Knowledge management and implementations in terms of gaining competitive advantage in small and medium-sized enterprises: The organized industrial zone case in Malatya province

The aim of this study, which is prepared as a doctoral dissertation, is to demonstrate the contribution of knowledge management practices in SMEs to the competitiveness of the business. Within the scope of the research, it was tried to find answers to the questions such as what is knowledge management, and has competition superiority been achieved with knowledge management practice in SMEs. The investigation group of the study consisted of 158 enterprises accessible from 265 SMEs operating in Malatya province center. In the study, a questionnaire consisting of closed-ended and 5-point Likert scale questionnaires were used as data collection method. Those who responded related to the field were asked to show their reactions according to the classification principle of 5. The categories in this classification are valued from 1 to 5 and the analyzes are based on these values. The questionnaire was applied to the administrative staff of the management in order to reduce the mistakes of measurement errors. The questionnaire was conducted face-to-face with an individual visit to the SMEs. In addition to this, resource browsing method has been utilized to reach institutional and theoretical knowledge. SPSS 23 and AMOS programs were used to analyze the data obtained.The hypotheses used to test whether the level of knowledge management practice is a tool for the competitive advantage of SMEs are subjected to correlation and regression analysis.As the conclusion of the study; the results showing knowledge management practices contribute to the competitiveness of SMEs were obtained. Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge Management, SME, Competitiveness.