Knowledge sharing, intellectual capital and organizational results in SMES: are they related?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations among knowledge sharing (KS), intellectual capital (IC), absorptive capacity (AC), innovation (IN) and organizational performance (OP). Design/methodology/approach This paper empirically tests a model that uses structural equation modeling (SEM) based on a partial least squares (PLS). The sample is composed of 351 Brazilian and 135 Portuguese enterprises. They are micro, small and medium enterprises. Findings The results show that: the relation between KS and AC is partially mediated by IC; the relation between IC and IN is partially mediated by AC and the relation between KS and IN is mediated by AC and IC or both. There are relations among KS, IC, AC, IN and OP. Research limitations/implications The study does not control for industry effects and technological differences among the firms. Practical implications The use of KS mitigates the loss of knowledge associated to employees' retirement or job changes. The knowledge appropriation by the organization (turning human capital (HC) into structural capital (SC)), the knowledge achieved from connections (relational capital, RC) and the trust embedded in an organization's relation with employees are important for AC and IN. Moreover, KS can positively influence all elements of IC. OP depends directly on IN and indirectly on the others constructs. Originality/value This study is relevant because it explores the relations among KS, IC, AC, IN and OP in one model. Moreover, it focuses on small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) with data from two countries.