An empirical study on the relationships between knowledge management, knowledge-oriented human resource practices and innovation

The main purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse relationships between human resource (HR) and knowledge management (KM) practices and their effect on the firm’s innovation performance. From the knowledge‐based view of the firm, hypotheses based on the specific interactions between an integrated set of KM and knowledge‐oriented HR practices were established and statistically tested in a sample of 111 Spanish companies from technological industries. Survey methodology was used with the aim to gather data about KM practices and other related organizational aspects. Overall, this paper provides empirical evidence of a moderating effect of a set of knowledge‐oriented HR practices in the relationship between KM exploitation practices and innovation performance. In line with previous research, we suggest that although KM practices are important in themselves for innovation purposes, when specific organizational conditions are properly established by managers the innovation capacity of the firm will significantly be improved and more successfully utilized.