The relationship between the knowledge management index and organizational performance: A preliminary empirical analysis

In an attempt to investigate the relationship between an organization's Knowledge Management Index (KMI) and its performance, 18 managers from 6 European organizations were surveyed. Data was collected about Knowledge Management (KM) practices, and factors thought to be critical to the success of these practices (Critical Success Factors CSF) and ultimately organizational performance (OP). Analysis of the data revealed that: (1) to a significant degree, organizations expect more from their KM efforts than these initiatives have delivered (2) KM realization in government is not significantly different front those in private organizations, and (3) the KMI is positively related to OP. Two important management implications emerge from this study: (1) the KMI is a simple and useful index that can be used to characterize KM, especially when organizations cannot afford expensive benchmarking or other assessment metrics and (2) it call serve as a proxy for and predictor of OP.