International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

The Relationship between Organization Structure and Performance in Commercial Banks in Kenya: The Mediating Role of Innovation

Open access
In a knowledge economy most business processes are viewed through knowledge capability. However, the real challenge is in developing an adequate system of knowledge management in companies that will give them a competitive edge. The question is; how do firms develop knowledge capability, and what is the effect of strategic knowledge capability on a firm’s performance? This research sought to find out the relationship between strategic knowledge capability and performance in commercial banks in Kenya with specific interest on the mediating role of innovation. Specifically, the study sought to find out how organizational structure impacts on the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study employed the social survey methodology of study, using questionnaire as the main tool for data collection. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively using both descriptive and inferential statistics to help establish how possession of strategic knowledge capability affects the performance of commercial banks in Kenya. To actualize this, data was collected using a single questionnaire distributed to each of the Chief Executive Officers of all forty-three banks. A drop and pick later procedure for questionnaire administration was used to distribute them. Data gathered was then analyzed quantitatively using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools; specifically Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis, with the finding that organization structure had no significant influence on both innovation and performance in commercial banks in Kenya. The conclusion that the strategic knowledge capability defined by organization structure had no significant effect on the performance in commercial bank was reached.
Ackerman, P. L. & Cianciolo, A.T. (2000). Cognitive, Perceptual-Speed and Psychomotor Determinants of Individual Differences during Skill Acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6(4), 259-290. DOI: 10.1037//1076-898X
Amit, R. & Schoemaker, P.J.H. (1993). Strategic Resources and Organizational Rent. Strategic Management Journal, 14, 33–46.
April, K.A. (2002). Guidelines for Developing a K-Strategy. Journal of Knowledge Management, 6(5), 445-56.
Argyres, N.S., & Silverman, B.S. (2004). R & D, Organization Structure and the Development of Corporate Technological Knowledge. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 8-9.
Asava-Kihima, L.(2009). Knowledge Management for Competitive Advantage Within Commercial Banks in Kenya. Unpublished Manuscript, University of Nairobi, Nairobi.
Beck, T., Levine, R. & Loayza, N. (2000). Finance and the Sources of Growth. Journal of Financial Economics, 58, 261–300.
Brace, I. (2013). Questionnaire design: How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for Effective Market Research (Market Research in Practice). London: Kogan Page
Chakrabarti, G. & Sen, C. (2013). Momentum trading on the Indian stock market. Springer. DOI:10.1007/978-81-322-1127-3_1
Chen, C. J., & Huang, J. W. (2009). Strategic Human Resource Practices and Innovation Performance—the Mediating Role of Knowledge Management Capacity. Journal of Business Research. 62(1), 104-114.
Conner, K. R. (1991). A Historical Comparison of Resource-Based Theory and Five Schools of Thought Within Industrial Organization Economics: Do We Have a New Theory of the Firm? Journal of Management, 17(1), 121- 154.
Conner, K. R., & Prahalad, C. K. (1996). A Resource-Based Theory of the Firm: Knowledge Versus Opportunism. Organization science. 7(5), 477-501.
Damanpour, F. & Gopalakrishnan, S. (2001). The Dynamics of the Product and Process Innovations in Organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 38(1), 45-65.
Darroch, J., & McNaughton, R. (2002). Examining the Link Between Knowledge Management Practices and Types of Innovation. Journal of intellectual capital, 3(3), 210-222.
Doane, P.D., & Seward, L.E. (2011). Measuring Skewness: A Forgotten Statistic? Journal of Statistics Education, 19(2).
Dobni, C. B. (2008). Measuring Innovation Culture in Organizations: The Development of a Generalized Innovation Culture Construct Using Exploratory Factor Analysis. European Journal of Innovation Management, 11(4), 539-559.
Garcia, R., & Calantone, R. (2003). A Critical Look at Technological Innovation Typology and Innovativeness Terminology: A Literature Review. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 19 (2), 110-132.
Gelard, Emamisaleh, Hassanabadi & Radi, (2013). Looking into Knowledge Management from Organizational Structure Perspective. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(2), 519-529, ISSN 2306 - 9007
Grant, R.M. (1996). Towards a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm. Strategic Management Journal. 17 Winter Special Issue,109-122.
Halawi, L., Aronson, J. & McCarthy, R. (2005). Resource-Based View of Knowledge Management for Competitive Advantage. The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 3 (2), 75-86, Retrieved online from www.ejkm.com
Hana, U. (2013). Competitive Advantage Achievement through Innovation and Knowledge. Journal of Competitiveness, 5(1), 82-96. DOI: 0.7441/joc.2013.01.06.
Harlow, H. (2008). The Effect of Tacit Knowledge on Firm Performance. Journal of Knowledge Management, 12 (1), 148-163.
Huang, J. W., & Li, Y. H. (2009). The Mediating Effect of Knowledge Management on Social Interaction and Innovation Performance. International Journal of Manpower, 30(3), 285-301.
Jackson, S.E., Hitt, M.A. & DeNisi, A.S. (2003). Managing Knowledge for Sustained Competitive Advantage: Designing Strategies for Effective Human Resource Management, in N. Schmitt (eds), The Organizational Frontiers, 1st edn., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Jelenic, D. (2011). The Importance of Knowledge Management in Organizations - with Emphasis on the Balanced Scorecard Learning and Growth Perspective. Retrieved from https://ideas.repec.org/h/isv/mklp11/33-43.html on 21st April, 2015.
Kangogo, F. & Gachunga, H. (2015). Influence of Knowledge Management Practices on Enhancing Service Delivery in the Banking Sector in Kenya: A Case of Commercial Banks in Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business and Change Management, 2 (84), 1072 - 1100
Kim, W.C. & Mauborgne,R. (2005).Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Spae and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Boston: Harvard Business School.
KÖr, B. & Maden, C. (2013). The Relationship Between Knowledge Management and Innovation in Turkish Service and High-tech Firms. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4 (4), 293-304.
Lee, H. & Choi, B. (2003). Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes and Organizational Performance: An Integrative View and Empirical Examination, Journal of Management Information Systems, 20(1), 179-228.
Lemon, M., & Sahota, P. S. (2004). Organizational Culture as a Knowledge Repository for Increased Innovative Capacity. Technovation, 24(6), 483–498.
Leonard, D. & Swap, W. (1999). When Sparks Fly: Igniting Creativity in Groups. Boston: Harvard Business School.
Leticia, M., & Ignacio, L. (2007). Innovativeness and Organizational Innovation in Total Quality Oriented Firms: The Moderating Role of Market Turbulence. Technovation, 27 (9), 514-532.
Lin Xiaoyan N S (2013). The Linkage Between Knowledge Management Practices and Company Performance: Empirical Evidence. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 6(1), 1-7.
Mahmoudsalehi, M., Moradkhannejad,R. & Safari, K. (2012). How Knowledge Management is Affected by Organizational Structure. The Learning Organization, 19 (6), 518 - 528
Marr, B. (2008). Impacting Future Value: How to Manage your Intellectual Capital. Management Accounting Guideline. Published by: The Society of Management Accountants of Canada (CMA Canada), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Inc. (AICPA) and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
Mavondo, F.T., Chimhanzi, J. & Stewart, J. (2005). Learning Orientation and Market Orientation: Relationship with Innovation, Human Resource Practices and Performance. European Journal of Marketing, 39 (11), 1235-1263.
McKinsey & Company, Koller, T.,Geodhart, M. & Wessels, D. (2010). Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://bus.safaribooksonline.com/book/finance/9780470889930
Migdadi, M.M. (2005). In Search of Strategic Assets. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 5(4):360-87.
Mitrovic, A., McGuigan, N., Martin, B., Suraweera, P., Milik, N., & Holland, J. (2008). Authoring Constraint-Based Tutors in ASPIRE: A Case Study of a Capital Investment Tutor. In Proceedings of the World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications (ED-MEDIA 2008). (pp. 4607-4616). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Mohammed, A. A. (2011). Knowledge Systems: A Catalyst for Innovation and Organizational Learning Support in Decision-Making for Efficiency Improvement. International Journal of Human Resource Studies. 1(1), ISSN 2162-3058.
Mugenda, O.M. & Mugenda, A.G. (2003). Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. Nairobi: Acts Press.
Muhammad, A. K., Hasan A. & Kashifur R. (2009). Impact of Task Conflict on Employee’s Performance of Financial Institutions. European Journal of Scientific Research, 27 (4), 479-487.
Naudé, M.(2012). Sustainable Development and Organizational Learning: Mutually Supportive? International Journal of Business and Management Studies, 1(1), 523–540.
Ning, Y., Fan, Z. & Feng, B (2006). Knowledge Capability: A Definition and Research Model. Knowledge Science, Engineering and Management. Springer, Heidelberg. DOI. 10.1007/11811220_28.
Prodromos D. C. & Vraimaki, H. (2009). Knowledge-Sharing Behavior of Bank Employees in Greece. Journal Business Process Management, 15 (2), 245-266.
Pan, Y., & Jackson, R. T. (2008). Ethnic Difference in the Relationship Between Acute Inflammation and Serum Ferritin in US Adult Males. Epidemiology and Infection, 136(3), 421- 431.
Plessis, M. (2007). The Role of Knowledge Management in Innovation. Journal of knowledge management, 11(4),20-29.
Prahalad, C. K., & Hamel, G. (1990). The core competence of the corporation.
Harvard Business Review. 68(3), 79-91.
Rasoulinezhad, E. (2011). Measuring the Role of Knowledge Management Processes in the Commercial Banks of Iran. The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(4), 353-364, Retrieved from www.ejkm.com.
Razali, N. M., & Wah, Y.B. (2011). Power Comparisons of Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Lilliefors and Anderson-Darling tests. Journal of Statistical Modelling and Analytics, 2(1), 21-33.
Republic of Kenya (2014). Bank Supervision Annual Report 2014. Nairobi: Government Printer.
Republic of Kenya (2015). Bank Supervision Annual Report 5. Nairobi: Government Printer.
Riahi-Belkaoui, A. (2003). Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance of US Multinational Firms. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 4(2), 215-26
Saint-Onge, H. & Wallace, D. (2012). Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage. Burlington, MA.: Elsevier
Saint-Onge, H. & Armstrong, C. (2004). The Conductive Organization: Building Beyond Sustainability. Burlington, MA. : Elsevier
Saint-Onge, H. (2000). Strategic Capabilities Shaping Human Resource Management within the Knowledge-Driven Enterprise. Retrieved from http://www.providersedge.com/docs/km_articles/
Sullivan, G.M. (2011). A Primer on the Validity of Assessment Instruments. Journal of Graduate Education, 3(2): 119-120 Doi 10.4300/JGME-D-11-00075.1. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Tanaji, B.S. (2012). Benefits of Knowledge Management System for Banking Sector. International Journal of Computer Science and Communication, 3(1), 133-137. Retrieved from www.researchgate.net.
Van de Ven, A. H. (1986). Central Problems in the Management of Innovation. Management science, 32(5), 590-607.
Wilson, G. (2007). Knowledge, Innovation and Re-inventing Technical Assistance for Development. Progress in Development Studies, 7(3), 183-199.
Zaltman, G., Duncan, R. & Holbek, J. (1973). Innovations and Organizations. New York: Wiley.
Omondi, J. S. (2017). The Relationship between Organization Structure and Performance in Commercial Banks in Kenya: The Mediating Role of Innovation. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(4), 565-592.