The Impact of Knowledge Management on Academic Entrepreneurship (Case Study: The University of Applied Sciences and Technology)

The University of Applied Sciences and Technology (UAST) of Iran introduces itself as a third-generation university and considers academic entrepreneurship (AE) as one of its missions. Knowledge is the foundation of innovation, and innovation is essential to entrepreneurship. In recent years, an increasing number of organizations have discovered the role of knowledge management (KM) in achieving their goals, and assessing the implementation of KM in the organization and its effect on organizational missions has become an attractive title both for managers and researchers. The purpose of the present correlational-descriptive study is to estimate the direct effects of KM components on AE in UAST. The statistical population consisted of 134 employees of the Deputy of Research and Technology in UAST. The sample size was estimated at 98 according to Cochran's formula and they were taken by stratified random sampling with proportional assignment. Data were collected with Nonaka and Taechuchy’s (1991) standard KM questionnaire to evaluate the KM and AE levels. SPSS26 and SmartPLS3.3 were used to analyze the data and to create a structural relation model. The findings showed that knowledge Internalization had a direct effect on AE while the effect of other KM components was not proven. To promote and expand AE, UAST should increase effective communication between its members, document the rules, and pay more attention to the transparent distribution of information.