Knowledge management towards enhancing academic performance in tertiary institutions

Abstract

Tertiary institutions in developing countries have in their possession a huge stock of knowledge flow that calls for proper management especially in this era of knowledge economy. This study aimed at empirically examining the influence of knowledge management on academic performance in tertiary institutions in south-west Nigeria. The work paid particular attention to the awareness level of knowledge management (KM), factors responsible for effective knowledge management, metric for measuring knowledge management and its influence on academic performance. The study also sought to develop a model for successful knowledge management implementation in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The study adopted mixed methods and survey method by employing stratified random sampling to select 10 out of the 46 tertiary institutions in south-west Nigeria and purposive sampling to select 50 respondents from each institution. The closed-ended questionnaire for data collection was designed using the Likert scaling system but both the closed and open-ended questionnaires were administered on the total sample population of 500. While qualitative data was analysed with content analysis using Atlas.ti version 8 for data coding and analysis, and Microsoft Excel 2010 for data presentation. Both conventional analysis and structural equation model were used to analyses the hypotheses. SPSS version 21 over frequency count, percentage score, pie chart, Chi-Square test (X2), exploratory factor analysis, Pearson correlation, linear regression analysis and multiple regression analysis and Analysis of Moment Structure software package version 26 over comparative fit index, root mean square error of approximation, Chi-square statistics, normed fit index, relative fit index, Tucker Lewis index, incremental fit index, and the goodness of fit index were adopted for quantitative data analysis. The result showed that the knowledge management awareness level in the institutions was high but still at a developing stage. It was also discovered that positive and linear significant relationship exists between knowledge management capabilities (process, enabler and strategy) and knowledge management success as well as academic performance, thereby suggesting that: (1) knowledge management capabilities have a positive influence on knowledge management success and academic performance thereby acting as a catalyst to them. (2) knowledge management success has a positive influence on the key indicators of academic performance. Therefore, for knowledge management to move from a developing phase to a developed phase in Nigerian institutions, the education sector must adopt and integrate these knowledge management catalysts (process, enabler and strategy) into their operations to enhance academic performance.