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ABSTRACT
This conceptual paper reviews the existing literature on leadership, knowledge management and societal culture, and how these important variables are related to firm performance within the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the paper proposes a conceptual framework which has the potential to explain direct and indirect relationships between leadership, knowledge management and subsequent firm performance. Furthermore, the paper explicates some pathways through which societal culture may influence the relationships among leadership, knowledge management and performance. Based on the research model, we propose several testable research propositions and conclude with a discussion of the future research direction.
Introduction
There is a growing recognition that the development and deployment of knowledge is a key source of firm competitive advantage (Eisenhrdt & Martin, 2000; Nonaka,i99i), and that organizations that effectively manage their knowledge capital are both efficient and effective (Chuang, Jackson, & Jiang, 2013; Jackson, Chuang, Harden, & Jiang, 2006; Wang, Noe, & Wang, in press). Indeed, there is growing evidence that the success of organizations lies more in their knowledge assets than in their physical assets, and that the performance of individuals, work units/teams/groups and organizations depends to a large extent on knowledge production, diffusion, and absorption across individuals and collectives (Phelps, Heidi, & Wadhwa, 2013; Wang et al., in press).
Related to the above discussion, two streams of research have advanced our knowledge of how leadership is manifested within organizations. The first approach focuses on the direct influence of leadership on performance at the individual, group, and organizational levels (Yukl, 2013). This stream also explores the direct impact of leadership on an organization's ability to manage its knowledge capital (Chuang et al., 2013; Crawford, 2005; Donate & Guadamillas, 2011; Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007). The second approach of leadership research has focused on the leadershipsocio-cultural relationship (Elenkov & Manev, 2005; Muchiri, 2011; Walumbwa, Avolio, & Aryee, 2011). This is due to the recognition of the need to identify important socio-cultural variables that moderate the influence of many organizational variables (such as leadership) on performance (Dickson, Den Hartog, & Mitchelson, 2003; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). Indeed, leadership researchers now propose the need to examine contextual determinants of leader emergence and effectiveness (such as societal culture), claiming that unpacking moderating variables would...