IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jbemgt/v16y2015i2p422-444.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Employees' knowledge determinants in SMEs: the case of Slovenia

Author

Listed:
  • Doris Omerzel Gomezelj
  • Boštjan Antončič

Abstract

This paper presents various definitions of knowledge as human capital, and analyses some fundamental challenges regarding the measurement of employees' knowledge of a firm, especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The paper reviews the literature pertaining to the assessment of knowledge assets, proceeds to develop a model of SME employees' knowledge, and presents the results of an empirical test conducted among 173 Slovenian SMEs. Scales were tested for reliability and validity. A structural equation modelling technique was used to verify the theoretically proposed model of the employees' knowledge. The multidimensionality of the developed SME knowledge construct was confirmed. The proposed model of the employees' knowledge consists of five main dimensions: innovation capabilities and willingness to learn, attitude, job qualification, formal education, and work experience. To verify and confirm the proposed model, an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The new construct and concept developed in this study offers a near complete picture that can be used as a research framework in future examinations of the importance of knowledge for SME performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Doris Omerzel Gomezelj & Boštjan Antončič, 2015. "Employees' knowledge determinants in SMEs: the case of Slovenia," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 422-444, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:16:y:2015:i:2:p:422-444
    DOI: 10.3846/16111699.2012.734326
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.3846/16111699.2012.734326
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3846/16111699.2012.734326?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:16:y:2015:i:2:p:422-444. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TBEM20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.