Knowledge Management Practices and Academician Well-Being: A Case Study of Selected Private Universities in Malaysia

Siti Murni Mat Khairi; Norzanah  Mat Nor; Elaina Rose Johar; Herwina Rosnan

doi:10.31436/ijema.v32i1.1110

Authors

Siti Murni Mat Khairi Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kedah, Malaysia
Norzanah Mat Nor Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Elaina Rose Johar Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
Herwina Rosnan Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/ijema.v32i1.1110

Keywords:

Knowledge management, Employee well-being, Academicians, Private university

Abstract

Academicians and practitioners have considered knowledge management practices as the keys to organizational competitive advantage which would contribute to the success of a business organization. Previous studies on knowledge management practices and employee well-being, however, have received little attention. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between knowledge management practices, specifically knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, knowledge codification and knowledge retention on academicians’ well-being. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to gather data from academicians in selected private universities in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed and gathered with a total of 170 usable responses. The analysis of the findings was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS). The findings suggested that knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and knowledge retention are likely to improve academicians’ well-being. The findings also revealed that knowledge sharing and knowledge codification are not significant with academicians’ well-being. This paper is limited to academicians in private higher education institutions. Hence, this limits the generalizability of the results. Future research could therefore test the applicability of these findings beyond the higher education sector. Studies comprising the relationship between the five main knowledge management practices and academicians’ well-being are still lagging in the academic literature. This study provides theoretical as well as practical information on a relatively unexplored area.

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