Implementation of Knowledge Management Systems and Firm Performance

Given that information systems researchers and practitioners often debate over the contribution of IT investment to firm performance, this study examines the impacts of adopting KMS on firm performance. Knowledge management systems are IT-based systems developed to support and enhance the organizational processes of knowledge creation, storage, retrieval, transfer, and application. Although many firms have implemented KMS, sparse empirical evidence reveals the impacts of KMS on firm performance. This research attempts to analyze the impacts of KMS on the firms that had adopted KMS with the data extracted from the COMPUSTAT. The results indicate that these firms significantly reduce administrative costs as well as operating expenses and improve productivity in the second year after adopting KMS. To control the macroeconomic effects, the study also compares the financial performance of KMS adopters and non-adopters in a pairwise design. DuPont analysis emphasizes on return on assets (ROA) decomposition, which allows us to examine the relationship of efficiency and profitability on the firm performance between KMS adopters and non-adopters. The results indicate that not only does the adoption of KMS decrease administrative cost, but it also pays off in a combination of increased profitability and efficiency. This study further examines the longitudinal impact of KMS adoption on firm performance by matching 103 firms with peer firms that have not adopted KMS. Results indicate that administrative costs, operating expense, return on assets, and return on sales (ROS) are significantly better over a 3-year period for KMS adopters, as compared to non-adopters. Furthermore, pertaining to cost and profit ratios, significant differences arise because the financial performance of non-adopters decreases over time while it holds steady for KMS adopters. The findings verify some of our hypotheses, provide new insights into the productivity paradox associated with KMS adopters, and confirm that KMS adopters indeed gain a competitive advantage over non-adopters. By examining the industry effect between manufacturing firms and service firms, this dissertation empirically confirms that manufacturing firms obtain a more viable performance than service firms.Given that information systems researchers and practitioners often debate over the contribution of IT investment to firm performance, this study examines the impacts of adopting KMS on firm performance. Knowledge management systems are IT-based systems developed to support and enhance the organizational processes of knowledge creation, storage, retrieval, transfer, and application. Although many firms have implemented KMS, sparse empirical evidence reveals the impacts of KMS on firm performance. This research attempts to analyze the impacts of KMS on the firms that had adopted KMS with the data extracted from the COMPUSTAT. The results indicate that these firms significantly reduce administrative costs as well as operating expenses and improve productivity in the second year after adopting KMS. To control the macroeconomic effects, the study also compares the financial performance of KMS adopters and non-adopters in a pairwise design. DuPont analysis emphasizes on return on assets (ROA) decomposition, which allows us to examine the relationship of efficiency and profitability on the firm performance between KMS adopters and non-adopters. The results indicate that not only does the adoption of KMS decrease administrative cost, but it also pays off in a combination of increased profitability and efficiency. This study further examines the longitudinal impact of KMS adoption on firm performance by matching 103 firms with peer firms that have not adopted KMS. Results indicate that administrative costs, operating expense, return on assets, and return on sales (ROS) are significantly better over a 3-year period for KMS adopters, as compared to non-adopters. Furthermore, pertaining to cost and profit ratios, significant differences arise because the financial performance of non-adopters decreases over time while it holds steady for KMS adopters. The findings verify some of our hypotheses, provide new insights into the productivity paradox associated with KMS adopters, and confirm that KMS adopters indeed gain a competitive advantage over non-adopters. By examining the industry effect between manufacturing firms and service firms, this dissertation empirically confirms that manufacturing firms obtain a more viable performance than service firms