Knowledge Management Practices and Innovation Efficiency in Malaysian Telecommunications Organisations: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Knowledge management (KM) has emerged as a foundational strategic capability for organizations operating in knowledge-intensive industries, particularly within the fast-evolving telecommunications sector. This article presents a comprehensive and systematic literature review examining how KM practices — operationalized as knowledge sharing and knowledge collecting — influence innovation efficiency in Malaysian telecommunications organizations. Grounded in the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and drawing on an integrative synthesis of over forty peer-reviewed empirical studies from telecommunications and adjacent sectors, this review critically evaluates the roles of four organizational influence factors: top management support, organizational rewards, information and communication technology (ICT) use, and organizational culture. The review uncovers consistent empirical evidence that these antecedent factors shape KM behavioural intentions and actual behaviors, which in turn mediate the path to organizational innovation efficiency. Key findings reveal that organizational culture and ICT infrastructure are the most consistently supported enablers of knowledge sharing, while organizational rewards demonstrate differentiated effects across sharing and collecting behaviors. The paper further identifies research gaps concerning the underrepresentation of the Malaysian telecommunications context in KM scholarship, the need for longitudinal designs, and the limited treatment of knowledge collecting as a theoretically distinct construct. The proposed integrative synthesis advances a nuanced understanding of the KM–innovation efficiency relationship and provides a rigorous evidential platform for empirical investigation in this sector.