The Relationship between Knowledge Management and Competitive Advantage: A Case Study in Small and Medium-Sized Companies in the Packaging Industry of Khorasan Razavi

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between knowledge management and competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises in packaging industry of Khorasan Razavi. The 4-component model of knowledge management, knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application support is made. The three components of the productdifferentiation and competitive advantage, cost leadership and focus on the market are made. The population consists of all managers, whether higher, middle and small and medium-sized companies operating in the packaging industryof Khorasan Razavi that their number was 330 and by the limited sampling of 74 Cochran sampling random was selected. The questionnaire was distributed among them. Inthis study, two questionnaires were used to collect data. According to this hypothesis, the present research is experimental. To analyze the data in the study, both descriptiveand inferential statistical methods were used. In cross-sectional analysis, thecentral tendency tables and indices such as mean and standard deviation iscalculated. In inferential statistics, to evaluate hypotheses, Pearsoncorrelation test was used for normality distribution. The results indicatedthat all components of knowledge management played a significant role.