Knowledge management and organisational resilience

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of the mediation effect of innovation in the relationship between knowledge management and organisational resilience. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a cross‐sectional design to collect data used to carry out mediation analysis. Findings Innovation had an effect on organisational resilience. Knowledge management did not have a direct effect on organisational resilience, except through the full mediation of innovation. This suggests that without organisational innovation, parastatal organisations may not improve their level of resilience. Research limitations/implications The sample size was small, covering only parastatals. The results may be different in the private sector. The study was cross‐sectional which is limited to trace long‐term effects of knowledge management and organisational innovation on organisational resilience. Therefore, a longitudinal study may be undertaken, subject to resource availability. Practical implications Managers in parastatals should carry out organisational innovations as a gateway for knowledge management to build organisational resilience. Originality/value The study generates empirical evidence on less studied phenomena in the parastatal sector. The evidence highlights the powerful influence of organisational innovation in building resilience based on knowledge management.