Knowledge management as a driver of economic performance in the Spanish wine industry: the mediating role of open innovation

PurposeThis study investigates the influence of Knowledge Management (KM) on the Economic Performance (EP) of wineries in Spain and examines the intermediary role of Open Innovation (OI) in this relationship, also considering the effects of the age of the winery, its size and its affiliation to a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) as control variables to refine the causality analysis.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical framework derived from existing literature underpins this study, which employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze data gathered from 196 wineries across Spain during the period from September 2022 to January 2023.FindingsThe analysis demonstrates a positive correlation between the implementation of KM practices and the EP of the wineries studied. Additionally, it identifies OI as a partial mediator in the relationship between KM and EP.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the academic discourse by outlining the benefits of KM, particularly in the Spanish wine sector, given that, to the authors' knowledge, there are no previous studies that have examined the catalytic effect of KM on OI and EP in this context, which supports the generation of new academic knowledge.