Bridging knowledge management and competitive advantage: a systematic review and future directions

Syed Muhammad Umer Saleem, Che Azlan Taib and Rosman Iteng

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2026, vol. 16, issue 2, 169-192

Abstract: This study systematically reviews the literature on knowledge management (KM) and competitive advantage (CA) to identify dominant theories, research themes and future directions. Following PRISMA guidelines, 34 highly cited papers published between 1990 and June 2024 were selected from the Scopus database. The findings show that KM is consistently linked with sustainable competitive advantage, mainly through the resource-based view and knowledge-based view theories. The review highlights the growing role of digital transformation, intellectual capital, stakeholder engagement and organisational learning in enhancing competitive advantage. Most studies were published in high-quality business and management journals and commonly employed survey and mixed-method approaches. The study contributes by integrating fragmented literature and offering practical and research implications for strengthening KM practices and sustainable organisational performance.

Keywords: knowledge management; competitive advantage; sustainability; sustainable competitive advantage; systematic literature review. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=155181 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijkbde:v:16:y:2026:i:2:p:169-192

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().