Assessing the Role of Knowledge Management Practices on Lecturers' Work Innovativeness: Evidence from Malaysian Private Higher Education Institutions

The rising demand of higher education and the rising cost of pursuing study overseas have made Malaysian private higher education institution to be a platform for local students to pursue their tertiary education. In recent years, a noticeable growth of private higher education institutions.(HEIs) and thus increase the competition among the private HEIs to attract students. The core competitiveness in private HEIs is highly relied on the competence and capability of their workforce, which refer to the lecturers. The ability of the lecturers to deliver the course in the effective and innovative manner is depended on their innovative work behaviors. The present research exaMined the relationship between the predictor, namely knowledge management practices (knowledge creation, knowledge organization, knowledge storage, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application) and lecturers' work innovativeness. This survey data was derived from a sample of 105 lecturers in private HEIs in Malaysia. Results from the regression analyses indicated that of the five dimensions of knowledge management practices, only knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination were found to have a significant positive effect on lecturers' work innovativeness. This paper concludes with a discussion of the implications and limitations of the research.