate better performances in comparison to their rivals can survive. They can outperform their rivals regarding financial, procedural, and internal operations. To this aim, two variables, organizational culture, and knowledge management, play crucial roles. On the one hand, organizational performance hinges on the in-depth storage of experience, creation, and classification of knowledge. On the other hand, they are under the impression of social and cultural variables of the organization. Among these items, knowledge management is also under the influence of organizational culture and is capable of taking a mediatory role in organizational culture performance. Thus, this research is aimed at exploring the mediatory role of knowledge management in the relationship between organizational culture and performance. Simultaneously exploring these two factors can give new insight into organizational performance under the social and knowledge variables and extend the literature in this area. To this end, each of the three factors was investigated through library study and defined as factorial constructs. Afterward, their relationship was modeled, and the model was under effect in Etehad Rah Engineering Advisory Company as the research’s Statistical Society. A simple random method was used; 28 persons constitute the research’s participants. A questionnaire and PLS software were used to collect and analyze the data. The results reveal a positive and significant relationship between organizational performance and culture directly and through knowledge management. Moreover, a positive and significant correlation exists between organizational performance and knowledge management and organizational culture and knowledge management.