Linking Enablers to Outcomes: A Knowledge Management Perspective on Institutional Effectiveness in Indian Higher Education

This paper analyses the role in terms of improving performance in the institution of knowledge management (KM) practices in the sampled Indian central universities, with a particular emphasis on the facilitation of KM between enabling factors and academic performance. Built on an integrative framework informed by the resource-based and knowledge-based views, the studies examine the influence of leadership, organisational culture and technical infrastructure on KM practices across the leading central universities. A cross-sectional quantitative research design was utilised, and data were gathered using a pre-tested questionnaire administered to faculty members at the assistant, associate and full professor ranks, using purposive sampling to ensure relevant experience in KM. The data were analysed using SmartPLS to evaluate the structural model and mediation effects. Faculty members, assistants, associates and professors from different academic fields and geographic areas were sampled using a purposive sampling design. The paper presents five critical domains of outcomes that KM initiatives impact: teaching effectiveness, scholarly research output, academic knowledge dissemination, curriculum and content development, and institutional and social outreach. The results demonstrate that KM enablers are strong components of the institution’s performance and that KM processes are a very important mechanism for connecting the conditions of strategy to academic performance. The proposed research is important because it provides empirical evidence on the inner processes of KM implementation in Indian universities and shows how KM could contribute to national priorities such as NAAC, NIRF and NEP 2020 standards. The insights highlight the necessity of capacity-building activities and KM systems that are scalable to facilitate optimal knowledge flows and sustainable, results-oriented learning practices in the field of Indian higher education.