Relationships between Knowledge Management and Quality Management in Organizational Performance: an Integrative Review

This study sought to identify which are the relationships between knowledge management and quality management in organizational performance, through the analysis of facilitators, mediators and existing results between the elements. The method used was an integrative literature review, based on the PRISMA recommendation. The data survey was carried out in Web of Science, Scopus and SciELO databases. The searches took place in October 2020. Based on a group of 19 scientific articles belonging to the study areas: management, business, operations and economics, the authors analyzed the research and recommendations in the context of organizations. The most frequent relationship between the constructs presented was quality management as a facilitating element and knowledge management as a mediating element in achieving organizational performance. The most frequent knowledge management practices and processes were knowledge sharing and acquisition. Regarding the principles and practices of quality management, a greater number of articles using the principles of TQM were identified. Knowledge management and quality management have a positive relationship in the performance of organizations. The use of only two variables can help in the identification of relationships, although an analysis of organizational performance in an integrated manner requires an analysis from different perspectives, including new variables. The performance indicators present in the articles were not entirely objective. In addition, it was evident the absence of studies that had emerging and innovative economies as a population.