The effect of knowledge management on employees' performance in Iraqi organizations

The modern knowledge revolution has led most organizations to think about adopting different kinds of knowledge management (KM) systems. Organizations have started new strategies to engage and apply different KM practices. Their main goal is to improve their employees' performance. Previous researches have shown that improving employees' performance benefits both the employees and organizations. This thesis assesses the knowledge management practices in a group of universities in Iraq. It investigates the impact of KM practices on the performance of their employees. This thesis presents evidence for the efficacy of KM practices in Iraqi universities. The research hypothesis is that KM practices can statistically and significantly affect the performance of employees in Iraqi universities. The number of employees who were chosen randomly as a sample was 650 employees. The sample size is set at 250. The data on the study dimensions were collected by the questionnaire method. The statistical tests and analyses were carried out using the SSPS 17.0 software. The findings revealed that the employees' performance is significantly impacted by knowledge management practices in Iraqi universities. Specifically, Perceptions of Knowledge, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, and Synthesis of Knowledge can improve the Task Performance and Contextual Performance of the employees in the universities. However, they cannot improve their Counterproductive Work Behavior. These results support partially the study hypotheses. According to the study, universities in Iraq should continue to use KM to improve the performance of their employees.