KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOWARDS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A CASE STUDY OF TELECOM INDUSTRY

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find out the basic components which can be obtained from Knowledge Management (KM) as pre-requisites for Competitive Advantage (CA) in the telecommunication industry. With the aim to explore the dynamic and competitive nature of telecom industry, the research was conducted with the help of an extensive review of Pakistan’s telecom industry followed by the questionnaire survey from 300 respondents, having at least engineering degree from five capital cities. Correlation and regression analysis in SPSS was used for reaching the conclusion. The results indicate that KM has strong relationships with Economic Growth (EG), Innovations/Developments (I/D), Individual Capabilities (IC) and Organizational Capabilities (OC). And they have a strong correlation with CA. All of the assumed hypotheses were supported except the relationship between EG and CA was rejected in regression analysis. The study adds a noteworthy idea to the body of knowledge regarding KM and CA in the telecom industry. The variable used in this research also adds a unique combination through which CA can be obtained and KM can be used. The paper has strong application in the telecom industry’s top and middle management for achieving CA. Although the study was conducted in the telecom sector, yet it claims for its application in other industries as well. CA in any industry is not an easy task to be achieved so easily. There may have many other factors that can contribute a lot but due to the limited scope of the study, they were not included. They can be studied and added to the work of this paper in the future.