A Multidimensional Model for Implementing Knowledge Management in an Enterprise to Increase Employee Motivation and Enterprise’s Competitiveness

The purpose of the chapter is to develop a multidimensional model to requisitely holistic identify aspects necessary for the successful implementation of knowledge management in an enterprise, which leads to increased employee motivation and enterprise competitiveness in today’s turbulent environment. Namely, social changes require from owners and top managers changed governance and strategic management of the enterprise, which is more focused on the implementation of knowledge management. Researched determined multidimensional aspects for successful implementation of knowledge management in an enterprise are therefore (1) developing knowledge culture, (2) knowledge leadership, (3) building the knowledge team, and (4) knowledge employees’ competencies. The main survey involved randomly selected 513 Slovenian enterprises. From each enterprise, owner or top manager participated in our research (online survey questionnaire). Structural equation modelling was used for statistical data analysis. Quantitative research, therefore, includes exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and determining the strength of the interplay of connections between the studied constructs. The results show that developing a knowledge culture, knowledge leadership, building a knowledge team, and knowledge of employees’ competencies have a positive effect on the implementation of knowledge management. Further, implementation of knowledge management has a positive effect on employee motivation and an enterprise’s competitiveness. Therefore, we suggest to owners and top managers of enterprises to direct the governance and strategic management to enterprise knowledge management. In the long run, this raises both the satisfaction of the enterprise’s employees as well as its competitive advantage. This chapter highlights the important multidimensional aspects of successful implementation of knowledge management in an enterprise to increase employee motivation and enterprise competitiveness. Also, our results will contribute to the proper implementation of knowledge management in enterprises and give owners or top managers a broad insight into the various aspects that need to be considered in their business governance and strategic management to increase the motivation of their employees and enterprise’s competitive advantage in today’s rapidly changing business environment. The limitation of the research is reflected in viewpoints of owners/top managers in Slovenian enterprises. Also, our research is limited to seven constructs: developing knowledge culture, knowledge leadership, building the knowledge team, knowledge employees’ competencies, implementation of knowledge management, employee motivation, and enterprise’s competitiveness. The findings of the research indicate a new combination of selected aspects that significantly affect employee satisfaction and enterprise competitiveness. Nevertheless, a major limitation of the research is that we did not investigate the further impact of employee satisfaction and enterprise competitiveness on enterprise performance. We propose to explore this in the future.