Knowledge management orientation, market orientation, and sme’s performance: A lesson from Indonesia’s creative economy sector

Aim/Purpose Two research objectives were addressed in this study. The first objective was to determine the effect of knowledge management orientation behaviour on business performance, and the second objective was to investigate the mediating effect of market orientation in the relationship between knowledge management orientation behaviour and business performance. Background In business strategic perspective, the idea of knowledge management has been discussed widely. However, there is a lack of study exploring the notion of knowledge management orientation especially in the perspective of Indonesia’s creative economy sector. Methodology One hundred and thirty one participants were involved in this study. They were economy creative practitioners in Indonesia. Data were analysed by using Partial Least Squares. Contribution Upon the completion of the research objectives, this study contributes to both theoretical and practical perspectives. From a theoretical standpoint, this study proposes a conceptual model explaining the relationship among knowledge management orientation behaviour, market orientation, and business performance in Indonesia’s creative economy sector. As this study found a significant effect of knowledge sharing in market orientation and market orientation in business performance, the study showed the mediation role of market orientation in the relationship between knowledge sharing and business performance. From a practical perspective, this study implies a guideline for business practitioners in enhancing business through the application of knowledge management orientation behaviour. Findings The results show that organizing memory, knowledge absorption, and knowledge receptivity has a direct significant effect on business performance. However, in affecting business performance, knowledge sharing must be mediated by market orientation. Recommendations Based on the results of the study, practitioners should enhance their behaviour for Practitioners in implementing knowledge management in terms of increasing business performance. In addition, it is suggested that business practitioners must be market driven, as market orientation was found to have an important role in affecting business performance. Recommendations Future researchers might integrate other constructs such as innovation, market-for Researchers ing capabilities, or organizational learning with this current conceptual model to have more comprehensive insight about the relationship between knowledge management orientation and business performance. Impact on Society This study suggests that business practitioners must have knowledge management driven behaviour as well as market orientation to enhance the performance of their business. Future Research Future research might add other variables to make the conceptual model more comprehensive and also replicate this study into different industrial settings. © 2018 Oriental Scientific Publishing Company. All rights reserved.