Knowledge acquisition and organisational performance:

Abstract

The role of knowledge as an essential source of competitive advantage in organisations has become critical. To operate effectively in today’s economy, it is necessary to become a knowledge-based organisation. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to assess the impact of knowledge acquisition on the organisational performance of National Teachers’ Colleges (NTCs) in Uganda. Using a questionnaire, from a target population of 221, data were collected from a sample size of 141 respondents from the five National Teachers’ Colleges in Uganda. The data were analysed using descriptive statistical techniques, which included frequencies and percentages, and inferential statistical techniques, which included Spearman’s correlation, the coefficient of determination, and regression analyses to determine the impact of knowledge management as an independent variable on the performance of the NTCs. The findings show a moderate positive relationship (rho = 0.670) between knowledge acquisition and the performance of NTCs in Uganda. The coefficient of determination (rho2 = 0.449) shows that knowledge acquisition accounted for 44.9% of the change in the performance of the NTCs in Uganda. The significance value (p = 0.000) was less than .05. Hence, the hypothesis that knowledge acquisition has a significant positive impact on the performance of NTCs in Uganda was accepted. This study will guide the NTCs to integrate their knowledge and assets such as databases, people and their experience and expertise, systems, policies, and procedures into knowledge management in order to improve performance. The results of this research will be used to improve the management of knowledge at the NTCs in Uganda, which may lead to an improvement in the way NTCs make themselves relevant to the society in which they operate.