The Mediating Effect of Decision Quality on Knowledge Management and Firm Performance for Chinese Entrepreneurs: An Empirical Study

Haiyun Yu, Yanjie Shang, Nan Wang and Zhenzhong Ma
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Haiyun Yu: School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Yanjie Shang: Dongwu School of Business, Soochow University, Suzhou 215008, China
Nan Wang: School of Business, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China
Zhenzhong Ma: Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9E 4Z4, Canada

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: While it is well-known knowledge management is crucial for an organization’s competitive advantage, relatively little research has explored the process whereby knowledge management affects firm performance in a collectivistic culture such as China. This study is to explore the mechanism through which knowledge management helps improve firm performance and then to examine the mediating role of decision quality in the Chinese context. Using a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from Chinese entrepreneurs and with structural equation modeling, this study shows that knowledge accumulation, internal sharing, and external knowledge sharing all have a positive impact on firm performance, and decision quality partially mediates the impact of knowledge management on firm performance. This study adds value to the knowledge management literature by introducing decision quality as a mediating variable to examine the impact of knowledge sharing on firm performance in China. The findings of this study can help enrich the literature on knowledge management and firm performance and highlight the important impact of decision quality on knowledge management and firm performance. Management practitioners can also benefit from the findings.

Keywords: knowledge management; decision quality; firm performance; entrepreneurs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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