Evolution of Research in Knowledge Management and Competitive Advantage

The importance of knowledge has been felt throughout the history of the human race. Knowledge management is the systematic process that seeks to gain an understanding of how knowledge is created and managed, in order to study and analyze the processes involved by a firm to enhance its knowledge-related effectiveness and gain guaranteed returns from its stock of knowledge assets, kept in a state of currency through constant renewal and updating. Companies can gain a competitive advantage by attracting and maintaining personnel with a knack for acquiring and retaining knowledge and a skill for enhancing, refining, and fine-tuning their knowledge assets. Research shows knowledge management as a strategy for gaining a competitive advantage through innovation. Thus, this chapter aims to understand the crucial role of knowledge management in adopting innovation for success in achieving a competitive advantage for organization. Additionally, to show an overview of Knowledge Management and Competitive Advantage (KM-CA) linkage trends, through a bibliometric analysis and science mapping. The study adopts a bibliometric and systematic literature analysis. By employing this method, this study identifies research clusters of significant interest parallel with the objectives in a bias-free manner. In addition to fulfilling its original purpose, the chapter also culminates the research trajectory curves of recent nature in this area wherein the discovery of future research prospects was made in the clusters. Prior literature reviews have disclosed that a combination of the strategies has created results of higher accuracy. In order to follow the guidelines of the systematic review, the authors have established the eligibility criteria in terms of inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria for this present study. The global literature about “Knowledge Management and Competitive Advantage” published from 1979 to 2021 was searched in the Scopus database. The search terms applied to identify the closest matching publication included “Knowledge Management” and “Competitive Advantage” in keywords tagged with the document. The findings show that KM-CA research should increase as most of the industries are becoming knowledge intensive and the adoption of industry 4.0 tools had equipped firms to leverage knowledge. Going forward, the key is to study the role of new-age technology in shaping the relationship between KM and CA. More conceptual studies are needed in the areas of “Knowledge-based view” and open innovation as both themes were influencing others in KM-CA literature. This also paves the way for studies exploring KM-CA relationships from a sustainable angle. Currently, there is no prolific organization or researcher in KM-CA. Furthermore, the importance of knowledge has become distinct as a company’s economic and production level is increasingly dependent on its human capital, and intellectual capital. Furthermore, knowledge has been defined as a strategic asset, which is a collection of capabilities and resources that are difficult to replicate and commercialize due to scarcity. Organizations that give knowledge management the proper respect it deserves are sure to reap good rewards from their efforts for ensuring its proper management as knowing is half the battle.