The impact of human resources management on knowledge management processes in industrial organizations

Focusing on the human and behavioural dimensions of knowledge management (KM), this investigation aims to analyse the impact (enhancer or inhibitor) of human resources management (HRM) assumptions on KM processes. In particular, attempts to explore the relational dynamic(s) between the organizational collaborators' perspectives of sophistication about training, performance assessment and rewards system and the applicability level of four considered dimensions of KM processes. To accomplish the central constructs measurement of this study we developed actions that led to the construction and validation of three new scales (PPFP; PPAD; PPSR), as well as the application of a KM questionnaire (GC). The present study entails multiple data analysis of 1364 individual self-administered questionnaires which were collected from 55 organizations in four Portuguese industrial ceramic sub-sectors. To analyse the linear relationship between a group of HRM predictor variables and a KM criterion variable, hierarchical multiple regression equations were implemented. Two variable blocks were considered. In the first model, we only analysed the two training dimensions (denominated "training as a constraint to organizations" and "training as a strategic investment for organizations") which were obtained through factor analysis on the PPFP scale. In the second model, performance assessment and rewards system variables were added to the first model, specifically the first factor retained in the psychometric analysis of the PPAD and PPSR scales (denominated "wide, participated and process perspective of performance assessment" and "rewards system based on knowledge and merit"). Considering the impact level on four GC scale dimensions those two models were statistically compared.