Linking Knowledge Management, Business Excellence and Innovation Performance

Abstract

This research examined the extent to which the management of knowledge and the application of business excellence frameworks can contribute to innovation performance. A model of Knowledge Management (KM) and Business Excellence (BE) framed the study. Intensive case studies were conducted with six Australian service sector organizations that had won business excellence awards to determine the ways in which a business excellence framework can inform knowledge management practices that lead to sustained innovation performance. Analysis of the data revealed the manner in which the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF) informed knowledge management practices and contributed to innovation in the six service sector organizations. Although the research is preliminary in nature, results indicate that principles of the ABEF shaped KM activities through fostering continuous improvement which in turn encouraged a stronger focus on incremental rather than radical forms of innovation