INFLUENCE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON COMPETITIVE

ADVANTAGE IN AMONG LAW FIRMS IN NAIROBI

BY

ELIAS KIBATHI MURIMI

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE MASTER OF BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION DEGREE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF

NAIROBI

OCTOBER, 2018

ii

DECLARATION

This research project is my original work and has not been presented for award of any

degree in any University for examination purposes.

Signature ___________________ Date: ________________

KIBATHI ELIAS MURIMI

REG. NO: D61/84173/2015

This research project has been submitted with my approval as the University Supervisor.

Signature………………………………… Date………………………………….

DR. REGINA KITIABI

Lecturer, School of Business, University of Nairobi

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION............................................................................................................... ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ iii

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... vi

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ vii

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONMYS ...................................................................... viii

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Background Of The Study......................................................................................... 1

1.1.1 The Concept Knowledge Management .............................................................. 3

1.1.2 Competitive Advantage ...................................................................................... 4

1.1.3 Influence Of Knowledge Management On Competitive Advantage.................. 5

1.2 Research Problem ...................................................................................................... 6

1.3 Objective Of The Study............................................................................................. 8

1.4 Value Of The Study................................................................................................... 9

CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................ 10

LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 10

2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 10

2.2 Theoretical Review ................................................................................................. 10

2.2.1 Resource-Based View Of The Firm ................................................................. 10

2.2.2 Knowledge-Based View Of The Firm .............................................................. 12

2.3 Knowledge Management In Organizations ............................................................. 14

2.4 Competitive Advantage ........................................................................................... 17

iv

2.5 Knowledge Management And Competitive Advantage.......................................... 18

2.6 Empirical Research Gaps ........................................................................................ 20

2.7 Research Gap........................................................................................................... 24

CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 26

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 26

3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 26

3.2 Research Design ...................................................................................................... 26

3.3 Target Population .................................................................................................... 27

3.4 Sampling Procedures ............................................................................................... 27

3.5 Data Collection ........................................................................................................ 27

3.6 Data Analysis And Presentation .............................................................................. 28

CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................... 30

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................. 30

4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 30

4.1.1 Response Rate................................................................................................... 30

4.2 Background Of The Respondents ........................................................................... 31

4.2.1 Designation Of The Respondents ..................................................................... 31

4.2.2 Respondents Level Of Academic Qualification ............................................... 31

4.2.3 Respondents Working Period ........................................................................... 32

4.2.4 Period The Law Firm Has Been In Operation .................................................. 33

4.3 Knowledge Management......................................................................................... 33

4.3.1 Extent To Which Knowledge Sharing Has Been Adopted In Law Firm ......... 33

4.3.2 Extent To Which Law Firm Adopt The Knowledge Management .................. 35

4.3.3 Ways Through Which Law Firm Has Influenced Knowledge Management ... 37

4.4 Knowledge Management And Achieving Competitive Advantage ........................ 38

4.4.1 Knowledge Application Influence Achieving Of Competitive Advantage ...... 38

v

4.4.2 Extent of Achiving Competitive Advantage ................................................... 40

4.4.3 Ways That Knowledge Management Influence Competitive Advantage ........ 44

4.4.4 Correlation Analysis ....................................................................................... 44

4.5 Regression Analysis ................................................................................................ 45

CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................ 48

SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

........................................................................................................................................... 48

5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 48

5.2 Summary ................................................................................................................. 48

5.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 51

5.4 Recommendation ..................................................................................................... 52

5.5 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 53

5.6 Recommendation for further studies ....................................................................... 54

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 55

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 59

Appendix 1: Introduction letter ................................................................................. 59

Appendix II: Questionnaire ....................................................................................... 60

Appendix III: Knowledge Gaps .................................................................................... 64

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Response rate .................................................................................................. 30

Table 4. 2: Respondents Working Period ......................................................................... 32

Table 4. 3: Period the law firm has been in operation ...................................................... 33

Table 4. 4: Extent to which knowledge sharing has been adopted in law firm ................ 33

Table 4. 5: Extent to which law firm adopt the knowledge management ......................... 35

Table 4.6: Extentof Knowledge Application and Achieving of Competitive Advantage 38

Table 4. 7: Extent to which with the given influence competitive advantage .................. 40

Table 4. 8: Correlation between Knowledge Management and Competitive Advantage . 45

Table 4. 9: Regression Model Summary........................................................................... 45

Table 4. 10: Goodness of Fit ............................................................................................. 46

Table 4. 11: Beta Regression Coefficients ........................................................................ 46

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4. 1: Respondents Level of Academic Qualification ............................................. 31

viii

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONMYS

HR - Human resources

KBV -Knowledge-Based View

KM - Knowledge Management

RBV - Resource Base View

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ABSTRACT

Companiesarepersistentlystrivingtocreatemechanismsfordifferentiatingthemselvesfromthe

ircompetitorswithingivenmarkets.Byrealizingthemajorvalueofintellectualresources,lawco

mpanieshavebeguntomanagerationallyandimprovethemtopromotingcontinuouslearning.T

hisemphasizeontheimportanceofknowledgemanagementasaconceptoforganizationalknowl

edge,aimedateffectiveapplicationofknowledgetomakequalitydecisions.Thestudyfindingsre

vealedthatknowledgemanagementhadimprovedcompetitivenessofemployeesontheirdutiesi

ntheaviationtraininginstitutesandimproveemployeeproductivity.Thisstudysoughttofillthee

xistingknowledgegapbyestablishingtheextenttowhichknowledgemanagementactasastrateg

ictoolforachievingcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsinNairobiCounty.Theobjectiveofthestu

dywastodetermineinfluenceofknowledgemanagementoncompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsi

n,NairobiCounty,Kenya.Thedesignofthisresearchwasdescriptivecrosssectionalsurveyresea

rch.Thetargetpopulationofthestudywas356lawfirmoperatinginNairobiCounty,Kenya.Thest

udyadoptedsimplerandomsamplingtechniquetoselectasampleof20%outofpopulation.Thesa

mplesizewas71LawfirmsinNairobiCounty.Thisresearchusedprimarydata.Thestudyusedqu

estionnaireasaninstrumenttocollectdata.Dataanalysiswasdoneusingdescriptivestatisticswh

erequantitativedatawasanalyzedusingmeansandstandarddeviation.Datawaspresentedusing

frequencytables.Contentanalysiswasusedforqualitativedata.Inferentialanalysiswascarriedo

ut.Thestudyconcludesthatthatknowledgemanagementisadisciplineinanorganizationwhich

whenadoptedplaysanimportantsupportingfunctionbyprovidingacoordinatingmechanismto

enhanceconversionofresourcesintocapabilities.Thestudyconcludesthatadoptionofknowled

x

gesharingenablethefirmstohavethecapabilitytogeneratenewknowledgewithintheorganizati

onenhancingthecompetitiveadvantage.Creatingrelationshipsandallianceswithdifferentpart

nerspositivelyinfluenceorganization’sabilitytoacquireknowledge..Therecommendationsfo

rthestudyincludethatlawfirmstofullydevelop,shareandapplyknowledgewithintheorganizati

ontogainandsustainacompetitiveadvantage.Abilitytodistributeandshareknowledgeiscritical

fortheuseandleverageofknowledgeresourceswhichareconsideredimportantresourcestomost

organizations.

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CHAPTERONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1BackgroundoftheStudy

Organizationsoperateinanenvironmentcharacterizedbyuncertainty,instabilityandchangetha

tcreatevariouschallenges.Suchenvironmentincludesmanyfactorsasincreasedglobalization,r

apidtechnologicalchange,andthegrowingneedforqualifiedemployeesandimprovedperform

ance(VanhalaandStavrou,2013).Thisforcesorganizationstotryandexploittheresourcesatitsd

isposalinordertoachieveacompetitiveadvantage.Furthermore,giventhatthetwenty-

firstcenturyislabeledasthecenturyofknowledge,itisclearthatsuccessfulorganizationsarethos

ethatareabletoimproveanddeveloptheirknowledge.Knowledgemanagement(KM)isaboutde

veloping,sharingandapplyingknowledgewithintheorganizationtogainandsustainacompetiti

veadvantage(Janszen2000).AccordingtoSouthon,ToddandSeneque(2002),alawfirmaccessi

bilitytocompetenthumanresourceandthereforethebestknowledgeintheirchosenfieldsprovid

eoutstandingclientservicesuchasclearandtimelybilling,anabilitytorespondtotheunexpected,

andanabilitytocreateinnovativesolutions.

InthesettingofmodernbusinessBarney(2001),companiesarepersistentlystrivingtocreatemec

hanismsfordifferentiatingthemselvesfromtheircompetitorswithingivenmarkets.Themanage

mentofinformationasakeytograspingandretainingcompetitiveadvantagehasrecentlyevolved

intothemorestrategicallyfocusedmanagementofknowledge(Spender,GroenandJeroen,2010

).Thisisinformedbyresourcebasedviewandlearningtheories.Theresourcebasedviewtheorye

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mphasizestheorganizationalneedforsuperiorcoordinationandintegrationoflearningbyemplo

yeesinsidetheorganizationandarguesthatheterogeneousknowledgebasesandcapabilitiesamo

ngfirmsarethemaindeterminantsofsustainedcompetitiveadvantageandsuperiorcorporateper

formance.Thelegalfirmconsistsofacommunityofindividualswhocreateandtransferknowled

gequicklyandefficiently.AsHunter,BeaumontandLee(2002),notesalawfirmisgenerallycom

posedoflawyers,paralegals,managers,supportpersonnelandadministrators.Thesediverseocc

upationshavedistinctfunctions,thatworktogethertoachievethedesiredoutcomeofprovidingq

ualitylegalservicesandaddingvaluetothefirm.Itisalsoimportanttonotethat,dependingonthesi

zeofthelawfirm,itsorganizationalstructuremayvarysignificantly.AccordingtoHunter,Beau

montandLee(2002),lawfirmhasauniquesetofdistinctcharacteristicsandoperatingprocedures

thatcanplayanimportantroleinthecreationandimplementationofaKMstrategy.Byrealizingth

emajorvalueofintellectualresources,lawcompanieshavebeguntomanagerationallyandimpro

vethemtopromotingcontinuouslearning.Thisemphasizeontheimportanceofknowledgemana

gementasaconceptoforganizationalknowledge,aimedateffectiveapplicationofknowledgeto

makequalitydecisions.

Humanresourceshaveacentralroleandthefirstplaceknowledgeinformation,contributetothec

ompanyasarevenuecontributionofproductsandservices,preserveandincreasethereputation,t

hroughthereductionofoperatingcostsandgainingcompetitiveadvantage.Thesuccessoforgani

zationslargelydependsoncontinualinvestmentinlearningandacquiringnewknowledgethatcr

eatesnewbusinessesandimproveexistingperformances.ThelegalindustryinKenyaforinstanc

econtinuestobeverycompetitive,assuchforalegalfirmtosurviveithastohaveawelllaidoutstrat

egytogiveitdirectionandpurposeinitsoperations.Allthesecoupledtogetherposeaverybigchall

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engeforthelegalpractitionerinKenya.Ontheothersidehowever,thelegalprofessioncontinuest

ooffertremendousopportunities,whereifwellusedcanharnessforsuccess.

1.1.1TheConceptKnowledgeManagement

Knowledgemanagementcanbedefinedastheprocessoftransforminginformationandintellectu

alassetsintoenduringvalue.Itconnectspeoplewiththeknowledgethattheyneedtotakeaction.B

yapplyingknowledgemanagementintoorganization,itcanintegrate,identify,manageandshar

eallofthedepartment’sinformationassets.AccordingtoDarroch(2005),knowledgemanageme

nthasemergedasanewdisciplineinanorganization,anditplaysanimportantsupportingfunction

byprovidingacoordinatingmechanismtoenhanceconversionofresourcesintocapabilities.Mal

hotra(2005)arguedthatknowledgemanagementisafunctionofthegenerationanddisseminatio

nofinformation,developingasharedunderstandingoftheinformation,filteringsharedundersta

ndingsintodegreesofpotentialvalue,andstoringvaluableknowledgewithintheconfinesofanac

cessibleorganizationalmechanism.

Knowledgemanagementsystemsmustconnectpeopletoenablethemtothinktogetherandtotake

timetoarticulateandshareinformationandinsightstheyknowareusefultoothersintheircommu

nity(Lang2001).Theroleofknowledgemanagementandtheprocessformanagingithasbecome

vitalforthesurvivaloftheorganization.Althoughanevolvingparadigminmanagement(Gourla

y,2001),knowledgemanagementcontinuestoserveasastrategicbusinessfunctionintheorganiz

ationandhasanimpactonhumancapital,teamwork,andoverallorganizationalperformanceand

effectiveness(CavusgilandHult2005).Knowledgemanagementinthelawfirmcontextinvolve

safirm’sabilitytoidentify,capture,andleveragetheinternalknowledgeofindividualsatthefirm

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andtocombinethisknowledgewithknowledgederivedfromvendorsandotherexternalsourcest

oenhancetheabilityofalllawfirmstafftocreateandshareknowledgeacrossthefirm,toprovideex

cellentclientservice,andtocompeteinanincreasinglyaggressiveprofessionallegalservicesenv

ironment(Todd,etal.,2003).

1.1.2Competitiveadvantage

Acompanyhasacompetitiveadvantagewheneverithasanedgeoveritsrivalsinsecuringcustome

randdefendingagainstcompetitiveforces(Thompson&Strickland,2002).Sustainablecompeti

tiveadvantageisbornoutofcorecompetenciesthatyieldthelongtermbenefittothecompany.Co

mpetitiveadvantageisalsodefinedasthestrategicadvantageonebusinessentityhasoveritsrival

entitieswithinitscompetitiveindustry.Achievingcompetitiveadvantagestrengthensandpositi

onsabusinessbetterwithinthebusinessenvironment.

AccordingtoVinson,andMcVandon(2008),competitiveadvantagecanbedevelopedfromapar

ticularresourcesandcapabilitiesthatthefirmpossessesthatarenotavailabletocompetitors.Thet

ransformationofavailableskillsandresourcesintoastrategicpositioncanonlytakeplaceunderc

onditionsthatprovideacustomerbenefit,andnormallyrequiresthetransformationofmultipleco

mpetitivemethods.Theabilitytoimplantacostleadership,differentiation,orfocusstrategyisde

pendentonafirm’sabilitytodevelopaspecificsetofcompetitivemethods.Thisbecomesthebasis

fortheachievementofthefirmtobeabletoperformaboveaverageindustryperformance(Ingo,20

07).

Competitiveadvantageoccurswhenanorganizationacquiresordevelopsanattributeorcombina

tionofattributesthatallowsittooutperformitscompetitors.Performanceisoneofthemostcritical

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areasoflawfirmmanagement,whichmanymanagementscholarsandpractitionershavefocused

onimprovingviastrategicvariablessuchasKMpractices(Tiyan,2013).Paststudieshaveconcep

tualizedfirms’competitivenesswithoutperformingrivalinthemarketonreturnonassets,salesgr

owth,newproductsuccess,marketshareandsalesgrowth,andoverallcustomersatisfaction.Info

rmationtransferhasbecomesuchaprominentpartofthemodernbusinessworldthatitcanalsocon

tributetocompetitiveadvantagebyoutperformingcompetitorsinthemarket(Porter,1997b).

1.1.3InfluenceofKnowledgemanagementonCompetitiveadvantage

Organizationscanacquirenewknowledgeusingseveralmethodssuchasthroughcongenitallear

ningwhichreferstoinheritedknowledgefromthefoundersofafirm,experientiallearningwhichi

sknowledgeacquiredfromexperienceandvicariouslearningwhichisknowledgeacquiredfrom

otherindividualsandbusinesseswhereKhandelwalandGottschalk,(2003)notedthatcreatingre

lationshipsandallianceswithdifferentpartnerscanpositivelyinfluenceanorganization’sability

toacquireknowledge.Althoughacquiringusefulknowledgeisanimportantprocessofknowled

gecreation,manyconsiderthattherealcompetitiveadvantagecomesfromthecapabilityofanorg

anizationtogeneratenewknowledgewithintheorganization.Inthiscontext,thekeysuccessfact

orhasbeenshiftedfrominformationprocessingtoknowledgecreationandcontinuousinnovatio

n(Malhotra,2000).Knowledgecreationisnotasystematicprocessthatcanbetightlyplannedand

controlled.ItcanevenbeconsideredastheleastsystematicprocessofKM.Theprocessiscontinuo

uslyevolvingandemergentandmotivation,inspirationandpurechangeplayanimportantrole.

OrganizationsandHRprofessionalscontinuouslyfocusingtheireffortsonattractingthebestem

ployeeswhopossessanabundanceofknowledgeandskillinordertoenhancetheoverallvalueoft

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hecompany.Companiestheninvestlargeamountsofcapitaltofurtherincreaseemployees’know

ledge,viatrainingandcontinuouseducationprograms.ModernKnowledgemanagementpracti

ceemphasizesthecreationofnewknowledgeandthetimelyapplicationoforganizationalknowle

dgetomaintainstrategicadvantage(Grant,1991).

Theperformanceofalegalfirmdependsontheextenttowhichtheuseofknowledgemanagementi

sputinplaceinordertomeettheinformationandknowledgeneeds.Knowledgemanagementther

eforefocusesuponlongrangeobjectivesandshort-

termpriorities.KMcanplayanimportantroleinachievingtheseobjectivesbecauseithasthepote

ntialtoincreaseefficiencyandeffectivenesswithinthefirm.Inthefastchangingbusinessenviron

ment,knowledgehasbecomethemainstayofeveryorganizationincreatingandsustainingcomp

etitivedifferentiationandadvantage(Geiger,&Schreyogg,2012).Atthesametime,theemergin

gknowledge-basedeconomyencouragesindividualstobemoreself-

seekingintheircareerobjectivesandaspirationsachievebreakthroughinbusinessperformancet

hroughthesynergyofpeople,processes,andtechnologytoserveasthesourceandstockofknowle

dgeandtheflowofknowledge,knowledgecreation,sharingandapplicationtocreateandorsustai

norganizationalvalueandcompetitiveadvantage(Wemby,2010).

1.2ResearchProblem

Serviceenterprisesindevelopingcountriesparticularoperateinenvironmentscharacterizedbyi

ncreasedneedforknowledgetocreateandsustaincompetitiveadvantage.Therehasbeenincreas

einrivalryinthelegalindustryoverrecentyears(Jashapara,2011).Theintensiverivalryandthrea

tofnewentrantsintothemarketisincreasing,thussustaininggrowthandmarketleadershipisincr

7

easinglychallenging.Inorderforlawfirmtosucceedinhighlydynamicbusinessenvironment,iti

scriticalthattheyembraceKnowledgemanagementintheirbusinessoperations.Thechangingc

ustomersneedhasforceddifferentcompaniestoadoptvariouscompetitivestrategies.Ingo(2007

)indicatedthatknowledgemanagementinalargeCanadianlawfirmthathadinvestedsignificantl

yinknowledgemanagementstrategy,technologies,andprocesses.SinceKMinvolvesvaluable

processeswhichcaninfluencetheproductivity,financialperformance,staffperformance,innov

ation,workrelationshipsandcustomersatisfactionandfinallyorganizationalperformance,stud

yingtheinfluenceofKMoncompetitiveadvantageinlegalfirmsiscritical

LawfirmsinKenyaareoperatinginacompetitiveenvironment.Lawfirmsarefacinghighcompet

itionfromlocalandinternationallegalfirms,goingglobalaswellastheconsolidationoflawfirms.

Thelegalfirmsfacesmorepressuretoachieveandmaintainacompetitiveadvantage.Thishasledt

ofirmsadoptingstrategiessuchasofferingdifferentproactivevalueaddedservicestoitsclientsan

dembracingcontinuouslearningoflawyerstoprovidequalityservicestoclients(Kiprono,2013)

.Inabidtogainmorecustomersandimproveontheirproductivity,lawfirmsaresharinginformati

on,investingonknowledgeandtalentmanagementremainmoreefficient,responsiveandeffecti

veandprovisionofproactivecost-

effectiveservicestogaincompetitiveadvantage(Mugambi&Kwasira,2015).Legalpractitione

rshavecurrentlyembarkedonspecializationleadingtolawfirmdifferentiatingitslegalservicess

uchasfocusingonconstitutionallaw,electionslaw,internationallaw,environmentallaw,minin

glaw,companylaw,intellectualpropertylaw,procurementlawratherthanfocusingongeneralpr

actitioners.DespitelawfirmsinKenyaadoptingknowledgemanagement,theextenttowhichitin

fluencesachievingofcompetitiveadvantagehasnotbeendetermined.

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PreviouslocalstudieshaveoneffectsofknowledgemanagementonperformanceoffirminKeny

a.ForinstanceNyawade(2005)didastudyonemployeeperceptionofknowledgemanagementpr

acticesusingacasestudyofBATKenyaandestablishedthatemployeesperceivedknowledgema

nagementpracticestoberestrictiveandprohibitiveofemployeecreativityandinnovation.Muga

mbiandKwasira(2015)carriedoutastudyoninfluenceofknowledgemanagementpracticesonp

erformanceofLawFirmsinNakuruTown.Thestudyestablishedthatknowledgesharing,acquis

ition;sharingandimplementationpracticesinfluencedperformanceoflegalfirms.Afurtherstud

ybyTiyan(2013)carriedastudytodeterminetheextentofapplicationofknowledgemanagement

asacompetitivestrategyamongAviationTrainingInstitutionsinNairobi.Thestudyfindingsrev

ealedthatknowledgemanagementhadimprovedcompetitivenessofemployeesontheirdutiesin

theaviationtraininginstitutesandimproveemployeeproductivity.Thisstudysoughttofilltheexi

stingknowledgegapbyestablishingtheextenttowhichknowledgemanagementactasastrategic

toolforachievingcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsinNairobiCounty.Thestudysoughttoansw

erthequestiontowhatextentdoesknowledgemanagementinfluencetheachievingofcompetitiv

eadvantageinlawfirminNairobiCounty?

1.3ObjectiveoftheStudy

Theobjectiveofthestudywastodetermineinfluenceofknowledgemanagementoncompetitivea

dvantageinlawfirmsin,NairobiCounty,Kenya.

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1.4ValueoftheStudy

Thefindingsofthestudywillbesignificanttomanagementoflawfirmswhowillgaininsightonthe

extenttowhichknowledgemanagementasastrategictoolinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadv

antage.Thisstudywilloutlinetheknowledgemanagementstrategiesandextenttowhichitinflue

ncesachievingofcompetitiveadvantage.

Themanagementoflawfirmswillfindtheresultsofthestudyusefulasmanagerswillgainorganiz

ationsingaininganewinsightonknowledgemanagementandtheresultanteffectonlawfirmperf

ormanceandonwhathastobedonetoimprovetheorganizations’bottom-

linebyhavingasatisfiedclientsthoroughcompetitiveadvantage.

Tothepolicymakers,thefindingsprovideinformationontheinfluenceofknowledgemanageme

ntonachievingachievecompetitiveadvantage.Thiswillinfluenceformulationofpoliciesgover

ningoperationoflawfirmsandformulatemeasurethatwouldinfluenceefficientapplicationofkn

owledgemanagementtoenhanceachievingofcompetitiveadvantageamonglawfirmsinKenya.

Thestudywillbesignificanttoresearchersandscholarswhowillgainin-

depthunderstandingontheextentknowledgemanagementascompetitivetoolforachievingcom

petitiveadvantageinlawfirmandthekindsofchallenges,andindeterminationofresponsesandac

hievingqualityjustice,thisisbeingtheresearcher’sfieldofspecialization,interestandexperienc

e.Thestudywillbeimportantinaddingtothebodyofknowledgeinlawindustryandwillbeimport

antforcarryingoutfurtherstudiesintheindustry.

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CHAPTERTWO

LITERATUREREVIEW

2.1Introduction

Thischapterfocusesonreviewingtheavailableliteratureonthevariousaspectsofknowledgema

nagementthatinfluencetheperformanceoffirms.Thereviewdelvesintovarioustheoriesandem

piricalfindingsthatactasafoundationforthisresearchstudy.Thetheoriesandfindingsfrompasts

tudiesrevealthecorevariablesforthestudy.

2.2TheoreticalReview

Thissectionpresentsacriticalreviewofmajortheoreticalargumentsregardingthelinkagesbetw

eentheresearchvariables.

2.2.1Resource-BasedViewoftheFirm

Accordingtotheresource-

basedview(RBV),afirmmaybeperceivedasanaggregationofresourceswhicharetranslatedby

managementintostrengthsandweaknessesofthefirm(Lerner&Almor,2002).RBVholdsthatc

ompaniesgainsustainablecompetitiveadvantagesbydeployingvaluableresourcesandcapabili

tiesthatareinelasticinsupply(Grunert&Hildebrandt,2004).Thisperspectivecontendsthatafir

m’scompetitiveadvantageareduetotheirendowmentofstrategicresourcesthatarevaluable,rar

e,costlytoimitate,andcostlytosubstitute.Itassumesthatorganizationsmustbesuccessfulinobta

iningandmanagingvaluedresourcesinordertobeeffective.Intheresource-

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basedperspective,organizationaleffectivenessisdefinedastheabilityoftheorganizationineith

erabsoluteorrelativeterms,toobtainscarceandvaluedresourcesandsuccessfullyintegrateand

managethem(Dess,Lumkin,Eisner,McNamara&Kim,2012).

TheRBVofthefirmapproachrecognisesthestrategicimportanceofsocialandbehaviouralintera

ctionsintheconceivabilityof,thechoiceandtheimplementationoftheorganization’sstrategies.

TheRBVcombinestwoperspectives;theinternalanalysisofphenomenawithinacompany,anda

nexternalanalysisoftheindustryanditscompetitiveenvironment(Dess,Eisner,McNamara&K

im,2012).Furthermore,firm’sresourcesmustbeevaluatedintermsofhowvaluable,rare,andhar

dtheyareforcompetitorstoduplicate.Otherwise,thefirmattainsonlycompetitiveparity.Thesei

ntangibleresourcesarefrequentlyfoundintheorganizationintheformoftacitknowledge(Makhi

ja,2003).

Resourcesarefinancial,physical,social,orhuman,technological,andorganizationalfactorstha

tallowacompanytocreatevalueforitscustomers.Companyresourcesareeithertangibleorintan

gible(Jones&Hill,2009).Intangibleresourcesarenon-

physicalentitiesthatarethecreationofmanagersandotheremployees,suchasbrandnames,there

putationofthecompany,theknowledgethatemployeeshavegainedthroughexperience,andthei

ntellectualpropertyofthecompany,includingthatwhichisprotectedthroughpatents,copyright

s,andtrademarks.Tangibleresourcesarephysicalandincludeland,buildings,plant,equipment,i

nventory,andmoney.Mathews(2003)viewsresourcesaseithertangibleorintangible.Physicalr

esourcesmayoriginatereturnsaboveaveragelevels,butaretheintangibleresources,developedt

12

hroughauniquehistoricalsequenceandhavingasociallycomplexdimension,thatareabletocrea

teandsustaincompetitiveadvantageofthefirm(Makhija,2003).

RBVassumesresourceheterogeneitybetweencompetingfirms,andfurthercontendsthattheser

esourcesarenotmobile,whichmakeslongterm,sustainablecompetitiveadvantagepossiblebas

edoninternalconfigurationofstrategicallyrelevantresources(Grunert&Hildebrandt,2004).T

hemorefirm-

specificanddifficulttoimitatearesource,themorelikelyacompanyistohaveadistinctivecompet

ence.Adistinctivecompetenceisauniquefirm-

specificstrengththatenablesacompanytobetterdifferentiateitsproductsand/orachievesubstan

tiallylowercoststhanitsrivalsandthusgainacompetitiveadvantage.Aresourcethatleadstodisti

nctivecompetencesisinimitable,valuable,unique,andnon-

substitutable(Jones&Hill,2009).Acompanymayhavefirm-

specificandvaluableresources,butunlessithasthecapabilitiestousethoseresourceseffectively,

itmaynotbeabletocreateadistinctivecompetence(Jones&Hill,2009).

2.2.2Knowledge-BasedviewoftheFirm

Theknowledge-

basedviewconsidersafirmtobeadistributedknowledgesystemcomposedofknowledge-

holdingemployees,andthisviewholdsthatthefirm'sroleistocoordinatetheworkofthoseemplo

yeessothattheycancreateknowledgeandvalueforthefirm.Barneyassertedobservedthatknowl

edgeandcapabilities-basedviews(KBV)instrategyhavelargelyextendedresource-

basedreasoningbysuggestingthatknowledgeistheprimaryresourceunderlyingnewvaluecreat

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ion,heterogeneity,andcompetitiveadvantage(ascitedbyFelin&Hesterly,2007).FelinandHest

erly(2007)contendthatresearchandpracticearerepletewithempiricalandanecdotalevidenceof

theprimacyofindividualsasthelocusofknowledgeandsourceofnewvalue.Anorganizationalca

pability(Tsai,Li,Tsai&Lin,2012)isoftenestablishedbyabundleofrelatedknowledgewhichinc

ludesknowledgeitemsandthelevelofsuchitems.

Knowledge-

basedview(KBV)considersknowledgeasthemostimportantsourceforfirms’competitiveadva

ntage.FelinandHesterly(2007)arguesthatknowledgeisacrucialresourceoffirm’sstrategies,an

dstressestheoriginofcompetitiveadvantageastheintegrationofabundleofknowledgerathertha

nindividualknowledge.Additionally,Knowledgeaidsfirmsinstrategicdevelopmentofproduc

tsandmarketandprovidesanalternativewayofachievingdifferentiationandcompetitiveadvant

age.ViewedfromRBV,theKMprovidestheresourcesthatmakefeasibleinnovationandcontinu

ousimprovementoffirms’KMcapability.Insummary,theRBVillustratesthatfirmscandifferen

tiatethemselvesonthebasisoftheirKMS.Whileeachoftheindividualknowledgeassetsiscompl

extoacquireanddifficulttoimitate,firmsthatachievecompetitiveadvantagethroughKMShave

alsolearnedtocombinetheirknowledgeassetstoeffectivelycreateanoverallKMcapability.Thi

sstudywillattempttolookathowtheknowledge-

basedviewofthefirmcontributedtowardstheachievingcompetitiveadvantageinthelawfirms.

Theknowledge-

basedviewconsidersafirmtobeadistributedknowledgesystemcomposedofknowledge-

holdingemployeesthestudywillthereforelookathowknowledgeassetsleadtocompetitiveadva

ntageandfirmsurvival.

14

2.3KnowledgeManagementinOrganizations

Organizationshaveexperiencedmanychangestothewaystheyoperateasaresultofsuchfactorsa

stheshifttoaknowledgeeconomyandtheincreasedstreamliningofworkactivitiesbecauseoftec

hnologicalinnovations.Furthermore,theshiftinfocusfromproductstoserviceshasencouraged

greaterrecognitionoftheimportanceoftheknowledgeheldwithinanorganization(Spender,201

3).Anyorganizationthatdesirestoattaincompetitiveadvantagehastolearnbetterandfasterfrom

theirsuccessesandfailures(Stankosky,2012).Knowledgeacquisitionasprocessofobtainingne

wknowledgeandinformationcontributetocompetenciesamonglawstaffinlawfirms.Thisnew

knowledgecanbeacquiredfrominternalsourcesorexternalsourcestotheorganization.Howeve

r,regardlessofthesourcethemostimportantdeterminanttothisprocessisthemotivationtofindan

dcreatenewknowledgebyemployees(Kim&Lee,2010).KnowledgeAcquisitionencompassth

eprocessofacquiringandlearningappropriateknowledgefromvariousinternalandexternalreso

urces,suchasexperiences,experts,relevantdocuments,plansandsoforth.Interviewing,ladderi

ng,processmapping,conceptmapping,observing,educatingandtrainingarethemostfamiliarte

chniquesforknowledgeacquisition(Kharabsheh&Aqrabawi,2013).

Organizationscanacquirenewknowledgeusingseveralmethodssuchasthroughcongenitallear

ningwhichreferstoinheritedknowledgefromthefoundersofafirm,experientiallearningwhichi

sknowledgeacquiredfromexperience,andvicariouslearningwhichisknowledgeacquiredfro

motherindividualsandbusinesseswhereSpender(2013)notedthatcreatingrelationshipsandall

ianceswithdifferentpartnerscanpositivelyinfluenceanorganization’sabilitytoacquireknowle

dge.Althoughacquiringusefulknowledgeisanimportantprocessofknowledgecreation,manyc

15

onsiderthattherealcompetitiveadvantagecomesfromthecapabilityofanorganizationtogenera

tenewknowledgewithintheorganization.Inthiscontext,thekeysuccessfactorhasbeenshiftedfr

ominformationprocessingtoknowledgecreationandcontinuousinnovation(Malhotra,2000).

Knowledgecreationisnotasystematicprocessthatcanbetightlyplannedandcontrolled.Itcanev

enbeconsideredastheleastsystematicprocessofKM.

KnowledgemanagementthroughKnowledgestorageinvolvesboththesoftorhardstylerecordi

ngandretentionofbothindividualandorganizationalknowledgeinawaysoastobeeasilyretrieve

d(Gholami,Asli,Nazari-

Shirkouhi&Noruzy,2013).Knowledgestorageutilizestechnicalsystemssuchasmoderninfor

mationalhardwareandsoftwareandhumanprocessestoidentifytheknowledgeinanorganizatio

n,thentocodeandindextheknowledgeforlaterretrieval.AccordingtoWiig(2000),thereisapopu

larmisconceptionisthatKMfocusesonrenderingthatwhichistacitintomoreexplicitortangiblef

orms,thenstoringorarchivingtheseformssomewhere,usuallysomeformofintranetorknowled

geportal.

Seniormanagementisthenmystifiedastowhyemployeesarenotusingthiswonderfulnewresour

ce.Infact,knowledgemanagementisbroaderandincludesleveragingthevalueoftheorganizatio

nalknowledgeandknow-

howthataccumulatesovertime(MugambiandKwasira,2015).Thisapproachisamuchmoreholi

sticanduser-

centeredapproachthatbeginsnotwithanauditofexistingdocumentsbutwithaneedsanalysistob

etterunderstandhowimprovedknowledgestoragemaybenefitspecificindividuals,groups,andt

16

heorganizationasawhole.Successfulknowledgestorageisexemplifiedingatheredanddocume

ntedknowledgeintheformoflessonslearnedandbestpracticesandthesethenformthekernelofor

ganizationalstories(Fombad,2015).

Theabilitytodistributeandshareknowledgeiscriticalfortheuseandleverageofknowledgeresou

rceswhichareconsideredimportantresourcestomostorganizations(Geiger&Schrevogg,2012

).AccordingtoresearcherssuchasInkpenandDinur,(2010)manyfactorsaffecttheprocessofsha

ringknowledgeinanorganizationwhichincludethecultureoftheorganization,theattitudesandv

aluesofindividualstowardsknowledgesharingandthenatureofthetechnologyusedtosharekno

wledge.Indeed,organizationalculturehasbeendefinedasthespecificcollectionofvaluesandno

rmsthataresharedbypeopleandgroupsinanorganizationandthatcontrolthewaytheyinteractwi

theachotherandwithstakeholdersoutsidetheorganization.Further,researchershaveshownthat

twofacetscompriseknowledgedistribution,whichareknowledgedisseminatingwhichrefersto

anindividual’sdesiretoshareknowledge;andknowledgereceivingwhichreferstotherequestin

gofindividualstosharewhattheyknow(DuPlessisandDuToit,2006).

Organizationsseektousearangeofauthoritativesources,includingknowledgeheldbyindividua

landwithinknowledgesystemsmaintainedbytheorganization.Explicitknowledgecanbedocu

mented,categorised,transmittedtoothersasinformation,andillustratedtoothersthroughdemo

nstrations,explanationsandotherformsofsharing.However,tacitknowledgeisdifficulttodupli

cate,replaceorinterpret,asitisgroundedinablendofexperience,researchandinductionwhichm

ayhavebeenrefinedovermanyyears(Spender,2006).Alearningorganizationproactivelycreate

s,acquires,andtransfersknowledge(Mohammad&Shoaib,2015).Newideasareaprerequisitef

17

oralearningorganization;indeedit’sonthebasisofnewknowledgeandinsightsthattheorganizat

ionchangesitsbehaviour.Strategicknowledgemanagementensurescorporatestrategicknowle

dgegrows,learnsandmaturesalongsideitsindividualmembers.

2.4Competitiveadvantage

Thenewparadigmofinternationalcompetitivenessisadynamicone,basedoninnovation.Comp

etitivenessattheindustrylevelarisesfromsuperiorproductivity;eitherintermsoflowercoststha

nrivalsortheabilitytoofferproductswithsuperiorvalue(valueadding)thatjustifiesapremiumpr

ice.Competitiveadvantage,then,restsnotonstaticefficiencyoronoptimizingwithinfixedconst

raints,butonthecapacityforinnovationandimprovementthatshifttheconstraints.’(Porter&van

derLinde,1995b)

AccordingtoPorter(1997),competitiveadvantagedefinestheuniquenessofanorganizationver

sesitscompetitorsandcompetitivestrategyoftheorganizationistheroadmaptowardsgainingco

mpetitiveadvantage.Ithasbeennotedthatknowledgemanagement(KM)strategyisbecomingth

ebasicbuildingblockoforganization.OrganizationsarerealizingthatKMisavaluableinstrume

ntinimprovingperformance.MohammadandShoaib(2015)statedthatmanagersimplementK

Mprogramstogainadvantage,increaseproductivity,andremaincompetitive.Withinthiscontex

t,anorganization’sabilitytoeffectivelyimplementknowledgebasedstrategiesbecomesincreas

inglysignificantforthedevelopmentandsustenanceofacompetitiveadvantage(SmithandRupp

,2003).Afirmcandevelopacompetitiveadvantagethrougheitherbecomingacostleaderorbyusi

ngdifferentiation(Porter1997).Onceanorganizationpossessessuchsourcesandknowshowtotr

ansferthemintoacompetitiveadvantageitcanreasonablyexpecttobesuccessful.Whileacostlea

18

dershipadvantageisgainedbyperformingmostactivitiesatalowercostthancompetitorswhilest

illmanagingtoofferaparityproduct,differentiationadvantageisbuiltbyperformingvalueaddin

gactivitiesthatleadtoperceivedsuperiorityalongdimensionsthatarevaluedbycustomers.Diffe

rentiationadvantagecanfurthertakemanysubforms,amongwhichasuperiorproduct/service,th

etotalityofsupply,speedthatisfastdeliveryofproducts,flexibilityandthepositiveimageofacom

pany(Saini,2013)

Primarilyduetothewaylawyersarecompensated,thereismuchdebateoverwhetherornotcaptur

ingefficienciescanactuallybenefitthefirm.AccordingtoWilkesmannetal.(2009),‘clientloyalt

yisdecreasingascompaniesincreasinglybasepurchasesoflegalservicesonamoreobjectiveasse

ssmentoftheirvalue,definedasbenefitsnetofprice.’Analogoustomanyotherindustries,increas

edcompetitionhasforcedsomelawfirmstocompeteinpricewars.Asaresult,certainservicesarec

urrentlybeingofferedatmuchlowerprices(Agbim,ZeverandOriarewo,2014).Lawfirmsthatca

ptureefficienciesintheirpracticescompeteeffectivelyinthemarket(Kharabsheh&Aqrabawi,2

013).Sourcesofcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsincludehighqualityinformation,superiorco

mmunication,andachievinglowercoststhanitsrivalsandmanagementoftacitknowledgefromr

etiring(Porter,1980).

2.5KnowledgeManagementandCompetitiveAdvantage

Knowledgeisthefundamentalbasisofcompetitionand,inparticularly,tacitknowledgecanbeas

ourceofadvantagebecauseitisunique,imperfectlymobile,imperfectlyimitableandnon-

substitutable.However,themereactofprocessingknowledgeitselfdoesnotguaranteestrategica

19

dvantage,instead,knowledgehastobemanaged.LeeandChoi(2003)developamodelthatinclud

essevenKMenablers(bothsocialandtechnical)asbeingpositivelyrelatedtoafirm’sknowledge

creationprocesseswhich,intum,arepositivelyrelatedtothefirm’sinnovationsanditsoverallper

formance.Theresultsindicatedthattrustisanimportantenablerofknowledgecreation,technolo

gyisanenablerofonekindofknowledgecreationprocess,andfirminnovativenessiscriticalforac

hievingbetterrelativeperformance.

InordertofullyrealizetheadvantagesofKMwithintheindustry,itisessentialtounderstandthestr

uctureoflawfirms,thestakeholdersinvolved,andthemotivationbehindthecreationofalawfirm.

AccordingtoTiyan(2013),lawfirmsaresimilartosocialcommunitieswhichspecializeinspeeda

ndefficiencyincreatingandtransferringlegalknowledge.Whenthisstatementisbrokendownin

toseparatecomponentsandexaminedfurther,itexemplifiesthe‘ideal’firm.Theidealfirmconsis

tsofacommunityofindividualswhocreateandtransferknowledgequicklyandefficiently.Unfor

tunately,becauseofthestakeholdersinvolved,thisisnotalwaysthecase.AsKharabshehandAqr

abawi(2013)notes,alawfirmisgenerallycomposedoflawyers,paralegals,managers,supportpe

rsonnelandadministrators.Thesediverseoccupationshavedistinctfunctions,yettheseindividu

alsmustworktogethertoachievethedesiredoutcomeofaddingvaluetothefirm.Itisalsoimportan

ttonotethat,dependingonthesizeofthelawfirm,itsorganizationalstructuremayvarysignificant

ly.However,Hunter(2002)alsostatesthateachlawfirmhasauniquesetofdistinctcharacteristics

andoperatingproceduresthatcanplayanimportantroleinthecreationandimplementationofaK

Mstrategy.

20

EmbracingthepropositionthatafirmneedsstrongKMinordertorealizeacompetitiveadvantage

,LiaoandChuang(2007)focusontheextenttowhichafirm’ssocialandtechnicalKMresourcesar

erelatedtoitsKMprocesscapabilities,thedegreetowhichtheseprocesscapabilitiesarerelatedto

thefirm’sspeedandmagnitudeofinnovation,andtheextenttowhichthesetwoinnovationdimen

sionsarerelatedtofirmcompetitivenessintermsofmarketsharegain,salesgrowth,profitability,

operationalefficiency,andservicequality(Saini,2013).Fombad(2015)assertedthatlawfirmsi

nBotswanaofferaparticularlyinterestingcontexttodetermineeffectsknowledgeacquisitionan

dleveragingknowledgethroughknowledgemanagementleadtocompetitiveadvantage,enhan

cingcosteffectivenessandsystematicharnessingoflegalknowledge.

Moreover,managementofknowledgeiscritical.Kalling(2003)arguesthatthemereactofproces

singknowledgedoesnotguaranteestrategicadvantagerather;knowledgehastobemanagedforl

awfirmstoachievecompetitiveadvantage.AccordingtoKing(2008)havenotedthatthesuccessf

ulimplementationofknowledgemanagementpracticesinlawfirmsmayresultsininnovativenes

ssuitability,enhancelearning,improvequalityoflawservicerender,improvelawfirmstaffcomp

etences,improvelawfirmcustomerservices,ledtocostreductionthrougheliminationofredunda

ncyandboostrevenueforthefirms

2.6EmpiricalResearchGaps

MugambiandKwasira(2015)carriedoutastudyoninfluenceofKnowledgemanagementonperf

ormanceoflegalfirmsinNakuruCounty.Theobjectiveofthestudywastoestablishtheinfluence

ofknowledgemanagementpracticesonlegalfirms.Thestudypopulationwas162registeredlawf

irmsinNakuruCounty.Thestudyadoptedadescriptivesurveyresearchdesignasthestudyhasqu

21

alitativeandquantitativeapproaches.Datacollectionwasdonethroughclose-

endedquestionnairesasimplerandomsamplingtechniquewasusedinselectingthesampledlawf

irms.Acorrelationanalysiswasdonetodeterminestrengthofassociationbetweenknowledgem

anagementpracticesandcompetitiveadvantageinlegalfirmsinNakuruCounty.Thestudyrevea

ledthatknowledgesharing(r=0.664)hadasignificantinfluenceonperformanceoflegalfirmswh

ileknowledgeimplementation(r=0.213)hadtheleastinfluenceonperformanceoflegalfirms.Th

isstudyhoweverfailedtoindicatetheextentknowledgemanagementinfluenceachievementofc

ompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsinNairobiCounty.

Agbim,ZeverandOriarewo(2014)assessedtherelationshipbetweenknowledgeacquisitionan

dcompetitiveadvantageinhospitalityindustryfocusingonhotelsinBenueState,Nigeria.Thestu

dyadoptedex-post-

factoresearchdesignandmultistagesamplingtechniquetoselectsamplerespondentsfromthese

lectedhostels.Datawascollectedusingquestionnaire.Dataanalysistechniquelinearregression

statisticalmethodwasadoptedtotesttheresearchhypothesis.Itwasrevealedthatknowledgeacq

uisitionhasasignificantinfluenceonachievingcompetitiveadvantageinhotelsinBenueEstate

Nigeria.Thisstudyhoweverfocusedondeterminingeffectsofknowledgemanagementoncomp

etitiveadvantageinhospitalityindustry.Theincreaseintheacquisitionofknowledgehumanreso

urce,theuseofInformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT)inlegalservicedelivery,andt

heupsurgeinthenumberoflawfirmsinNairobiCountymotivatetheundertakingofthecurrentstu

dyusingdescriptiveresearchsurveymethod.

22

MohammadandShoaib(2015)carriedoutastudyonimpactofknowledgemanagementpractices

,Knowledgeacquisition,knowledgeconversion,knowledgeapplicationandknowledgeprotect

iononorganizationalperformanceinBanksinPakistan.Thestudyadopteddescriptivesurveyres

earchdesign.Datacollectionwasdoneusingaquestionnaire.Thetargetpopulationwas256bank

s.Datawasanalyzedusingcorrelationandregressionanalysistechnique.Theresultsfoundthatk

nowledgeacquisition,knowledgeconversion,knowledgeapplicationandknowledgeprotectio

nledtosignificantprovisionofqualityfinancialservicestocustomers,highcustomersatisfaction

,efficiencyinresourceutilization,moreprofitsandoverallimprovedbanks’performance.Thisst

udyhoweverfocusesonknowledgemanagementinbanksandperformance.Thecurrentstudyw

ouldfocusondeterminingtheinfluenceofknowledgemanagementonachievingcompetitivead

vantageinlawfirmsindevelopingcounties,Kenya.

Gichuki(2014)carriedoutastudytodeterminetheknowledgemanagementpracticesadoptedby

hotelsinthecoastalregion,Kenyainachievingcompetitiveadvantageandthefactorsthatinfluen

ceadoptionofknowledgemanagementforcompetitiveadvantagebyhotels.Thestudyusedades

criptivesurveydesign.Primarydatawascollectedbytheuseofastructuredquestionnairefrom47

respondentsfromalltheselectedhotels.Descriptivestatisticswasusedtodeterminetheextentto

whichknowledgemanagementpracticeshavebeenadopted.Thestudyrevealedthatknowledge

creation,knowledgeacquisition,knowledgefiltering,knowledgestorageandrepresentation,kn

owledgeapplicationandknowledgedistributionandexchangeledtodevelopmentofinnovative

hospitalityproductsandreducehotellossofvaluableknowledgeandgaincompetitivenessinthe

market.Thisstudyhoweverfocusesonknowledgemanagementandextentitachievecompetitiv

eadvantageinhotels.Thecurrentstudywillfocuswhetherknowledgemanagementhasledtoachi

23

evementofcompetitiveadvantageinlegalfirmsduetoincreaseinlawfirmsandcompetitivenessi

nlegalsectorsinKenya.

Gholami,etal,(2013)conductedastudytoinvestigatetheinfluenceofknowledgemanagementp

racticesonorganizationalperformance.Theaimofthisstudywastoinvestigatetheinfluenceofk

nowledgemanagementpracticesonorganizationalperformanceinsmallandmediumenterprise

s(SMEs)usingstructuralequationmodeling.Anumberof282seniormanagersfromtheseenterp

riseswerechosenusingsimplerandomsamplingandthedatawereanalyzedwiththestructuraleq

uationmodel.Theresultsshowedthatknowledgeacquisition,knowledgestorage,knowledgecr

eation,knowledgesharing,andknowledgeimplementationhavesignificantfactorloadingonkn

owledgemanagement.Itfurthershowedthatproductivity,financialperformance,staffperform

ance,innovation,workrelationships,andcustomersatisfactionhavesignificantfactorloadingo

norganizationalperformance.Finally,theresultsofthisstudysuggestedthatknowledgemanage

mentpracticesdirectlyinfluencetheorganizationalperformanceofSMEs.

Saini(2013)carriedoutastudyexaminingimpactofKnowledgeManagementPracticesoncomp

etitivenessofSMEsinIndia.Thestudyadoptedastructuralequationmodelingapproach.Thereh

asbeenatransformationofaneraofinformationscarcitytoinformationsurplus,sothekeyglobalp

ressuresonmanagementareknowledgeidentification,creationanddissemination.Thedevelop

mentofknowledgemanagementrepresentedoneofthemostsignificantmanagementmovement

sinsuchenvironment.Aconceptualmodelwasdevelopedfromthereviewedtheoreticalframew

orklinkingknowledgemanagementpracticesandorganizationalperformance,usingdescriptiv

estatisticsandstructuralequationmodelingtechnique.Thestudyusedprimarydatacollectedfro

24

mthreeSMEsinsoftware,pharmaceuticalandtextilesinNorthIndia.Thestudyrevealedthatkno

wledgemanagementpracticeshaveasignificantinfluenceonorganizationalperformance,com

petitivenessandemployeeretentionratesintheselectedSMEs.

KharabshehandAqrabawi(2013)examinetherelationshipbetweenknowledgemanagementpr

acticesandafirm’sdifferentiationstrategy.Thestudyusedquestionnairesurveyof16pharmace

uticalcompanieswhereatotalof121filledquestionnaireswerecollected.Multipleregressionan

alysiswasusedtoexaminetheimpactofKMPsoncompetitiveadvantageinthesefirms.Thestudy

establishedthatinformationsharingtoshareknowledgehasapositiverelationshipwithafirm’sdi

fferentiationstrategyandachievingcompetitiveadvantageinpharmaceuticalcompanies

Fombad(2015)investigatedinfluenceofadoptionofknowledgemanagementonachievingcom

petitiveedgeinlawfirmsinBotswana.LawfirmsinBotswanaofferaparticularlyinterestingcont

exttodetermineeffectsknowledgeacquisitionandleveragingknowledgethroughknowledgem

anagementleadtocompetitiveadvantagethestudyadoptedbothquantitativeandqualitativerese

archmethodsandthesurveyresearchdesign.Asurveywasperformedonall115registeredlawfir

msand217lawyersinBotswana.Interviewswasusetocollectdata.Theresultsrevealedthatenabl

ingenvironmentadoptionofknowledgemanagementenhancescosteffectivenessandsystemati

charnessingoflegalknowledge.

2.7ResearchGap

Knowledgemanagementinlawfirmsinvolvesanumberoftoolsandservicesformoreeffectively

managing,sharingandusingknowledgeinavarietyofareas.KimandLee,(2010)consideredwhe

therimplementationofacentralizedknowledgemanagementsystemthatemphasizedthecollect

25

ionofattorneyworkproductinacentralrepositoryresultedinlawyerslosingpowerwithintheorg

anizationtoadministrators.Studieshavereportedthatknowledgemanagementpracticesdevelo

pedthedesiredcompetenciesmorequicklythanthefirm’sconventionaltraining.Further,studies

showthatassociationsamonglawfirmsthatengagedinknowledgesharing,lawyers’attitudesab

outtheirpersonalcontributionstoknowledgesharing,andtheuseofinformationtechnologywer

estrongerpredictorsofknowledgesharingthanlawyers’positiveattitudestowardit.Studiessuch

asIngo(2007)opinedthatlargeCanadianlawfirmhadinvestedsignificantlyinknowledgemana

gementstrategy,technologies,andprocessesattainingoninformationculture,influencetheprod

uctivity,financialperformance,staffperformance,innovation,workrelationships,customersat

isfaction,andfinallyorganizationalperformance.However,studiesoninfluenceofKMpractice

sonachievingcompetitiveadvantageinlegalfirmsinKenyaareinadequate.Thismotivatetheun

dertakingofthecurrentstudytodeterminewhetherthereexistasignificantrelationshipbetweenk

nowledgemanagementpracticesandcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsinNairobiCounty.

Itisbecomingapparentthatknowledgemanagementandthechangingbusinessenvironmentare

compellinglawfirmstorethinktheirstructures,roles,missionandthemannerinwhichtheycondu

cttheirbusinessineffortstoachievecompetitiveadvantageinthecompetitivelawindustry.Lawf

irmsinKenyahaveadoptedstrategicknowledgemanagement.However,theextenttowhichitsin

fluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantageremainslessstudied.Thisstudywillfilltheresearchg

apbyansweringthequestion,whatistheinfluenceofknowledgemanagementoncompetitiveadv

antageinlawformsinKenya?

26

CHAPTERTHREE

RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

3.1Introduction

Thischaptersetsoutvariousstagesandphasesthatwasfollowedincompletingthestudy.Itinvolv

esablueprintforthecollection,measurementandanalysisofdata.Inthissectiontheresearcheride

ntifiestheproceduresandtechniquesthatwasusedinthecollection,processingandanalysisofdat

a.Specificallythefollowingsubsectionsinclude;researchdesign,targetpopulation,sampling,d

atacollectionandfinallydataanalysis.

3.2ResearchDesign

Thedesignofthisresearchwasdescriptivecrosssectionalsurveyresearch.Descriptivesurveyre

searchdesignisconcernedwithfindingoutthewhat,whereandhowofaphenomenon.Theresearc

hdesignandmethodologyentailedcollectingdatausefulinanalysisandcomingupwithrelevantr

ecommendationsandconclusions.Neuman,(2011)notedthatadescriptivesurveyresearchdesi

gnattemptstocollectdatafrommembersofapopulationanddescribesexistingphenomenabyask

ingindividualsabouttheirperception,attitudes,behaviourorvalues.

Descriptivesurveyresearchdesignhelpincollectingqualitativeandquantitativedatathatwasus

edinansweringtheresearchquestionofthestudyonhowdoesknowledgemanagementpracticesi

nfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantagesamonglawfirmsinNairobi.

27

3.3TargetPopulation

Targetpopulationinstatisticsisthespecificpopulationaboutwhichinformationisdesired.Acco

rdingtoYin(2014),apopulationisawell-

definedorsetofpeople,services,elements,eventsandgroupofthingsorhouseholdsthatarebeing

investigated.Thetargetpopulationofthestudywas356lawfirmoperatinginNairobiCounty,Ke

nya.

3.4SamplingProcedures

Samplingisthatpartofstatisticalpracticeconcernedwiththeselectionofanunbiasedorrandoms

ubsetofindividualobservationswithinapopulationofindividualsintendedtoyieldsomeknowle

dgeaboutthepopulationofconcern,especiallyforthepurposesofmakingfairgeneralizationofre

sultsbacktothepopulationfromwhichtheywerechosen(Willis,2009).

Thestudyadoptedsimplerandomsamplingtechniquetoselectasampleof20%outofpopulation

of356lawfirmsoperatinginNairobiCounty.Thesamplesizewas71LawfirmsinNairobiCounty

.Mugendaandmugenda(2003)indicatedthatasamplesizeof20%ofthepopulationwasadequate

forthestudy.Asamplepopulationof71wasthereforeselectedforthestudy.

3.5DataCollection

Thisresearchusedprimarydata.Thestudyusedquestionnaireasaninstrumenttocollectdata.The

questionnairesincludedbothopenandclosedendedinlinewiththeobjectivesofthestudy.Afivep

ointlikertscalewasusedforclosedendedquestions.Thequestionnairescontainedthreesections

each.Thefirstsectionaddressdemographicinformationoftherespondentswhilethesecondsecti

28

onaddressknowledgemanagementpracticesadoptedatLawfirmsinNairobiKenyawhilethethi

rdsectionaddresstherelationshipbetweenknowledgemanagementpracticesandcompetitivea

dvantageatLawfirmsinNairobiCounty.Seniorstaffofthelawfirmweretherespondentsofthest

udy.

3.6DataAnalysisandPresentation

Afterfieldwork,thecollecteddatawaspreparedforstatisticalanalysis.Thedatawascheckedforc

larity,legibility,relevanceandappropriateness.Moreover,thequestionnaireswereeditedforco

mpletenessandconsistency.Codingwasdoneonthebasisofthelocaleoftherespondents.Quantit

ativedatawasanalyzedusingStatisticalPackageforSocialSciences(SPSSVersion21)forMicro

softwindows,whichincludesdescriptiveanalysis.Dataanalysiswasdoneusingdescriptivestati

sticswherequantitativedatawasanalyzedusingmeans,standarddeviationandfrequencytables.

Datawaspresentedusingfrequencytables.Contentanalysiswasusedforqualitativedata.Qualit

ativedatawasanalysisusingcontentanalysisandpresentedinthematicapproachbasedonthemat

icareaofthestudyonknowledgemanagementandachievingcompetitiveadvantageatlawfirmsi

nNairobi,Kenya.

Inferential analysis was carried out. The study was present a correlation matrix analysis

to examine the strength and direction between knowledge management on competitive

advantage the correlation factor will range from -1≤ 0 ≥1. The acceptance confidence

level was 95% or significance level of 0.05. The study further was undertaken regression

analysis to determine whether there exists a significant relationship between knowledge

29

management on competitive advantage. The results were accepted at 95% confident level

in order to provide for drawing conclusions about the population from the study sample.

30

CHAPTER FOUR

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction

The chapter presents the research findings and discussion. It reports the response rate,

pilot results, background information of the respondents and descriptive results.

4.1.1 Response Rate

The study targeted 71 respondents from senior staffs of 71 Law firms operating in

Nairobi County. Out of 71 administered questionnaires, only 66 responded in time for

data analysis. This translated into 92% response rate and considered appropriate to derive

the inferences regarding the objectives of the research. This excellent response rate can

be attributed to the fact that the researcher administered the questionnaires personally and

took ample time to conduct the study.

Table 4.1: Response rate

Frequency Percent

Filled questionnaires 66 92

Unfilled questionnaires 5 8

Total 71 100

31

4.2 Background of the Respondents

This section contains the analysis of information on respondent. The respondents were

characterized in different categories like theirs designation, level of education, working

period and the length of operation of the law firms they work in.

4.2.1 Designation of the respondents

Respondents were requested to indicate the designation of the respondents. From the

findings, most of the respondents indicated that respondents were associates, law clerks,

paralegals and legal receptionist. Most of the respondents were legal secretaries,

administrative personnels, marketing directors, technology experts. This implies that data

collection was done from individual who belong to the law firms and the information

they gave was valid.

4.2.2 Respondents level of academic qualification

Figure 4. 1: Respondents level of academic qualification

32

Respondents were requested to indicate the level of the academic qualification. Majority

55% of the respondents indicated that they had degree level of academic qualification.

Most 45% of the respondents indicated that they had master level of academic

qualification. The figures are enough evidence that law firms had educated employees.

Consequently majority of staffs are people with degree and masters level of education

implying that they understood the required information and gave reliable response

4.2.3 Respondents Working Period

Table 4. 2: Respondents Working Period

Frequency Percentage

2-5 years 32 49

6-8 years 13 19

Less than 2 years 15 23

Over 8 years 6 9

Total 66 100

The study sought the period in which the respondents have been working in the law

firms. From the findings, 49% of the respondents have been working in the law firms for

2 to 5 years, 23% of the respondents have been working in the law firms for less than 2

years, 19% of the respondents have been working in the law firms for 6 to 8 years while

9% of the respondents have been working in the law firms for over 8 years. This implies

that the study got the raw data from respondents who majority had been working in the

33

law firms for more than 2 years and therefore had a vast experience on the knowledge

management in law firms.

4.2.4 Period the law firm has been in operation

Table 4. 3: Period the law firm has been in operation

Frequency Percentages

1-2 years 8 23

3-4 years 17 26

Less than 1 year 15 12

4-5 years 26 39

Total 66 100

The respondents were requested to indicate the period in which law firm has been in

operation. From the findings, 39% of the respondents indicated that the law firms have

been in operation for 4 to 5 years, 26% of the respondents indicated that law firms have

been in operation for 3 to 4 years. Most 23% of the respondents indicated that law firms

have been in operation for 1 to 2 years while 12% of the respondents indicated that the

law firms has been in operation for less than 1 year. This implies that data was collected

from institutions that have been in operation for more than one year.

4.3 Knowledge Management

4.3.1 Extent to which knowledge sharing has been adopted in law firm

Table 4. 4: Extent to which knowledge sharing has been adopted in law firm

Frequency Percentages

Very great extent 44 67

Great extent 23 33

Total 66 100

34

Respondents were requested to indicate the extent to which knowledge sharing has been

adopted in law firm. From the findings, majority 67% of the respondents indicated that

knowledge sharing has been adopted in law firm to a very great extent while 33% of the

respondents indicated that knowledge sharing has been adopted in law firm to a great

extent. Respondents explained that the law firms adopt congenital learning which refers

to inherited knowledge from the founders of a firm, experiential learning which is

knowledge acquired from experience, and vicarious learning which is knowledge

acquired from other individuals and businesses. Respondents further indicated that the

employees in the law firms are able to acquire useful knowledge thus contributing to

competencies among law staff in law firms. This implies that the law firms has adopted

knowledge sharing indicated that they has the capability to generate new knowledge

within the organization enhancing the competitive advantage. This is in line with Spender

(2013) who noted that creating relationships and alliances with different partners can

positively influence an organization’s ability to acquire knowledge.

35

4.3.2 Extent to which law firm adopt the knowledge management

Table 4. 5: Extent to which law firm adopt the knowledge management

Statement Mean Standard

deviation

Law firm adopt retention of firm employee knowledge 4.90 0.87

Law firm has both soft and hard approach recording 4.87 0.79

The law firm retain its knowledge for easy retrieval 4.40 0.40

Law firm store knowledge through codification 4.60 0.57

Technological service providers 4.54 0.54

In law firm Inventory of tangible knowledge are accessible

by employees

4.39 0.42

Knowledge management to provide quality hotel services 4.67 0.58

Law firm has modern technological systems that help in

processing information

4.75 0.68

Law firm has implemented information communication

technologies enhancing knowledge sharing

4.64 0.64

Law firm has appropriate technology for sharing knowledge 4.88 0.72

Firm promote employees trust and relationship in

information sharing

4.65 0.62

Undertake information identification 4.38 0.35

Use information technology in dissemination of knowledge 4.60 0.53

There is knowledge capturing through direct interaction with

clients and employees

4.62 0.60

Law firm has a data mining tools 4.58 0.67

Employees training is mandatory in law firm 4.87 0.79

The management of our law firm support continuous learning

among employees

4.40 0.46

Law firm has efficient processing of information evaluation 4.57 0.58

In law firm information is validated before documentation 4.54 0.51

There is adequate sharing of information among employees

in law firm

4.59 0.52

Useful information is disseminated sufficiently in serving

client

4.69 0.68

Information shared is applied in application of legal matters

of clients

4.50 0.47

There is continuous capturing of information in law firm 4.86 0.77

There is positive attitude and value of individual employees

in sharing information

4.46 0.49

36

Respondentswererequestedtoindicatedtheextenttowhichlawfirmadoptthegivenknowledge

managementandarebeingcarriedout.Fromthefindings,majorityoftherespondentsindicatedth

atthelawfirmadoptsretentionoffirmemployeeknowledge,hasappropriatetechnologyforshari

ngknowledge,hasbothsoftandhardapproachrecordingandemployeestrainingismandatoryinl

awfirmstrygreatextentasindicatedbymeanof4.90,4.88,4.87and4.87withstandarddeviationof

0.87,0.72,0.79and0.79.

Mostoftherespondentsindicatedthatthereiscontinuouscapturingofinformationinlawfirms,la

wfirmshasmoderntechnologicalsystemsthathelpinprocessinginformation,Usefulinformatio

nisdisseminatedsufficientlyinservingourclientandMarketknowledgemanagementtoprovide

qualityhotelservicestoaverygreatextentasindicatedbymeanof4.86,4.75,4.69and4.67withsta

ndarddeviationof0.77,0.68,0.68and0.58.Mostoftherespondentsindicatedthatlawfirmsprom

oteemployeestrustandrelationshipininformationsharing,lawfirmhasimplementedinformati

oncommunicationtechnologiesenhancingknowledgesharingandthereisknowledgecapturing

throughdirectinteractionwithclientsandemployeestoaverygreatextentasindicatedbymeanof

4.65,4.64and4.62withstandarddeviationof0.62,0.64and0.60.Mostoftherespondentsindicate

dthatlawfirmsstoreknowledgethroughcodification,useinformationtechnologyindisseminati

onofknowledge,thereisadequatesharingofinformationamongemployeesinlawfirmandhasad

ataminingtoolstoaverygreatextentasindicatedbymeanof4.60,4.60,4.59and4.58withstandard

deviationof0.57,0.53,0.52and0.67.

Thefindingsfurtherrevealedthatlawfirmshasefficientprocessingofinformationevaluationan

dtechnologicalserviceproviders,lawfirm’sinformationisvalidatedbeforedocumentationandi

37

nformationsharedisappliedinapplicationoflegalmattersoftheclientstoaverygreatextentasind

icatedbymeanof4.57,4.54,4.54and4.50withstandarddeviationof0.58,0.54,0.51and0.47.

Mostoftherespondentsindicatedthatthereispositiveattitudeandvalueofindividualemployeesi

nsharinginformation,managementoflawfirmsupportcontinuouslearningamongemployees,I

nventoryoftangibleknowledgeareaccessiblebyemployeesandfirmsundertakeinformationide

ntificationtoaverygreatextentasindicatedbymeanof4.46,4.40,4.39and4.38withstandarddevi

ationof0.49,0.46,0.42and0.35.Thisimpliesthatlawfirmsadoptedandcarriedoutknowledgem

anagementpractices.Thisrevealsthatknowledgemanagementsystemsconnectpeopletoenabl

ethemtothinktogetherandtotaketimetoarticulateandshareinformationandinsightsthemtokno

wtheyareusefultoothersintheirworkplace.ThisisinlinewithDarroch(2005)thatknowledgema

nagementhasemergedasanewdisciplineinanorganization,anditplaysanimportantsupporting

functionbyprovidingacoordinatingmechanismtoenhanceconversionofresourcesintocapabil

ities.Lang(2001),assertsthattheroleofknowledgemanagementandtheprocessformanagingith

asbecomevitalforthesurvivaloftheorganization

4.3.3WaysthroughWhichLawFirmhasInfluencedKnowledgeManagement

Respondentswererequestedtoindicateotherwaysthroughwhichlawfirmhasinfluencedknowl

edgemanagement.Fromthefindings,respondentsindicatethatlawfirmhasinfluenceknowledg

emanagementthroughcollaboration,contentmanagementandinformationsharing.Responde

ntsstatedthatLawfirmsspecializeinthecreationandtransferoflegalinformationassetsthatinclu

deknowledgeabouttheplaintiff,defendant,clientandjudge,andaboutlawyers'experience,expe

rtiseandprofessionaljudgments.Therespondentsindicatedthatmajorwaysbywhichknowledg

38

ewascreatedinthefirmswerebyattendingconferencesandattendingworkshops.Thatknowledg

ewastransferredwasbyteamworkanddiscussionsofmajorprojectsafterconclusion.

Thefindingsfurtherrevealedthathumanresourceplayedimportantroleininfluencingknowledg

emanagement,lawfirmscreatedachiefknowledgeofficerandaKMimplementationteam,lawfi

rmsfosteredaknowledgesharingculture,throughthecreationofcommunitiesofpracticeandme

ntoringprogramsandthatfirmmemberswererewardedforinformationandknowledgesharing.

Thisimpliesthattherearemanywaysthroughwhichlawfirmhasinfluenceknowledgemanagem

ent.ThisisinlinewithKimandLee(2010)thatknowledgeacquisitionencompassestheprocessof

acquiringandlearningappropriateknowledgefromvariousinternalandexternalresources,such

asexperiences,experts,relevantdocuments,plansandsoforth.

4.4KnowledgeManagementandAchievingCompetitiveAdvantage

4.4.1Extenttoagreethatknowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvant

age

Table4.6:ExtenttoAgreeThatKnowledgeApplicationInfluenceAchievingOfCompetiti

veAdvantage

Frequency Percentages

Stronglyagreed 31 47

Agreed 27 41

Neutral 8 12

Total 66 100

39

Respondentswererequestedtoindicatetheextenttowhichtheyagreedthatknowledgeapplicatio

ninfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirm.Fromthefindings,majorityoftheresp

ondentsstronglyagreedthatthatknowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadva

ntageinlawfirm43%oftherespondentsagreedthatthatknowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievi

ngofcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmwhile12%oftherespondentswereneutralonwhetherthat

knowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirm.Thisimpliesth

atknowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirm.Thisisinline

withKalling(2003),whoinsistedthat,managementofknowledgeiscriticalandarguesthattheme

reactofprocessingknowledgedoesnotguaranteestrategicadvantagerather;knowledgehastobe

managedforlawfirmstoachievecompetitiveadvantage.

40

4.4.2Extenttowhichwiththegiveninfluencecompetitiveadvantage

Table4.7:Extenttowhichwiththegiveninfluencecompetitiveadvantage

Statement M

ea

n

Standardde

viation

Adoptionofretentionoffirmemployeeknowledge 4.8

7

0.82

Presenceofsoftandhardapproachrecording 4.7

7

0.75

Retentionofknowledgeforeasyretrieval 4.4

0

0.46

Storageofknowledgethroughcodification 4.4

2

0.48

UseofTechnologicalserviceproviders 4.3

4

0.38

UseoffirmInventoryoftangibleknowledgeareaccessiblebye

mployees

4.8

1

0.72

Useofmoderntechnologicalsystemsthathelpinprocessinginf

ormation

4.5

8

0.62

Utilizationofinformationcommunicationtechnologiesenha

ncingknowledgesharing

4.5

3

0.53

41

Promotionofemployeestrustandrelationshipininformations

haring

4.5

0

0.45

Useofinformationidentification 4.6

7

0.58

Utilizationofinformationtechnologyindisseminationofkno

wledge

4.4

7

0.54

Capturingknowledgethroughdirectinteractionwithclientsan

demployees

4.7

1

0.72

Implementationofdataminingtools 4.7

6

0.77

Employeestrainingismandatoryinourlawfirm 4.7

2

0.70

Supportofcontinuouslearningamongemployees 4.5

7

0.50

Efficientprocessingofinformationevaluation 4.6

8

0.58

Validationofinformationbeforedocumentation 4.7

8

0.64

Adequatesharingofinformationamongemployeesinourlawf

irm

4.8

3

0.72

Usefulinformationisdisseminatedsufficientlyinservingourc 4.8 0.77

42

lient 6

Informationsharedisappliedinapplicationoflegalmattersofo

urclients

4.7

9

0.70

Existenceofcontinuouscapturingofinformationinourlawfir

m

4.6

3

0.50

Attitudeandvalueofindividualemployeesinsharinginformat

ion

4.3

7

0.48

Respondentswererequestedtoindicatetheextenttowhichwiththegivenstatementsconcerning

knowledgemanagementpracticesinfluencethelawfirmstowardachievingcompetitiveadvant

age.Fromthefindingsmajorityoftherespondentsstronglyagreedthatadoptionofemployeekno

wledgeretentioninfirm,usefulinformationbeingdisseminatedsufficientlyinservingclients,ad

equatesharingofinformationamongemployeesanduseoffirminventoryoftangibleknowledge

beingaccessiblebyemployeesinfluencethelawfirmstowardachievingcompetitiveadvantagea

sindicatedbymeanof4.87,4.86,4.83and4.81withstandarddeviationof0.82,0.77,0.72and0.72.

Mostoftherespondentsstronglyagreedthatinformationsharedbeingappliedinapplicationofle

galmattersofclients,validationofinformationbeforedocumentation,presenceofsoftandharda

pproachrecordingandimplementationofdataminingtoolsinfluencethelawfirmstowardachiev

ingcompetitiveadvantageasindicatedbymeanof4.79,4.78,4.77and4.76withstandarddeviatio

nof0.70,0.64,0.75and0.77.

Fromthefindingsmostoftherespondentsstronglyagreedthatemployeestrainingbeingmandato

ryinlawfirm,capturingknowledgethroughdirectinteractionwithclientsandemployees,efficie

43

ntprocessingofinformationevaluation,useofinformationidentificationandexistenceofcontin

uouscapturingofinformationinlawfirminfluencecompetitiveadvantageasindicatedbymeano

f4.72,4.71,4.68,4.67and4.63withstandarddeviationof0.53,0.50and0.45.Mostoftheresponde

ntsstronglyagreedthatuseofmoderntechnologicalsystemsthathelpinprocessinginformation,

supportofcontinuouslearningamongemployeesandutilizationofinformationcommunication

technologiesenhancingknowledgesharinginfluencethelawfirmstowardachievingcompetitiv

eadvantageasindicatedbymeanof4.58,4.57and4.50withstandarddeviationof0.70,0.72,0.58,

0.58and0.50.

Thestudyfurtherfoundthatmostoftherespondentsagreedthatutilizationofinformationtechnol

ogyindisseminationofknowledge,storageofknowledgethroughcodification,retentionofkno

wledgeforeasyretrieval,attitudeandvalueofindividualemployeesinsharinginformationandus

eoftechnologicalserviceprovidersinfluencethelawfirmstowardachievingcompetitiveadvant

ageasindicatedbymeanof4.47,4.42,4.40,4.37and4.34withstandarddeviationof0.54,0.48,0.4

6,0.48and0.38.Thisimpliesthatknowledgemanagementpracticesinfluencethelawfirmstowar

dachievingcompetitiveadvantage.Thefindingsrevealsthatknowledgemanagementisafuncti

onofthegenerationanddisseminationofinformation,developingasharedunderstandingofthei

nformation,filteringsharedunderstandingsintodegreesofpotentialvalue,andstoringvaluable

knowledgewithintheconfinesofanaccessibleorganizationalmechanism.ThisisinlinewithSta

nkosky(2012),whostatedthatknowledgeacquisitionasprocessofobtainingnewknowledgean

dinformationcontributetocompetenciesamonglawstaffinlawfirms.Thefindingsfurtherconcu

rredwithGeigerandSchrevogg(2012),whoindicatedthatabilitytodistributeandshareknowled

44

geiscriticalfortheuseandleverageofknowledgeresourceswhichareconsideredimportantresou

rcestomostorganizations.

4.4.3Waysthatknowledgemanagementinfluencecompetitiveadvantage

Respondentswererequestedtogivetheiropinionontheotherwaysthatknowledgemanagementi

nfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantageinlawfirm.Fromthefindings,respondentsopinion

edthatknowledgemanagementserveasastrategicbusinessfunctionintheorganizationandhasa

nimpactonhumancapital,teamworkandoverallorganizationalperformanceandeffectiveness.

Itisthroughknowledgemanagementthatlawyers,paralegals,managers,supportpersonnelanda

dministratorshavediverseoccupationsanddistinctfunctions,yettheyindividualsworktogether

toachievethedesiredoutcomeofaddingvaluetothefirm.Thisimpliesthatknowledgemanagem

entisconsideredanintegralpartofthequalitymanagementprocesstoachievecontinuousimprov

ementandperformanceexcellencethusinfluencingcompetitiveadvantage.ThisisinlinewithLi

aoandChuang(2007)whofocusedontheextenttowhichafirm’ssocialandtechnicalKMresourc

esarerelatedtoitsKMprocesscapabilities.LiaoandChuang(2007),assertsonthedegreetowhich

theseprocesscapabilitiesarerelatedtothefirm’sspeedandmagnitudeofinnovation,andtheexte

nttowhichthesetwoinnovationdimensionsarerelatedtofirmcompetitivenessintermsofmarket

sharegain,salesgrowth,profitability,operationalefficiencyandservicequality.Fombad(2015)

assertedthatlawfirmsinBotswanaofferaparticularlyinterestingcontexttodetermineeffectskn

owledgeacquisitionandleveragingknowledgethroughknowledgemanagementleadtocompet

itiveadvantage,enhancingcosteffectivenessandsystematicharnessingoflegalknowledge.

4.9.1CorrelationAnalysis

45

Table4.8:CorrelationbetweentheKnowledgeManagementandCompetitiveAdvantage

Competitiveadvantage

Knowledgemanagement PearsonCorrelation 0.809**

Sig.(2-tailed) 0.01

N 66

Thecorrelationbetweenknowledgemanagementandcompetitiveadvantageandthestrengthof

associationweredeterminedusingPearsonProductMomentcorrelationcoefficient.Thestudy

wasabletoassesswhetherthereexistsanyrelationshipbetweenthestudyvariablesbeforefurther

regressionanalysis.ThecriterionemployedwasthatCorrelationCoefficientof0.7andabovewa

sstrong,0.4andlessthan0.7wasassignedmoderateandlessthan0.4wasweak(Mirie,2014).

TheresultsinTable4.8showsthatthereisastrong,significantandpositivecorrelationbetweenkn

owledgemanagementandcompetitiveadvantagewherer=0.809,PV=0.01<0.05).

4.5RegressionAnalysis

Table4.9:RegressionModelSummary

R RSquare AdjustedRSquare Std.ErroroftheEstimate

0.8592a 0.7382 0.7195 0.0381

ThemodelsummaryresultspresentedinTable4.9showsthatR2is0.7382,StdError=0.0381indic

46

atingthatknowledgemanagementsignificantlyinfluencecompetitiveadvantageinlawfirminK

enyaby73.82%atconfidencelevelof95%.

AnalysisOfVariance

Table4.10:GoodnessofFit

Model SumofSquares df MeanSquare F Sig.

Regression 28.764 5 5.7528 4.02069

242

0.0015a

Residual 87.281 61 1.4308

Total 116.045 66

ResultinTable4.10indicatedthattheTotalvariance(116.045)wasthedifferenceintothevarianc

ewhichcanbeexplainedbytheindependentvariables(Model)andthevariancewhichwasnotexp

lainedbytheindependentvariables(Error).Thestudyestablishedthatthereexistedasignificantg

oodnessoffitofthemodelY=α+β1C+ẹ(1).Basedonthefindings,inTable4.9theresultsindicateth

eFCal=4.0206farexceedsFCri=3.034,P=0.01<0.05.

BetaCoefficientsAnalysis

Table4.11:BetaRegressionCoefficients

Model UnstandardizedCo

efficients

Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients

47

B Std.Error Beta

(Constant) 2.7753 0.308 9.011 0.0011

KnowledgeManagem

ent

0.759 0.0689 .486 11.012 0.0103

Theresultantregressionmodeltooktheform:

Y=2.7753+0.759C+ẹ.

Theregressionresultsindicatedthatpredictorknowledgemanagementhadastatisticallysignific

antandpositiverelationwithcompetitiveadvantagesinthelawfirmsinKenyaβ1C=0.759,PV=0.

0103<0.05,t=11.012.

48

CHAPTERFIVE

SUMMARYOFTHEFINDINGS,CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS

5.1Introduction

Thischapterprovidesthesummaryofthefindingsfromchapterfour.Asummaryandconcludingr

emarkonthediscourse,recommendationsandsuggestionsforfurtherresearcharelaidoutinthes

ynopsisbelowbasedontheobjectivesofthestudy.

5.2Summary

Thestudysoughttodetermineinfluenceofknowledgemanagementoncompetitiveadvantagein

lawfirmsin,NairobiCounty,Kenya.Thestudyestablishedasignificantvariationbetweenknowl

edgemanagementoncompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsof73.82%atconfidencelevelof95%.T

hisimpliesthattheimpactofknowledgemanagementcontributesignificantlytocompetitiveadv

antageinlawfirmsat95%confidenceinterval.

Fromthefindings,thestudyestablishedthatknowledgesharinghasbeenadoptedinlawfirmtoav

erygreatextentastheemployeesinthelawfirmsareabletoacquireusefulknowledgethuscontrib

utingtocompetenciesamonglawstaffinlawfirms.Thestudyrevealedthatthefirmhadadoptedth

einheritanceofknowledgefromthefoundersofafirm,knowledgeacquiredfromexperienceand

knowledgeacquiredfromotherindividualsandbusinesses.

Thestudyestablishedthatthelawfirmadoptedretentionoffirmemployeeknowledge,hadappro

priatetechnologyforsharingknowledge,hadbothsoftandhardapproachrecording.Thestudyre

49

vealedthatemployeestrainingaremandatoryinlawfirms,thereiscontinuouscapturingofinform

ationinlawfirms,lawfirmshasmoderntechnologicalsystemsthathelpinprocessinginformatio

n,usefulinformationisdisseminatedsufficientlyinservingclientsandmarketknowledgemanag

ementtoprovidequalityservices.

Itwasestablishedthatlawfirmspromoteemployeestrustandrelationshipininformationsharing,

lawfirmhasimplementedinformationcommunicationtechnologiesenhancingknowledgeshar

ingandthereisknowledgecapturingthroughdirectinteractionwithclientsandemployees.Thefi

rmsuseinformationtechnologyindisseminationofknowledgeandstoreknowledgethroughcod

ification.Thatthereisadequatesharingofinformationamongemployeesandhasadataminingto

ols.

Thefindingsfurtherrevealedthatlawfirmshasefficientprocessingofinformationevaluationan

dtechnologicalserviceproviders,firm’sinformationisvalidatedbeforedocumentationandinfo

rmationsharedisappliedinapplicationoflegalmattersoftheclients.Itisevidentthatthereispositi

veattitudeandvalueofindividualemployeesinsharinginformation,managementoflawfirmsup

portcontinuouslearningamongemployees,Inventoryoftangibleknowledgeareaccessiblebye

mployeesandfirmsundertakeinformationidentification.

Itwasrevealedthatlawfirmfirmsspecializeinthecreationandtransferoflegalinformationassets

thatincludeknowledgeabouttheplaintiff,defendant,clientandjudge,andaboutlawyers'experie

nce,expertiseandprofessionaljudgments.Majorwaysbywhichknowledgewascreatedinthefir

mswerebyattendingconferencesandattendingworkshops.Thatknowledgewastransferredwa

sbyteamworkanddiscussionsofmajorprojectsafterconclusion.Thefindingsfurtherrevealedth

50

athumanresourceplayedimportantroleininfluencingknowledgemanagement,lawfirmscreate

dachiefknowledgeofficerandaKMimplementationteam,lawfirmsfosteredaknowledgeshari

ngculture,throughthecreationofcommunitiesofpracticeandmentoringprogramsandthatfirm

memberswererewardedforinformationandknowledgesharing.

Thestudyestablishedthatknowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantagei

nlawfirm.Adoptionofemployeeknowledgeretentioninfirm,usefulinformationbeingdissemi

natedsufficientlyinservingclients,adequatesharingofinformationamongemployeesanduseof

firminventoryoftangibleknowledgebeingaccessiblebyemployeesinfluencethelawfirmstowa

rdachievingcompetitiveadvantage.Informationsharedbeingappliedinapplicationoflegalmat

tersofclients,validationofinformationbeforedocumentation,presenceofsoftandhardapproac

hrecordingandimplementationofdataminingtoolsinfluencethelawfirmstowardachievingco

mpetitiveadvantage

Itwasevidentthatemployeestrainingbeingmandatoryinlawfirm,capturingknowledgethrough

directinteractionwithclientsandemployees,efficientprocessingofinformationevaluation,use

ofinformationidentificationandexistenceofcontinuouscapturingofinformationinlawfirminfl

uencecompetitiveadvantage.Useofmoderntechnologicalsystemsthathelpinprocessinginfor

mation,supportofcontinuouslearningamongemployeesandutilizationofinformationcommu

nicationtechnologiesenhanceknowledgesharingthusinfluencethelawfirmstowardachieving

competitiveadvantage.

Thestudyestablishedthatutilizationofinformationtechnologyindisseminationofknowledge,s

torageofknowledgethroughcodification,retentionofknowledgeforeasyretrieval,attitudeand

51

valueofindividualemployeesinsharinginformationanduseoftechnologicalserviceprovidersi

nfluencethelawfirmstowardachievingcompetitiveadvantage.

5.3Conclusion

Thestudyconcludesthatthatknowledgemanagementisadisciplineinanorganizationwhichwh

enadoptedplaysanimportantsupportingfunctionbyprovidingacoordinatingmechanismtoenh

anceconversionofresourcesintocapabilities.Thestudyconcludesthatadoptionofknowledges

haringenablethefirmstohavethecapabilitytogeneratenewknowledgewithintheorganizatione

nhancingthecompetitiveadvantage.Creatingrelationshipsandallianceswithdifferentpartners

positivelyinfluenceorganization’sabilitytoacquireknowledge.Thestudyconcludesthatadopt

ionandcarryingoutofknowledgemanagementpracticesenabletheemployeesinthelawfirmsto

acquireusefulknowledgethuscontributingtocompetenciesamonglawstaffinlawfirms.Thestu

dyconcludesthatknowledgeacquisitionandleveragingknowledgethroughknowledgemanage

mentleadtocompetitiveadvantage,enhancingcosteffectivenessandsystematicharnessingofle

galknowledge.

Theroleofknowledgemanagementandtheprocessformanagingithasbecomevitalforthesurviv

aloftheorganization.Thestudyconcludesthatknowledgemanagementsystemsconnectpeoplet

oenablethemtothinktogetherandtotaketimetoarticulateandshareinformationandinsightsthe

mtoknowtheyareusefultoothersintheirworkplace.Moreover,therevariouswaysthroughwhic

hlawfirminfluenceknowledgemanagementincludingprocessofacquiringandlearningapprop

riateknowledgefromvariousinternalandexternalresources,suchasexperiences,experts,relev

52

antdocumentsandplans.Theobtainingofnewknowledgeandinformationcontributetocompete

nciesamonglawstaffinlawfirms.

Thestudyconcludesthatknowledgeapplicationinfluenceachievingofcompetitiveadvantagei

nlawfirm.Therefore,managementofknowledgeiscriticalandthemereactofprocessingknowle

dgedoesnotguaranteestrategicadvantagerather;knowledgehastobemanagedforthelawfirmst

oachievecompetitiveadvantage.

Thestudyfinallyconcludesthatknowledgemanagementpracticesinfluencethelawfirmstowar

dachievingcompetitiveadvantageasknowledgemanagementisafunctionofthegenerationand

disseminationofinformation.Moreover,developingasharedunderstandingoftheinformation,

filteringsharedunderstandingsintodegreesofpotentialvalueandstoringvaluableknowledgewi

thintheconfinesofanaccessibleorganizationalmechanismpracticesinfluencethelawfirmstow

ardachievingcompetitiveadvantage.

5.4Recommendation

Basedonthefindingsandconclusionthestudy,thefollowingpolicyrecommendationswereprop

osedtoimprovetheoverallmanagementoflawfirmstowardachievingcompetitiveadvantage.T

herecommendationsforthestudyincludethatlawfirmstofullydevelop,shareandapplyknowled

gewithintheorganizationtogainandsustainacompetitiveadvantage.Abilitytodistributeandsh

areknowledgeiscriticalfortheuseandleverageofknowledgeresourceswhichareconsideredim

portantresourcestomostorganizations.

53

Thestudyrecommendsthatlawfirmsshouldadoptknowledgemanagementpracticestoserveasa

strategicbusinessfunctioninthefirminordertoimproveonhumancapital,teamworkandoverall

organizationalperformanceandeffectiveness.Thiswillenablethelawyers,paralegals,manager

s,supportpersonnelandadministratorswhohavediverseoccupationsanddistinctfunctionstow

orktogetherandachievethedesiredoutcome.Thiswillenablethelawfirmstoachievecompetitiv

eadvantage,enhancingcosteffectivenessandsystematicharnessingoflegalknowledge.Thestu

dyrecommendsthatlawfirmsshouldconsiderknowledgemanagementasanintegralpartoftheq

ualitymanagementprocesstoachievecontinuousimprovementandperformanceexcellencethu

sinfluencingfirm’scompetitivenessintermsofmarketsharegain,salesgrowth,profitability,op

erationalefficiencyandservicequality.

5.5Limitations

Inconductingthestudy,theresearcherencounteredanumberofchallenges.Oneofthechallenges

wasinadequatecooperationfromsomeofthelawcompanies’respondentswhowereunwillingto

providedataforthestudy.Thisstudywasdependentonprimarydatafromselectedlawfirms’inter

vieweeswhowereunwillingtooffersuchinformation.However,theresearcherexplainedtothe

managementthatthesoughtinformationwasjustforacademicresearchandwouldbeusedforaca

demicresearchandconfidentialityinhandlingsuchdatawasguaranteed.

Additionally,thestudyfocusesonlawfirmsandhencethefindingscouldnotbegeneralizedtooth

erinstitutionsand/orotherprivateorganizationsinKenya.Thirdly,theinformationgivenwaslim

itedassomeintervieweesweresecretiveorratherlimitedtheinformationtheygaveout.Someofth

einformationsuchascompetitivenessofthelawfirmwascrucialforthestudytomakeaformidabl

54

econclusion.However,theresearchermadeeffortsandinformedtheintervieweesthattheinform

ationtheywouldprovidedwouldbeheldconfidential.

5.6Recommendationforfurtherstudies

Thisstudydeterminedtheinfluenceofknowledgemanagementoncompetitiveadvantageinlaw

firmsin,NairobiCounty,Kenya.Thestudyrevealedthatknowledgemanagementcontributesgr

eatlytocompetitiveadvantageinlawfirms.ThisisevidencedbytheR-

Squarewhichisthecoefficientofdeterminationthatshowedthattheindependentvariableinthem

odelexplainabigpercentageofcompetitiveadvantage.Thestudyrecommendsfurtherresearcho

ntheeffectofvariousknowledgemanagementpracticescompetitiveadvantageinlawfirmsin,N

airobiCounty,Kenya.

ThisstudyfurtherrecommendsaninclusionoflawfirmsinotherCountiesinKenyainasimilarstu

dyasacontrol.Suchastudycanfacilitateindeterminingtheextentofsimilaritiesintheknowledge

managementanditsimplicationonthecompetitiveadvantageoftheentirelegalenvironment.Af

urtherstudyshouldbecarriedouttoassesstheinfluenceofknowledgemanagementoncompetitiv

eadvantageamongthelawfirmsinKenyaparticularlydeterminingtheeffectsofknowledgeacqu

isitionandleveragingknowledgethroughknowledgemanagementthatleadtocompetitiveadva

ntage.

55

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59

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Introduction letter

The management

………………….,

P.O Box

Nairobi.

Re: DATA COLLECTION

I am a student at the University of Nairobi pursuing a Masters of Business Administration

program. Pursuant to the pre-requisite course work, I am like conducting a research

project on investigation of INFLUENCE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON

ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN AMONG LAW FIRMS IN

NAIROBI

The focus of my research will be law firm in Nairobi and this will involve use of

questionnaires administered to members of the management team.

I am kindly seeking your assistance in data collection by answering the questions in the

questionnaire. The information you will provide will be used for academic purpose only.

I have enclosed an introductory letter from the University.

Your assistance will be is highly valued.

Thank you in advance.

Yours faithfully,

Kibathi Elias

60

Appendix II: Questionnaire

Kindly answer the following questions by ticking in the appropriate box or filling the

spaces provided.

SEC A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1. What is your designation in this hotel? ……………………………………………

2. Indicate your level of academic qualification

Degree ( )

Master ( )

Postgraduate ( )

Any other, kindly indicate……………………………………………..

3. How long have you worked in the law firm?

Less than 2 years ( )

2-5 years ( )

6-8 years ( )

Over 8 years ( )

4. Indicate how low your law firm has been in operation

Less than 1 years ( )

1-2 years ( )

3-4 years ( )

4.5 years ( )

Over 5 years ( )

SECTION B: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

4. Indicate the extent to which knowledge sharing has been adopted in your hotel?

Very great extent [ ]

Great extent [ ]

Neutral [ ]

61

Small extent [ ]

Very small extent [ ]

Give reasons for your answer………………………………………………………..

5. Using a scale of 1-5 indicate the extent to which your law firm adopt the following

knowledge management is being carried out? (1-No at all, 2-to small extent, 3-to a

moderate Extent, 4- to a large Extent and 5- to a very large Extent)

Statement 1 2 3 4 5

Our law firm adopt retention of firm employee knowledge

Our law firm has both soft and hard approach recording

The law firm retain its knowledge for easy retrieval

Our law firm store knowledge through codification

Technological service providers

In our law firm Inventory of tangible knowledge are accessible by

employees

Market knowledge management to provide quality hotel services

Our law firm has modern technological systems that help in processing

information

Our law firm has implemented information communication

technologies enhancing knowledge sharing

Our law firm has appropriate technology for sharing knowledge

Our law firm promote employees trust and relationship in information

sharing

Our law firm undertake information identification

Our firm use information technology in dissemination of knowledge

There is knowledge capturing through direct interaction with clients and

employees

62

Our law firm has a data mining tools

Employees training is mandatory in our law firm

The management of our law firm support continuous learning among

employees

Our law firm has efficient processing of information evaluation

In our law firm information is validated before documentation

There is adequate sharing of information among employees in our law firm

Useful information is disseminated sufficiently in serving our client

Information shared is applied in application of legal matters of our clients

There is continuous capturing of information in our law firm

There is positive attitude and value of individual employees in sharing

information

6. Indicate other ways through which your law firm has influence knowledge

management ………………………………………………………………………………..

SEC C: EXTENT TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON ACHIEVING

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN LAW FIRMS IN, NAIROBI COUNTY

7. To what extent do you agreed that knowledge application influence achieving of

competitive advantage in your law firm?

i. Strongly agree [ ]

ii. Agree [ ]

iii. Neutral [ ]

iv. Disagree [ ]

v. Strongly disagree [ ]

63

8. Using a scale of 1-5, indicate the extent to which with the following statement

concerning influence of knowledge management practices toward achieving competitive

advantage in your law firm? (1-No at all, 2-to small extent, 3-to a moderate Extent, 4- to

a large Extent and 5- to a very large Extent)

Statement 1 2 3 4 5

Adoption of retention of firm employee knowledge

Presence of soft and hard approach recording

Retention of knowledge for easy retrieval

Storage of knowledge through codification

Use of Technological service providers

Use of firm Inventory of tangible knowledge are accessible by

employees

Use of modern technological systems that help in processing

information

Utilization of information communication technologies

enhancing knowledge sharing

Promotion of employees trust and relationship in information

sharing

Use of information identification

Utilization of information technology in dissemination of knowledge

Capturing knowledge through direct interaction with clients and

employees

Implementation of data mining tools

Employees training is mandatory in our law firm

Support of continuous learning among employees

Efficient processing of information evaluation

Validation of information before documentation

Adequate sharing of information among employees in our law firm

Useful information is disseminated sufficiently in serving our client

Information shared is applied in application of legal matters of our

clients

Existence of continuous capturing of information in our law firm

Attitude and value of individual employees in sharing

information

9. In your own opinion, indicate other ways that knowledge management influence

achieving of competitive advantage in your law firm…………………………

......................................................................................................................................

64

AppendixIII:KnowledgeGaps

Au

tho

r(S

)an

dY

ear

StudyFocus Researchm

ethodology

ResearchFindings Knowledge

Gap(S)

HowCurrentStudywi

lladdressGaps

Mu

ga

mbi

and

Kw

asir

a(2

015

)

InfluenceofKnowl

edgemanagemento

nperformanceofleg

alfirmsinNakuruC

ounty.

-

Descriptives

urveyresear

chdesign,stu

dy-

Populationo

f162respond

ents,

-

Simplerand

omSamplin

g

Correlationa

ndregressio

n

Findingsindicatesharin

g(r=0.664)hadasignifi

cantinfluenceonperfor

manceoflegalfirms

-

Didnotconsi

derknowledg

emanagemen

tandcompetit

iveadvantage

inlawfirmsin

Kenya

Thestudywillfocusond

eterminingwhetherthe

reexistasignificantrela

tionshipbetweenknow

ledgemanagementand

competitiveadvantage

inlawfirmsinNairobi,

Kenya.

Ag

bim

,Ze

ver

and

Ori

are

wo(

201

4

Relationshipbetwe

enknowledgeacqui

sitionandcompetiti

veadvantageinhos

pitalityindustryfoc

usingonhotelsinBe

nueState,Nigeria

Adoptedex-

post-

factoresearc

hdesignand

multistagesa

mplingtechn

ique.

UseQuestio

nnaireindata

collection

Regressioni

nTestinghyp

othesis

Knowledgeacquisition

hasasignificantinfluen

ceonachievingcompeti

tiveadvantageinhotelsi

nBenueEstateNigeria

Useex-post-

factoresearch

design-

aquasi-

experimental

study

Focusonhote

lasunitofanal

ysis

-

WillfocusonKMandco

mpetitiveadvantage-

Lawfirmswillbestudy

units

-

Descriptiveresearchsu

rveymethod.

Mo

ha

mm

ada

ndS

hoa

ib(

201

5

Impactofkn

owledgema

nagementpr

acticesonor

ganizationa

lperforman

ceinBanksi

nPakistan

Descriptives

urveyresear

chdesign

Usequestion

naireindatac

ollection

targetpopula

tionwas256

banks

-

Usingcorrel

ationandregr

ThestudyrevealedKM

Phadasignificantinflue

nceonbankperformanc

e

Thisstudyho

weverfocuse

sonknowled

gemanageme

ntinbanksan

dperformanc

e

Thecurrentstudywoul

dfocusondeterminingt

heinfluenceofknowled

gemanagementonachi

evingcompetitiveadva

ntageinlawfirmsindev

elopingcounties,Keny

a

65

essionanalys

istechnique

Gic

huk

i(2

014

)

Determinethekno

wledgemanageme

ntpracticesadopted

byhotelsinthecoast

alregion,Kenyaina

chievingcompetiti

veadvantage

-

Thestudyuse

dadescriptiv

esurveydesi

gn

-

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ation47hotel

s

Questionnai

refordatacol

lection

-

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tatistics

Thestudyrevealedthatt

hatKMinfluenceachie

vementofcompetitivea

dvantageinhotelsinKe

nya

Thisstudyho

weverfocuse

sonknowled

gemanageme

ntandextentit

achievecomp

etitiveadvant

ageinhotels

Thecurrentstudywillfo

cuswhetherknowledge

managementhasledtoa

chievementofcompetit

iveadvantageinlegalfir

msduetoincreaseinlaw

firmsandcompetitiven

essinlegalsectorsinKe

nya

Gh

ola

mi,

Asl

i,N

aza

ri-

Shi

rko

uhi

and

Nor

uzy

(20

13

Investigatedtheinfl

uenceofknowledge

managementpracti

cesonorganization

alperformance

Structuraleq

uationmodel

ing.Targetp

opulationof

282seniorm

anagers

Theresultsshowedthat

knowledgeacquisition,

knowledgestorage,kno

wledgecreation,knowl

edgeinfluenceSMEspe

rformance

Thestudyfoc

usonKMand

performance

ofSMEsandf

ailedtokinkK

Mandcompet

itiveadvanta

geinlawfirms

Thecurrentstudyseekt

odeterminetherelation

shipbetweenknowledg

emanagementpractice

sdirectlyandcompetiti

veadvantageinlawfirm

sinNairobiCounty,Ke

nya

Sai

ni(

201

3)

Examinedimpactof

KnowledgeManag

ementPracticesonc

ompetitivenessofS

MEsinIndia.

Adoptedastr

ucturalequat

ionmodelin

gapproach

Thestudyuse

dprimarydat

acollectedfr

omthreeSM

Esinsoftwar

e,pharmace

uticalandtex

tilesinNorth

India

Thestudyrevealedthatk

nowledgemanagement

practiceshaveasignific

antinfluenceonorganiz

ationalperformance,co

mpetitivenessandempl

oyeeretentionratesinth

eselectedSMEs

Thestudyfoc

usonknowle

dgemanage

mentandcom

petitivenessi

nSMEsinInd

ia

Thestudyfailedtolinkk

nowledgemanagement

tocompetitiveadvanta

geinlawfirmsinNairob

iCounty,Kenya

Kh

ara

bsh

eha

nd

Aqr

Examinedtherelati

onshipbetweenkno

wledgemanageme

ntpracticesandafir

m’sdifferentiations

trategyandcompeti

Usedquestio

nnairesurve

yof16pharm

aceuticalco

mpanies

Targetpopul

Thestudyestablishedth

atinformationsharingt

oshareknowledgehasa

positiverelationshipwi

thafirm’sdifferentiatio

nstrategyandachieving

Thestudyfoc

usonKMandf

irm’sdifferen

tiationstrateg

yandcompeti

tiveadvantag

Thecurrentstudyfocus

onexamineKMandco

mpetitiveadvantageinl

awfirmsinKenya

66

aba

wi(

201

3)

tiveadvantageinph

armaceuticalcomp

anies

ationwas121

respondents

-

adoptedMul

tipleregressi

onanalysis

competitiveadvantagei

npharmaceuticalcomp

anies

einpharmace

uticalcompa

nies

Fo

mb

ad

M.(

201

5)

investigatedinflue

nceofadoptionofkn

owledgemanagem

entonachievingco

mpetitiveedgeinla

wfirmsinBotswana

Thestudyad

optedsurvey

researchdesi

gn

Targetpopul

ationall115r

egisteredlaw

firmsand217

lawyers

Theresultsrevealedthat

enablingenvironmenta

doptionofknowledgem

anagementenhancesco

steffectivenessandsyst

ematicharnessingofleg

alknowledge.

Thestudyfoc

usonfactorsi

nfluenceado

ptionofknow

ledgemanage

mentinLawF

irms

Thecurrentstudywillfo

cusontherelationshipb

etweenknowledgeman

agementandcompetiti

veadvantageinlawfirm

sinNairobi,Kenya