EFFECTS OF KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE AND ACQUISITION PRACTICES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Purpose: SMEs are an important component of the economy, especially with regard to absorbing a large percentage of the workforce. Good performance of these entities is therefore critical so that they can continue with their economic contribution. However, despite county government efforts of Kisumu and the government of Kenya to promote SME activity, not much progress seems to have been achieved. The general objective of this study was to investigate the influence of knowledge management practices on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Kisumu City County. Methodology: The study was based on descriptive research design. The target population will be 532 SMEs firms in Kisumu City County. The sample size was 150 SMEs covering different sectors. The study will use questionnaires, containing both open ended and closed ended questions to obtain primary data. Descriptive statistics including the means and standard deviations will be used to analyse the data and capture the characteristics of the variables under the study. The conclusions of this study were informed by the findings based on each study objective and also findings of other similar studies. Results: The findings of the study revealed that knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge implementation are positively related with performance of SMEs in Kisumu County. Knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge implementation were found to be satisfactory variables in explaining performance of SMEs in Kisumu County as supported by coefficient of determination of 51.2%. This shows that knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge implementation explained 5.2% of the performance of SMEs in Kisumu County. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that SMEs in Kisumu County should adopt knowledge management strategy in running their business so that they can gain improved performance, knowledge management strategies to be adopted are: knowledge sharing, knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation and knowledge implementation.