The impact of knowledge management processes on organisational performance: The case of the airline industry

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate knowledge management (KM) processes and to investigate their impact on organisational performance (OP) within the context of the airline industry (AI).

An inductive and deductive qualitative approach was used based on a preliminary study. A pilot study was conducted which involved the use of interviews as a primary data collection method. Content analysis was used to extract and analyse themes from the data.

The study showed that knowledge usage is the most influential aspect of KM in terms of the impact on OP. Moreover, the study revealed that knowledge transfer is a common KM process employed by organisations.

This study outlined the findings of a pilot study which aimed to test a proposed conceptual model and to provide an initial understanding of the interrelationships between KM processes and OP. To this end, a number of interviews were conducted in order to consolidate a conceptual model. As such, the nature of this preliminary study imposed some time and context limitations. These limitations will be dealt within later stages of the research journey.

The value of the study is generated from the extensive review of the literature it provided which enhanced proposing a conceptual model that was initially tested with the aim of defining an appropriate KM processes within a unique and yet untested context as well as describing the impact of these processes on OP. Determination of KM processes is expected to set a guideline for future research in the AI.