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Knowledge management and museums: enablers, orientation, and performance
Dissertation   Open access

Knowledge management and museums: enablers, orientation, and performance

Neville Vakharia
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001656
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Abstract

Knowledge management enablers Knowledge management orientation Organizational performance Values--Public opinion Knowledge Management Museums
In this research, I explore a novel conceptual model to investigate the role of knowledge management in small and mid-sized art museums and science museums in the United States. I adapt the constructs of knowledge management enablers and a knowledge management orientation to study how knowledge management is situated within these museums and its relationship to broad dimensions of a museum's organizational performance and public value. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed, comprising a national survey of museum leaders followed by semi-structured interviews with a subset of survey respondents. Analysis of survey data from 191 museums identified strong, positive, and significant predictive relationships between the constructs of my conceptual model while also uncovering critical gaps in museums' efforts to create, manage, and share organizational knowledge. These gaps limited museums' organizational performance and their ability to create public value. Interviews with 45 museum leaders uncovered the beneficial practices and barriers of knowledge management enablers and a knowledge management orientation. I found that museums exhibiting more beneficial practices than barriers attained heightened organizational performance and an enhanced ability to create public value when compared to museums that did not. Integrative analysis of the surveys and interviews identified a convergence of findings for knowledge management enablers and a knowledge management orientation, strengthening the links between these two critical constructs and their respective links to organizational performance and public value. Divergent findings for organizational performance were observed between the surveys and interviews, but common to both were the substantive challenges museums faced in creating and achieving public value. My research extends the literature and empirical study of both knowledge management and museums, serving as the first of its kind to apply knowledge management enablers and a knowledge management orientation to museums while also developing a new conceptual model to assess their links to museum performance and public value. My findings create a solid foundation for continuing my own research agenda on museums, knowledge management, and public value while opening new pathways for information science researchers. Additionally, the practical implications of this research provide museum leaders with an understanding of how their role in enabling knowledge management practices can improve their museums' overall performance and ability to create public value.

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