Investigating the effect of knowledge management on organizational agility with emphasis on the mediating role of organizational innovation (Case of study: defense project-oriented organizations)

The agility of defense project-oriented organizations in carrying out innovative research projects is necessary in order to increase the level of defense deterrence against the threats caused by various military products in the world. Therefore, the current research was developed with the aim of investigating the effect of using knowledge management on organizational agility with the role of mediating innovation in defense project oriented organizations. This research is of applied type and its method is descriptive correlation type which was done by survey method. The statistical population of the study was made up of 73 defense research units, and an effort was made to collect and analyze data from the entire statistical population. Lawson, Jimenez, and Wang and Sharifi questionnaires were used to measure the variables of knowledge management, organizational innovation, and organizational agility, respectively. In order to check the validity of the research questionnaires, the opinion of 5 experts was obtained and after making the necessary corrections, its formal and content validity was confirmed by them. Also, Cronbach's alpha coefficient calculated as 0.894 confirmed the reliability of the research questionnaires. Structural equation modeling technique and Smart-pls software have been used to confirm the research conceptual model and research hypotheses. The findings of this research showed that the application of knowledge management has a positive and significant effect on the agility of defense project-oriented organizations with a coefficient of 0.498 and also through organizational innovation with an indirect effect and with a coefficient of 0.363, it can improve organizational agility. Therefore, defense project-oriented organizations should focus more on the effective implementation of knowledge management, so that by strengthening innovation and improving the level of organizational agility, they can respond to the rapid changes in the defense environment and create a suitable level of defense deterrence.