Aligning Human Resource Management with Knowledge Management for Better Organizational Performance: How Human Resource Practices Support Knowledge Management Strategies?

Contributing to the HR-approach to knowledge management (KM), this chapter aims at outlining the role of human resource management (HRM) in supporting KM through utilizing the theoretical and empirical literature. The article is divided into two sections. The first section presents various knowledge concepts, KM perspectives and KM strategies. This section ends up by linking these topics in a KM sequential model which helps us to track the philosophical underpinnings and perspectives of each KM strategy. The second section investigates various HR orientations and HR practices and situates their differing contextual characteristics under each KM strategy. It aligns various HR practices with different KM strategies; suggesting that HRM is most effective as a combination of practices that are consistent and sharpened in supporting each KM strategy, which is part of the organizational strategy. The debated practices are recruitment and selection, compensation management, training and development, performance management, retention management and career management. Each of those practices is speculated to alter based on the chosen KM strategy; presenting a framework that is useful for practitioners and academics alike. The review ends up by identifying some research gaps and opportunities to be carried out in future studies. Those research gaps, if addressed, will extend our understanding of KM and the supporting role HRM.