Deposit-Taking Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (DT-SACCOs) are essential drivers of economic development through enhancing financial inclusion and fostering economic growth within communities. Despite their importance, DT-SACCOs in Kenya are facing declining performance. This study investigated whether the regulatory framework moderates the relationship between knowledge management infrastructure capability and the organizational performance of DT-SACCOs in Kenya. In this study, knowledge management infrastructure capability is recognized as a strategic tool that is designed to make organizational performance better. Given that DT-SACCOs operate within a heavily regulated environment, it is hypothesized that regulatory framework influences how investments in knowledge management infrastructure capability translate into organizational performance improvements. Anchored in the resource-based view theory, knowledge-based view theory and the balanced scorecard model with support from open systems theory to explain the moderating influence of regulation, this study adopted descriptive and explanatory research designs under a positivism philosophy. The research targeted 176 DT-SACCOs in Kenya, focusing on 880 managers across finance, human resources, ICT, legal and marketing at their headquarters. Using stratified proportional sampling, 275 respondents from 55 randomly selected DT-SACCOs participated in the study. Data was collected via a semi-structured questionnaire, with reliability confirmed through Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients exceeding 0.7. Validity was ensured through face, content, and construct assessments. Descriptive statistics outlined the characteristics of study variables, while multiple regression analysis examined the relationships among knowledge management infrastructure capability, organizational performance, and the moderating role of the regulatory framework. Findings revealed that KMIC significantly enhances organizational performance in DT-SACCOs and that the regulatory framework positively moderates this relationship. The study advises DT-SACCOs to prioritize recruiting skilled managers, fostering transparent and accessible service environments, and focusing employee training on quality service delivery. Additionally, it recommends that DT-SACCOs maintain flexibility in managing resources to effectively capitalize on emerging business opportunities.
Obonyo et al. (Sat,) studied this question.