Effect of Organizational Quality Management Activities on Job Performance and the Mediating Effect of Knowledge Management Activities

This study analyzes how an organization's quality management activities affect its knowledge management activities and its employees' job performance as well as whether knowledge management activities have a mediating effect on the relationship between quality management activities and job performance. In order to validate the research model, during approximately 1 month from Janauary 19, 2015 to February 17, 2015, 635 people in service industries(N=212), manufacturing industries(N=211), IT industry(N=212) in South Korea were surveyed. The data collected for this study are analyzed by use of SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 20.O Software to perform a comparative analysis of to the relationships among quality, knowledge management, and job performance, by industry. In summary, this study has yielded the following results: First, the organization's quality management activities was shown to have a significant positive impact on knowledge management activity in the fields of services, production, and IT. Second, the knowledge management activity had significant positive effect on job performance in all three types. Third, in the service industry, an organization's quality management activities have a negative effect on the job performance of its employees. Fourth, according to the analysis by each group, Quality management, particularly in the service industry, had a significant positive effect on knowledge management, and knowledge management had a significant positive effect on job performance, particularly in the manufacturing industry. Fifth, an organization's knowledge management activities have a partial mediating effect on the correlation between its quality management activities and its employees' job performance. Finally, based on the aforementioned research results, suggestions were made regarding the meaning of the influence of organization's quality management activities on knowledge management activities and oits employees' job performance and the differences by industry thereof, while also suggesting the limitations of this work.