The Effect of Knowledge Management on Organizational Entrepreneurship among Agricultural Extension Experts in Kermanshah Province, Iran

Abstract

In today's turbulent business environment, organizations face the need to rapidly respond to demands, explore new opportunities, apply evolving technologies, and create novel competitive advantages. Knowledge Management (KM) and Organizational Entrepreneurship (OE) are two strategic tools through which companies can concurrently improve their competitive advantage while seeking new potential opportunities. Since KM and OE practically help to improve organizational performance through their own resources, they not only seem to be interrelated but they also influence each other. In this regard, the aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of KM on the OE among agricultural extension experts in Kermanshah Province, Iran. The population of this study consisted of all agricultural extension experts in Jihad-e-Agriculture management and centers of agricultural services in Kermanshah Province (N=536). Using Bartlett's et al. (2001) sampling table, 155 extension experts were selected as the sample using the proportionate stratified sampling method (n=155). The main instrument used in this study was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts, and its reliability was established by a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient (α> 0.70). The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that KM components (knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge organizing, knowledge storage, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application) had significant and positive effect on OE among agricultural extension experts in Kermanshah Province.