The Role of Knowledge Systems in Corporate Decision Making Process: an Empirical Investigation

Knowledge management (KM) is the hottest subject of the day. This is because KM is a conscious strategy for moving the right knowledge to all employees at the right time to assist sharing and enabling the information to be translated into action to improve the organizational performance (OP). This research aims at harnessing the concept of KM as an essential element in the creation of sustainable competitive advantage for organisations. A conceptual model based on the literature review and consultations with knowledge workers was developed. Additionally, a pilot study with collaborating organizations active in manufacturing in Iraq was performed to validate the conceptual model and facilitate an exploratory investigation regarding the relationships. Data was collected using personal interviews with managers and knowledge workers at the enterprises and the use of surveys circulated by random samples to the firms. The study identified a high correlation between KM and OP. Findings revealed high correlation between computer based decision support systems (DSS) and OP from the study.