Content uploaded by Robert K.W Egessa
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Robert K.W Egessa on Dec 01, 2022
Content may be subject to copyright.
Available via license: CC BY 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 11(6)(2022) 209-217
* Corresponding author. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1862-2823
© 2022 by the authors. Hosting by SSBFNET. Peer review under responsibility of Center for Strategic Studies in Business and Finance.
https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v11i6.1978
Knowledge management and employee engagement in the hospitality
industry
Robert Odhiambo Onyango (a) Robert Egessa (b)* Patrick Ojera (c)
(a)PhD student Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya
(b)Associate Professor, School of Business& Economics, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology Researcher, Kenya
(c)Associate Professor, School of Business& Economics, Bomet University College, Kenya
A R T I C L E I N F O
Article history:
Received 19 July 2022
Received in rev. form 23 August 2022
Accepted 28 August 2022
Keywords:
Knowledge Management, Employee
Engagement
JEL Classification:
O15, E24, J24
A B S T R A C T
Knowledge management is becoming indispensable in organizations since it is a powerful weapon for
achieving competitive advantage. However, there is still a dearth of literature for employees and
managers in organizations to link their investments in knowledge management and the value the
organization gets in terms of employee engagement. This study was designed to assess knowledge
management and employee engagement in the hospitality industry in the North Rift region of Kenya.
An explanatory research design was adopted with a target population of 580 employees from star-
rated hotels in the North Rift region out of which a sample size of 234 respondents was picked. Data
was collected using questionnaires and interviews and analyzed using descriptive and inferential
statistics using SPSS version 25.0 for quantitative data and thematic analysis of interview data. From
findings, knowledge management explained a 50.4 percent variation in employee engagement. A
coefficient of .728 indicated that a unit change in knowledge management leads to .728 units of positive
change in employee engagement. Knowledge management significantly affects employee engagement
thus the rejection of the null hypothesis. The hospitality business should invest in proper employee
knowledge-sharing initiatives to enhance employee competence and motivation, resulting in high levels
of engagement. The finding of this study can help major stakeholders in the hospitality industry to
strengthen knowledge management for employee engagement.
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee SSBFNET, Istanbul, Turkey. This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Introduction
A smarter workforce who are crucial for quick and informed decisions that benefit the company is a product of knowledge
management strategies embraced by the company. Therefore, the organizations within the hospitality industry are under obligation
to set themselves apart through aggressive knowledge management strategies and employee engagement. This espouses from the fact
that knowledge management is a paramount resource for enhancing employee engagement and eventually organizational competitive
advantage (Juan et al., 2016). Thus, good knowledge management is critical to the success of hospitality organizations, which are
labor-intensive businesses with significant employee-guest relationships. This is because, in the twenty-first century, knowledge is a
vital source of competitive advantage for businesses (Maldonado-Guzman et al., 2016).
Knowledge management (KM) is the process of an organization's knowledge and information being created, shared, used, and
managed (Girard & Girard, 2015). Knowledge management is an integrated strategy to identifying, recording, analyzing, retrieving,
and distributing all information stored in databases, papers, rules, procedures, and individual workers' skill and experience. The goal
of knowledge management is to aid in the achievement of organizational objectives (Sui et al., 2016). As a result, ownership and
accountability for keeping talent must shift away from HR and into the hands of front-line leaders, particularly direct supervisors
(Mokhtar & Narjes, 2015). Knowledge management procedures are the consequence of interactions among organizational personnel
as well as interactions between the organization and its environment (Prabhakar et al., 2018). Knowledge acquisition is the process
Research in Business & Social Science
IJRBS VOL 11 NO 6 (2022) ISSN: 2147-4478
Available online at www.ssbfnet.com
Journal homepage: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
210
of gathering and learning appropriate knowledge from various internal and external resources, such as experiences, experts, relevant
papers, plans, and so on. (Gholami et al., 2013). Employee training can be facilitated through KM, allowing for greater employee
flexibility and job satisfaction. Intellectual assets provide a significant contribution to an organization's competitiveness. As a result,
in order to keep such intellectual assets, employee engagement must be improved (Kaldeen et al., 2021).
Knowledge management creates a positive work environment in which employees' levels of involvement may be measured.
Researchers must continue to find out the relevant areas of knowledge management in various organizations as a result of their
diverse characteristics, which have varying consequences on the company (Tingting, 2017). Employee engagement studies from the
standpoint of knowledge management are uncommon in Kenyan companies (Mosoti & Masheka, 2010). Although Koech (2016)
looked at knowledge implementation, employee engagement, and employee performance in technical institutions at a single point in
time, longitudinal time span study is recommended to gain deeper insight into these variables. Researchers have focused on many
areas of knowledge management, such as knowledge classification (Nonaka and Tekauchi, 1995), and knowledge management
techniques (Nonaka and Tekauchi, 1995); Hansen, et al. (1999); Donoghue, et al., (1999), tacit knowledge Dreoge and Hobbler
(2003), knowledge audit Chong (2004), knowledge management (Armstrong, 2006). Knowledge management practices (Mavodza
& Ngulube 2011; Kafchehi, et al., 2013; Gholami, et al., 2013). Although these studies have enriched literature on knowledge
management, there is still dearth of literature for employees and managers in organizations to linking between their investments in
knowledge management and the value the organization gets in terms of employee engagement. Thus, there emerges an imperative
gap which in finding out the extent of employee engagement in the hospitality industry in Kenya as an outcome of knowledge
management practices.
This paper aims to examine the effect of knowledge management on employee engagement in the hospitality industry in North Rift
region, Kenya. This paper is organized as follows: following the introduction part, a second part is a literature review with theoretical
and empirical studies that shed a light on linkage between theory and practice. The third part introduces the background information
on research and methodology. After analysis and findings of the study, authors provide discussions and implications. Finally, this
paper concludes with key points, recommendations, future research directions and limitations.
Literature Review
Theoretical and Empirical Review
Theoretical review
The effect of knowledge management on employee engagement was conceptualized based on AMO. Ability Motivation Opportunity
(AMO) was proposed by McInnis and Jaworski (1989) within the context of information processing and employee behaviour
(Subhash & Neha, 2016). Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) theory, states that a system that considers an employee's ability,
motivation, and opportunity serves the organization's best interests (AMO). If the work environment does not provide adequate
opportunities, both abilities and motivation might become meaningless hence employee disengagement and poor performance. Thus,
employees’ perceptions regarding the applicability of ability - enhancing, motivation - enhancing, and opportunity - enhancing human
resource practices result in enhanced employee engagement and superior firm performance (Subhash & Neha, 2016). Through
knowledge sharing the ability of an employee improves besides their motivation and opportunities enhancing their levels of employee
engagement. This gave credence to testing the relationship between knowledge management and employee engagement owing to
their capacity to enhance Ability Motivation Opportunity.
Empirical studies
Knowledge loss goals can be integrated into organization design initiatives to impact the psychological, emotional, and behavioral
processes involved in entrenching a culture of retention and engagement. (Jamrog, 2004). Career development as an employees’
responsibility as prescribed by the organization is an effective way of enhancing engagement among employees (Kasper., 2018).
This responsibility promotes engagement because it makes employees feel valued for their efforts and trusted for their abilities.
The organization's leadership has a clear responsibility to play in establishing knowledge management framework as a means of
fostering engagement and retention of knowledge workers. Without such acknowledgement and advocacy organizations leadership
role in KM, it is impossible to foster a learning culture and gain support for KM-based HR practices. Employees' main intellectual
capital remains the availability and exchange of knowledge, which is seen as the key to motivating and engaging people (Annika,
2017). In companies where knowledge is not actively shared among employees, employees' cognitive resources are underutilized,
negatively harming individual and organizational performance. (Ehsan, 2018). Employees readily and openly share their knowledge,
according to a prevalent management premise (Downing & McHenry, 2015). This assumption is founded on the concept that the
company owns the knowledge stored in its employees' heads (Downing & McHenry, 2015). This requires management to create an
environment that encourages information exchange for both the company and the employee's advantage. As a result, businesses
should seek to foster a culture in which information sharing is a natural component of the overall structure and working techniques
(Annika, 2017).
Knowledge sharing is regarded as a socializing process rather than the exchange of data between parties (Song & Chermack, 2008).
It is a social expectation for people to share their expertise. It is also expected that such knowledge-sharing behavior will be
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
211
reciprocated, with mutual advantages resulting in increased staff engagement (Song & Chermack, 2008). According to a Gallup poll,
only 13% of corporate employees are engaged, while the remainder of the unengaged workforce is more likely to switch professions
looking for ways to give their talents and be heard (Ehsan, 2018). Employee engagement feeds on acknowledgment and praise for
their efforts in this area, which increases their desire to share information more effectively. This implies that a motivated employee
will be passionate about knowledge-sharing methods as a result of acknowledgment. Employees who are rewarded for collaborating
with others and sharing their knowledge are more likely to be engaged at work. This necessitates a knowledge base repertoire to
respond to the demands and needs of employees and the company in real time. It is therefore, critical to ensure that individuals are
involved in the process of knowledge management and sharing in order for knowledge sharing to contribute to a competitive
advantage for the firm (Song & Chermack, 2008).
Aino et al. (2016) assessed the link between job satisfaction and five aspects of knowledge management (knowledge acquisition,
information sharing, knowledge creation, knowledge codification, and knowledge retention) in Finnish municipal organization using
824 respondents. There is a connection between KM procedures and job satisfaction. Intra-organizational knowledge exchange, in
particular, appears to be a critical KM practice, boosting job satisfaction in most employee groups. Significant knowledge-based
promoters of job happiness and engagement, on the other hand, varied depending on job qualities, context, and organizational
cultures. Aside from satisfaction as a result of knowledge management in the Finnish setting, the study also allowed for the assessment
of the relationship between KM and other outcomes in different situations. Employees in Korean enterprises have structural linkages
between work engagement, organizational procedural fairness, information sharing, and innovative work behavior for sustainable
organizations, according to Woocheol and Jiwon (2017). According to the findings, employee job engagement, information
exchange, and innovative work behavior are all favorably associated with organizational procedural justice. Furthermore,
employment engagement promotes employee knowledge sharing and inventive work behavior, and information sharing promotes
innovative work behavior. In the mechanics of these relationships, work involvement and information sharing served as crucial
mediators. Based on the findings, they drew research implications and recommendations for future research on sustainable
organizations. The study's drawback was that data was obtained through a convenience sample method from organizations in South
Korea, which may restrict the study's generalizability. Furthermore, the study focused primarily on the structural linkages that exist
among four latent variables in terms of organizational sustainability (i.e., organizational procedural fairness, work engagement,
knowledge sharing, and innovative work behavior). The current research looked at the connection between knowledge sharing and
employee engagement in Kenya.
At a health social security organizing body, Ramly (2018) studied employee work creativity in relation to company culture,
knowledge exchange, and employee engagement. According to the study's findings, both organizational culture and information
exchange have a direct positive impact on employee innovation. Employee involvement influences employee creativity directly.
Organizational culture has a direct impact on employee engagement, and information exchange has a direct impact on employee
engagement. The organizational culture has an impact on knowledge sharing. The conclusions of this study, however, cannot be
replicated in Kenya because it was conducted in Indonesia.
Tsogtsuren and Ravdansuren (2017) looked at, knowledge management, organizational culture and employee engagement on public
officer job satisfaction In Mongolia using 213 employees. All elements, including corporate culture, knowledge management, and
employee involvement, had a favorable impact on job satisfaction, according to the findings. It means that public servants can focus
on organizational culture, knowledge management, and employee engagement in order to keep and keep their staff happy, as happy
people are more productive than unhappy employees. The scope of this research was limited to Mongolia's public sector. Because of
the time constraints, it is suggested that future surveys be broadened to include remote and isolated places in order to draw conclusions
about corporate culture, knowledge management, and employee involvement on job satisfaction. This opens the door to more research
in Kenya to see how knowledge management influences employee engagement. Norasiken (2015) investigated whether there was a
link between employee engagement factors and knowledge management through study. The study examined three key factors of
employee engagement: goal setting, leadership, and feedback. This study investigated how knowledge management could boost
employee engagement. Aside from that, the study discovered gaps in existing information, highlighting the need for future research.
According to the study, all of the variables, as well as knowledge management, can boost employee engagement. Employee
participation should not be a one-time occurrence; rather, it should become engrained in the company's culture. Employee
engagement should include all aspects of learning, progress, and action. As a result, businesses should actively endeavor to meet
employee expectations in order to have an impact on individual performance, which in turn affects the performance of the
organization. These results are based on reviews of studies from a variety of businesses and cultures, which limits their application
to other industries. Koech et al. (2015) discovered that employee involvement moderates the effect of the link between knowledge
storage, retrieval, and employee performance in Rift Valley public technical institutes based on Human capital theory, resource-based
perspective theory, and knowledge-based view theory using an explanatory research approach. A random sampling technique was
used to identify the respondents who filled out the surveys. The information was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics
and presented in the form of frequencies, percentage charts, and graphs. There is a relationship between knowledge storage, retrieval,
and employee performance, according to the research. According to the study, employee involvement moderates the link between
knowledge storage, retrieval, and employee performance. The study's findings were limited to TVET institutions in rift valley Kenya,
limiting its generalizability. In order to establish the validity of the findings of this study, the researchers proposed doing a replica
study to test the findings in different regions and cultures. Aside from that, the study employed employee engagement as a moderator,
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
212
which differs from the current study's purpose of looking at the impact of knowledge sharing on employee engagement in the hotel
business. However, there are certain limitations to the knowledge sharing study; researchers must continue to examine the essential
areas of information sharing (Tingting, 2017). Because different types of organizations have varied characteristics, the study should
be done for each one. Knowledge sharing practices have diverse consequences on the organization (Tingting, 2017). Finally, most
studies have been conducted in Western countries, with only a few cross-cultural studies. Literature suggest that organizations should
pay close attention to cultural characteristics when developing human resource practices that facilitate knowledge sharing, i.e., there
is no one universal set of practices that can be used to facilitate knowledge sharing in global and multinational organizations.
Research and Methodology
Explanatory research was used in this study to assess the study hypothesis targeting employees in Kenya's hotel business including
568 respondents from the North Rift Region's star-rated hotels. Employees were chosen because they are the recipients of knowledge
management and so have a better understanding of their degree of involvement to provide feedback on the between the study. All
personnel from the 11-star hotels in the North Rift Region were included in the study's sample frame. To sample personnel from each
and the hotel, a multistage sample technique was applied. The goal of this sampling method is to find groups that exhibit variance in
a specific occurrence. In this study, star-rated hotels in Kenya's North Rift Region were purposefully chosen from the region's hotels.
Yamane (1967), sample size formula was adopted for sampling 234 employees as shown below:
Where:
n = Sample size
N = Population size
e = the error of Sampling
This study allowed the error of sampling of 0.05. Thus, sample size was as follows:
According to Neyman's allocation formula, the sample size was distributed proportionally (Singh & Micah, 2013). The primary data
was collected using both surveys and interviews. Interviews were employed to gather information from key informants (HR officers),
with questionnaires serving as the primary instrument. For qualitative interview data, thematic analysis was performed. Mean,
standard deviations frequencies and linear regression were used to analyze quantitative data. Linear regression helped in making
conclusions from sample data to the overall population, whereas mean, standard deviations and frequencies were used to define basic
characteristics and summarize data in a straightforward and clear manner.
Analysis and Findings
Knowledge Management and Employee Engagement
Knowledge management strategies increase employee engagement by making them feel valued for their work and confident in their
talents. Table 1 shows the perception of the respondents in connection with the study objective.
Table 1: Knowledge Management and Employee Engagement
Statement
VSE
SE
ME
GE
VGE
M
SD
%
%
%
%
%
Aside from policies and work manuals at work, I get information about how to do my
job better via seminars, conferences, subscription journals, and expert networks.
0.6
8.7
10.4
42.8
37.6
4.08
.937
Employees are encouraged to participate in formal training in order to expand their
knowledge.
0.0
4.0
11.6
52.6
31.8
4.12
.764
There is effective communication, which encourages cooperation and exchange of
experience among employees.
0.6
6.9
10.4
50.9
31.2
4.05
.864
Past experiences, whether good and bad, have taught us significant lessons.
0.0
0.6
10.4
45.1
43.9
4.32
.681
Apart from any input from my coworkers, my work itself provides signals about how
well I am doing.
0.0
1.2
9.8
55.5
35.5
4.21
.661
Procedures are documented and stored centrally for easy access across the company.
0.0
1.2
2.9
54.9
41.0
4.36
.599
Stored knowledge is quite important, relevant and latest
0.6
4.0
8.1
48.6
38.7
4.21
.802
Knowledge of individuals has become knowledge available for use to the whole
organization
0.6
6.9
16.2
42.2
34.1
4.02
.915
Because of the knowledge we have, we are better positioned to compete with other
organizations.
16.8
7.5
12.1
32.4
31.2
3.54
1.259
Knowledge management (creation, sharing and utilization) practices has enhanced my
attachment to the organization
0.0
1.2
16.8
72.3
9.8
3.91
.553
Key: 5 = Very Great Extent (VGE) 4 = Great Extent (GE) 3 = Moderate Extent (ME) 2 = Small Extent (SE) 1 = Very Small Extent (VSE); Source:
Research study 2020
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
213
Only 19.3 percent of the respondents agree to a small extent while 10 percent agreed to a moderate extent that apart from policies
and work manuals at their work place they also acquire knowledge about doing their work better from other sources through seminars,
conferences, subscription journals, expert networks and 80.4% agreed amongst which 42.8 percent agreed to a great extent and 37.6
percent agreed to a very great extent with a mean of 4.08 and a standard deviation of .937 . Majority of employees 84.4 percent agree
that the organization encourages them to attend formal trainings in order to gain more knowledge of amongst which 31.8 percent of
employee agree to a very great extent 52.6 percent agreed to a great extent, only 11.6 percent agreed to a moderate extent while 4.0
percent agreed to a small extent with a Mean = 4.12 SD = .764. Knowledge development is linked to the creation of value, which has
an impact on employee engagement, performance, and the hotel industry as a whole. As a result, hotels should boost their knowledge
production strategies by using knowledge creation-focused human resource management techniques (HRM). These arguments are
based on the idea that knowledge creation-oriented HRM methods stimulate and empower employees to improve their knowledge
and skills and use them to generate value (Martynov & Zhao, 2010).
With regard to availability of effective communication, which encourages cooperation and exchange of experience among employees.
Majority of the respondents agreed at 82.1 from which 50.9 percent agreed to a great extent while 31.2 percent agreed to a very great
extent, 7.5 percent agreed to a small extent, while 10.4 percent agreed to a moderate extent with a Mean = 4.05 SD = .864. Further
responses showed majority agreed at 89 percent amongst which 43.9 percent agreed to a very great extent, 45.1 percent to a great
extent, a small proportion at 6.0 percent agreed to a small extent and 10.4 percent to a moderate extent that lessons learned from past
experiences, both successful and unsuccessful, are considered valuable with (Mean = 4.32 SD =.861). These findings underscore the
presence of knowledge sharing attributes within the hospitality industry in North Rift region. However, the hotels should continuously
enhance their knowledge sharing capability as this would help in employee development and changing the employee and
organizational behavior. Knowledge sharing's success is critical since it leads to the creation of shared intellectual capital (Abdul-
Jalal, et al., 2013). Employees’ capability to share knowledge also remains fundamental for Knowledge sharing success.
Majority of respondents at 95.9 percent agree to a great extent that documented procedures centrally stored for ease of access across
the firm (Mean = 4.36 SD =.599) amongst which 54.9 percent agreed to a great extent while 41.0 agreed to a very great extent and
2.9 percent to a moderate extent, 1.2 percent to a small extent. This response alludes to presence of stored knowledge, ease of access
and relevance of the stored knowledge in the five-star hotels. This is augmented by the fact that effective knowledge management
minimizes the risk of knowledge loss and maximize knowledge sharing, protection and utilization (El-Farr & Hosseingholizadeh,
2019). Majority of respondents at 82.1 percent agree that knowledge management (creation, sharing and utilization) practices has
enhanced their attachment to the organization (Mean = 3.91 SD =.553) amongst which 72.3 percent agree to a great extent and 9.8
percent agree to a very great extent, while a smaller percentage at 16.8 percent agree to a moderate extent, 1.2 percent to a small
extent agreed.
Organizational success is based on full utilization of Knowledge. Based on the findings it can be argued that hotels in North Refit
region fully subscribe to knowledge management. To enhance its positive effects, hotels must align various HR practices with various
KM strategies, implying that HRM is most effective as a combination of practices that are consistent and sharpened in supporting
each KM strategy, which is part of the overall organizational strategy (El-Farr & Hosseingholizadeh, 2019). In this regard, knowledge
management techniques should be ecologically focused and people-centered in order to foster employee engagement and instill
corporate cultures that promote positive work behaviors while also sustaining ongoing and dynamic knowledge management
activities.
The majority of interview respondents agreed that effective communication via intranet and internet services is the most important
strategy used by hotels for knowledge management, meeting objectives, and rewarding exceptional performance. Apart from that,
the hotels use employee training, monitoring and reporting on progress against organizational goals, recognizing individuals who
exhibit desired behaviors, offering incentives for meeting objectives, and rewarding exceptional performance.
From the interview schedule majority of the interviewees posited that “our hotel has free internet for transmission and acquisition
of information. Besides we also benefit from refresher seminars for our career development. We also monitor staff progress against
our hotel goals. However; the use of formal trainings has been under exploited”
Effect of Knowledge Management on Employee Engagement
The study conducted a simple linear regression analysis to test hypothesis which stated that:
Ho1: There is no statistically significant effect of Knowledge Management on employee engagement in the hospitality industry in
North Rift region, Kenya
The effect of knowledge management on employee engagement in the hospitality industry in North Rift region, Kenya was
established. The results were presented in Table 2 below.
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
214
Table 2: Effect of Knowledge Management on Employee Engagement
Model
R
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
Durbin-Watson
1
.710a
.504
.501
.327
2.046
a. Predictors: (Constant), Knowledge Management
b. Dependent Variable: Employee Engagement
ANOVAa
Model
Sum of Squares
Df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
1
Regression
18.595
1
18.595
173.997
.000b
Residual
18.274
171
.107
Total
36.869
172
a. Dependent Variable: Employee Engagement
b. Predictors: (Constant), Knowledge Management
Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
T
Sig.
B
Std. Error
Beta
1
(Constant)
.960
.227
4.235
.000
Knowledge
Management
.728
.055
.710
13.191
.000
a. Dependent Variable: Employee Engagement
Source: Research study 2020
The model summary results in Table 2 indicated that there is a strong positive and significant correlation between knowledge
management and employee engagement (R=0.710). The coefficient of determination (R square) of .504. This indicated that the model
explained only 50.4 percent of the variation or change in the dependent variable. The meaning is that when a deliberate effort is put
to ensure knowledge management will certainly cause a variation on employee engagement. The remaining proportion of 49.6 percent
can be explained by other factors other than knowledge management. Adjustment of the R square did not change the results
substantially, having reduced the explanatory behavior of the predictor from 50.4 percent to 50.1 percent. This means that the model
is fit to be used to generalize the findings. This implies that when the hospitality industry strategically embraces knowledge
management then the level of employee engagement is likely to vary.
F values of 173.997, a p-value of 0.000 being less than 0.05, indicates that the model is statistically significant in explaining the
relationship between knowledge management and employee engagement. An unstandardized coefficient represents the amount of
change in a dependent variable Y due to a change of 1 unit of independent variable X (Hayes & Preacher, 2014). Therefore, a
coefficient of .728 indicated that a unit change in knowledge management leads to .728 units of positive change in employee
engagement. Therefore, knowledge management and employee engagement model can now be presented as follows:
Y=.960+.728X1+ε
T-test was used to identify whether the predictor was making a significant contribution to the model. Since the t-statistic is significant,
the study rejected the null hypothesis and concluded that knowledge management was significant (p-value = 0.000) in positively
influencing employee engagement in the hospitality industry in the North Rift Region Kenya. Therefore, knowledge management
significantly affects employee engagement in the hospitality industry in the North Rift Region Kenya. These findings are supported
by of Aino et al. (2016), Woocheol and Jiwon (2017) who also found a positive and significant effect of knowledge management on
employee engagement.
Discussions
According to the findings, knowledge management has an impact on employee engagement in the hospitality business in Kenya's
North Rift region. In fact, firms can only improve their knowledge management techniques if they want to increase employee
engagement. The findings of this study support this assertion. Making employees responsible for their own career advancement
through knowledge management is a highly effective approach of increasing employee engagement since it helps them feel valued
for their efforts and confident in their abilities. This is because knowledge availability and sharing is regarded as critical to motivating
and engaging personnel (Annika, 2017). Through suitable knowledge management processes and retention tactics, knowledge
management can assist organizations in preventing knowledge loss. Knowledge management, which entails identifying and retaining
essential competencies, decreases the risk of knowledge loss. Employee learning is facilitated by knowledge management, and
employees are more focused on effectively completing their responsibilities and achieving job satisfaction, resulting in increased
employee engagement. This argument is supported by the findings of the study, which showed that knowledge management strongly
improves employee engagement in the hotel business in the North Rift area of Kenya. Aino, Mika, and Pia (2016), Woocheol and
Jiwon (2017), and Ramly (2018) all found that knowledge management had a direct positive impact on employee engagement. This
is based on the Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) theory, which states that a system that considers an employee's ability,
motivation, and opportunity serves the organization's best interests (AMO). The findings, on the other hand, contradict those of
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
215
(Susan & Mohd, 2014; Karatepe, 2013). The possible causes of this outcome include ineffective training programs and knowledge
management practices that fail to help employees achieve their professional goals, causing them to feel no incentive to work more.
This means that the hospitality business should invest in proper employee knowledge sharing initiatives in order to enhance employee
competence and motivation, resulting in high levels of engagement.
Implications
This conceptual journey was underpinned by the deliberations of a number of studies, which show that it is important to examine
knowledge management in as many settings as possible to justify results from other settings. In this regard, there was a need to
furthering research on this theme in hospitality industry for better understanding of the relationship. The knowledge management
relationship is not static; the impact of knowledge management on employee engagement may differ in various industrial settings,
and work environment so it made sense to consider hospitality industry as a different setting. The study fills the lacuna of scant
documentation of the nexus between knowledge management and employee engagement in the hospitality industry whose
organizational structures and cultures differs from the other industries especially in developing countries. Besides, the study has
addressed a different outcome of knowledge management which is employee engagement, other than employee satisfaction and
performance as highlighted in a majority of studies. The study adds to the literature on the importance of knowledge management on
employee engagement by confirming earlier works of other researchers and filling their gaps. Within the positivistic paradigm the
finding of the study supports and extends the use of Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) an internationally tested theory which
gives credence to adoption of knowledge management as a means through which an organization can enhance high employee
engagement. It further serves as secondary data for prospective researchers and a reference point for future studies. This provides
basis for advancing the frontiers of knowledge in the exploration knowledge management in achieving employee engagement in
other industries. These altogether sheds light to embedding and strengthening of knowledge management to organization policies in
order to achieve maximal employee engagement.
Conclusion
The study provides evidence that knowledge management is overly in dispensable in engendering high employee engagement. In
this regard as a strategic recipe, which embeds the dimensions of knowledge management within the hospitality industry policy
framework is evidently instrumental. Knowledge management facilitates employee learning and makes employees focused on
effectively performing their tasks and their job satisfaction thus employee engagement. This argument has espoused from the findings
of this study that knowledge management significantly affects employee engagement. In view of this, it remains inordinately
necessary for the hospitality industry to analyze and strengthen their human resource practices which promote knowledge
management as this would enhance employee engagement. Thus, there is need for investment on employee’s knowledge management
for purposes of fostering employee’s ability, motivation to precipitate high engagement levels.
The study faces the limitation of research generalizability. The results of the study may not be generalized to all sectors owing to
particularities of different sectors. Therefore, future research be conducted in different sectors and more fully a comparative study
between sectors is recommended. The study focused only on employees of the private sector thus if the study was conducted on other
employees of the public sector, the magnitude and direction of the relationship between the study variables might be different. Thus,
future research should include the public sector or similar study across heterogeneous industries better understand the relationship
between high performance work practices, organizational cultures and employee engagement. The study was limited to knowledge
management and employee engagement. Further research may contribute to literature by considering moderating role of other
moderators between knowledge management and employee engagement.
Acknowledgement
All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization- Robert Odhiambo Onyango, Robert Egessa and Patrick Ojera; methodology- Robert Odhiambo Onyango,
validation- Robert Egessa and Patrick Ojera; formal analysis- Robert Odhiambo Onyango, Robert Egessa and Patrick Ojera.; investigation- Robert
Odhiambo Onyango; resources- Robert Odhiambo Onyango; writing—original draft preparation- Robert Odhiambo Onyango; writing—review and
editing, Robert Odhiambo Onyango, Robert Egessa and Patrick Ojera.
Funding: This research was funded by the authors
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly
available due to restrictions.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
Ahmed, S., Fiaz, M., & Shoaib, M. (2015). Impact of Knowledge Management Practices on Organizational Performance: an
Empirical study of Banking Sector in Pakistan, FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 9 (2),147.
Aino, K., Mika, V., & Pia, H. (2016). The impact of knowledge management on job satisfaction. Journal of Knowledge
Management, 20 (4),621-636. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-10-2015-0398
Annika, R. (2017). Knowledge Sharing – The Key to Employee Engagement. Retrieved 11 2, 2018, from blog.smarp.com
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
216
Armstrong, M. (2010). Armstrong’s Essential: Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page.
Bagorogoza, J., & Waal, A. (2010). The role of knowledge management in creating and sustaining high performance organizations
the case of financial institutions in Uganda, World Journal of Entrepreneurship Management and SustainableDevelopment,
6 (4). https://doi.org/10.1108/20425961201000023
Bakker, A., Albrecht, S. L., & Leiter, M. (2011). Key questions regarding work engagement. . European Journal of Work and
Organisational Psychology, 20, 4 –28. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2010.485352
Balain, S., & Sparrow, P. (2009). Engaged to perform: A new perspective on employee engagement (White Paper No. 09/04).
Retrieved 11 1, 2018, from Retrieved from Lancaster University website: www. lancaster. ac. uk.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2001). Knowledge and organization: A social-practice perspective. Organization science, 12(2), 198-
213. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.12.2.198.10116
Cheruiyot, J. K., Kimutai, G., & Kemboi, A. (2017). Effects of empolyee engagement factors on staff turnover in the hospitality
industry: A survey of rated hotels inUasin Gishu County. International Journal of Academic Research and Reflection,
5(6),231-258. http://41.89.196.16:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/857
Chew, E. K., & Gottschalk, P. (2013). Knowledge Driven Service Innovation and Management: IT Strategies for Business
Alignment and value evaluation.
Chitsaz-Isfahani, A., & Boustani, H. R. (2014). 'Effects of Talent Management on Employees Retention: The Mediate Effect of
Organizational Trust. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 3(5), 114-128.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJAREMS/v3-i5/1196
Christian, M., Garza, A., & Slaughter, J. (2011). ‘Work engagement: a quantitative review a test of its relations with task and
contextual performance. Personnel Psychology, 64(1),89–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2010.01203.x
Crawford, E. R., Rich, B. L., Buckman, B., & Bergeron, J. (2013). The antecedents and drivers of employee engagement. In
Employee engagement in theory and practice (pp. 71-95). Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research. Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research.
Denscombe, M. (2014). The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Dessel, G. (2013). How to determine population and survey sample size? Retrieved 07 21, 2018, from www.checkmarket.com.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., & Jackson, P. (2008). Management Research. London: Sage.
Eeman, B., Rabindra, K., & Lalatendu, K. (2015). Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, Job Performance and HR Practices: A
Relational Perspective. Management and Labor Studies, 39(2),421-448. https://doi.org/10.1177/0258042X15578023
Ehsan, M. (2018). Ways a Knowledge Sharing Platform Can Boost Employee Engagement. Retrieved 11 31, 2018, from
customerthink.com.
Fareed, M., Isa, M., & Noor, W. (2016). HR professionals’ effectiveness through human capital development, organizational
culture and highperformance work system: A proposed framework. International Business Management, 10(9), 1720-1728.
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS: and sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll (3rd edition). London: Sage.
Foss, N. J., & Knudsen, T. (2010). The Resource Based Tangle: Towardsa Sustainable Explanation of Competitive Advantage.
Managerial and Decision Economics, 24(2), 291-307. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.1122
Frappaolo, C. (2006). Knowledge Management. West Sussex, England: Capstone.
Frazer, L., & Lawley, M. (2000). Questionnaire design and administration: a practical guide. Queensland, Australia: John Wiley
& Sons.
Gebauer, J., & Lowman, D. (2009). Closing the Engagement Gap: How Great Companies Unlock Employee Potential for Superior
Results. New York: Portfolio Penguin.
Gholami, M. H., Asli, M. N., Nazari-Shirkouhi, S., & Noruzy, A. (2013). Investigating the influence of knowledge management
practices on organizational performance: an empirical study. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, Acta Polytechnica Hungarica,
10(2), 205-216.
Given, L. M. (2008). Explanatory Research. Retrieved 11 08, 2018, from methods.sagepub.com.
Holste, J. S., & Fields, D. (2010). Trust and tacit knowledge sharing and use. Journal of knowledge management, 14(1), 128-140.
https://doi.org/10.1108/13673271011015615
Hsu, L. C., & Wang, C. H. (2012). Clarifying the effect of intellectual capital on performance: The mediating role of dynamic
capability. British Journal of Management, 23(2), 179–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2010.00718.x
Jepngetich, M., & Njue, J. (2013). Strategies Used By Hotels In Talent Retention: A Study Of Star Rated Hotels In Nairobi.
International Journal of Human Resource and Procurement,1(3). ISSN 2307-6305
Karadsheh, L., Mansour, E., Alhawari, S., Azar, G., & ElBathy, N. A. (2009). Theoretical Framework for Knowledge Management
Process:towards Improving Knowledge Performance. Journal of Communications of the IBIMA, 7(1), 67-89.
Kasper. (2018). Boost Employee Engagement with Knowledge-Sharing. Retrieved 5 11, 2018, from modernworkplacelearning.com.
Katou, A. A., Budhwar, P. S., & Patel, C. (2014). Content vs. Process in the HRM Performance Relationship: An Empirical
Examination. Human resource management, 53(4),527-544. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21606
Kim, N., Im, S., & Slater, S. F. (2013). Impact of knowledge type and strategic orientation on new product creativity and advantage
in high technology firms, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 30(1), 136-153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-
5885.2012.00992.x
Onyango et al., International Journal of Research in Business & Social Science 11(6) (2022), 209-217
217
Koech, S., Boit, J., & Maru, L. (2015). Knowledge storage, retrieval and employee performance:the moderating role of employee
engagement.International Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Research, 3(6),1-13.
Kothari, C. R., & Garg, G. (2014). Research methodology Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd.
Kurtzman, J. (2017). Why is employee engagement in the hospitality industry important? Retrieved 04 10, 2018,
from.rewardian.com.
Lettieri, E., Borga, F., & Savoldelli, A. (2004). Knowledge management in non-profit organizations. Journal of Knowledge
Management, 8(6),16-43.
Macey, W. H., Schneider, B., Barbera, K. M., & Young, S. A. (2009). Employee engagement: Tools for analysis, practice, and
competitive advantage. Malden, WA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Masa’deh, R., & Shannak, R. (2012). Intermediary Effects of Knowledge ManagementStrategy and Learning Orientation on
Strategic Alignment and Firm Performance. Research Journal of International Studies, 24(4), 112-128.
Mokhtar, R., & Narjes, A. (2015). The relationship between knowledge management and employee retention.Proceedings of
TheIRES 7th International Conference, . Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia .
Montgomery, D. C., Peck, E. A., & Vining, G. G. (2012). Introduction to linear regression analysis (Vol. 821). John Wiley &
Sons.
Moodysson, J. (2008). Principles and practices of knowledge creation: On the organization of “buzz” and “pipelines” in life science
communities. Economic Geography, 84(4), 449-469. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2008.00004.x
Norasiken, A. R. (2015). Determinant of empoyee engagement and knowledge management for enhancing employee
engagement.E-Proceeding of the International Conference on Social Science Research, ICSSR 2015. Meliá Hotel Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
Nusrat, K. S. (2015). Human Resource Management Practices and their Impact on Organisation Citizen Behaviour in the public
sector Universities of Pakistan. Unpublished PhD Thesis Charles Sturt University Australia.
O'Dell, C., & Hubert, C. (2011). The new edge in knowledge: How knowledge management is changing the way we do business.
John Wiley & Sons.
Radaelli, G., Lettieri, E., Mura, M., & Spiller, N. (2014). Knowledge sharing and innovative work behaviour in healthcare: A
micro-level investigation of direct and indirect effects. Creativity and Innovation Management, 23(3), 400-414.
https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12084
Saks. (2006). Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(2), 600-619.
https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610690169
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Defining and measuring work engagement: Bringing clarity to the concept. Work
engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research, 10-24.
Schaufeli, W. B., & Taris, T. W. (2014). A critical review of the Job Demands-Resources Model: Implications for improving work
and health. In Bridging occupational, organizational and public health (pp. 43-68). Springer, Dordrecht.
Schaufeli, W. (2013). What is engagement. In C. Truss, & R. D. Alfes, (Eds.), Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice.
London: Routledge.
Schneider, B., Macey, W. H., Barbera, K. M., & Young, S. A. (2010). The role of employee trust in understanding employee
engagement. Handbook of employee engagement: Perspectives, issues, research and practice, 159-173.
Sui, H., Liu, Y., Puteri, F., & Freida, O. (2016). Review on Knowledge Management and Employee Engagement. The National
Conference for Postgraduate Research. Universiti Malaysia Pahang.
Tingting, Z. (2017). A Literature Review on Knowledge Sharing. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5 (3),51-58.
https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.53006.
Tiwana, A. (2000). The knowledge management toolkit: practical techniques for building a knowledge management system. 1st ed.,
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Preentice.
Tovstiga, G., & Tulugurova, E. (2009). Intellectual capital practices: a four region comparative study. Journal of Intellectual
Capital, 10(1), 70-80. https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930910922905
Tregaskis, O., Daniels, K., Glover, L., Butler, P., & Meyer, M. (2013). High Performance Work Practices and Firm Performance: A
Longitudinal Case Study. British Journal of Management, 24(2), 225-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-
8551.2011.00800.x
Yasodara, J. M., & Udeni, S. K. (2018). The impact of perceived high performing work practices on employee engagement: a study
on multinational corporations operating in Sri Lanka. Asian Journal of Empirical Research, 8(4),150-161.
https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.1007/2018.8.4/1007.4.150.161
Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods. Cengage Learning.
Publisher’s Note: SSBFNET stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee SSBFNET, Istanbul, Turkey. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478) by SSBFNET is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License.
