1. ¹School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, U.K.
2. ²Monash University Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
3. ³The Business School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, U.K.

Correspondence: Catherine L. Wang, School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1784 414299; E-mail: catherine.wang@rhul.ac.uk

Received 20 June 2007; Revised 6 December 2007; Re-revised 3 March 2008; Re-revised 21 April 2008; Accepted 24 April 2008; Published online 27 May 2008.

Abstract

We introduce the concept of knowledge management orientation (KMO) – the degree to which a firm demonstrates behaviors of organized and systematic knowledge management (KM) implementation. Based on an extensive review of the KM literature, the KMO concept is operationalized as a second-order latent construct consisting of four main component factors: organizational memory, knowledge sharing, knowledge absorption, and knowledge receptivity. We then validate the KMO construct using data from 213 United Kingdom firms. The findings provide strong support for the unidimensionality, reliability, discriminant validity, and convergent validity of the KMO construct. We also test the impact of KMO on firm performance and find a significant, positive relationship, providing support for the predictive validity of the KMO construct. Our findings suggest that KMO is an effective measure of the firm-level KM-oriented behaviors. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the KMO construct are also discussed.