Knowledge management, organizational learning and innovation: practical recommendations for the public sector

In the context of continuous change, public organizations must innovate to sustain their responsiveness and the quality of services delivered. Although the literature acknowledges that Knowledge Management (KM) and Organizational Learning (OL) foster innovation, gaps remain in translating these approaches into integrated and operationalizable guidance to promote continuous and systematic innovation in the public sector. To address this gap, this article conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to examine how KM and OL can support such development and to identify related practical recommendations. The search was carried out in Scopus and Web of Science, resulting in 36 studies selected for in-depth analysis and an interpretive qualitative synthesis of the findings. As a theoretical contribution, this study organizes and integrates dispersed evidence on the relationship between KM, OL, and innovation in the public sector, clarifying recurring organizational conditions associated with both the ideation and the implementation of innovations in public settings. As an applied contribution, it proposes six managerial guidelines and a set of recommendations derived from the reviewed literature, structured to support managers in implementing actions that mobilize KM and OL to sustain continuous and systematic innovation. By offering an implementation-oriented synthesis, the article supports managerial decision-making and strengthens innovation capability in public organizations.