Integrating Knowledge Management for Sustainable Growth: Insights From the Spanish Wine Sector

Introduction

The challenge of maintaining a competitive advantage has become more complex due to the increasing social and environmental pressures faced by organizations, as noted by Khouroh et al. (2020). In response, dynamic organizations are adopting strategies like Knowledge Management (KM), Green Innovation (GI), and Collaborative Culture (CC) to enhance their economic, social, and environmental performance, a trend identified by Shehzad et al. (2022).

Companies increasingly recognize knowledge as a strategic asset crucial for achieving Sustainable Performance (SP). The processes of acquiring, transferring, and applying knowledge, i.e., KM, enable organizations to adapt to environmental dynamism, endorse sustainable practices, gain advantages, and build trust among customers and shareholders. These benefits are reflected in improved performance across economic, social, and environmental dimensions, as Demir et al. (2021) have articulated. KM is instrumental in facilitating organizational change where social and environmental sustainability are as important as economic viability.

KM is also a catalyst for the development of eco-friendly products and processes, integral to GI. Knowledge-based resources are key to sustainable innovation, as companies improve their knowledge acquisition, transfer, and application, their capacity for implementing green product and process innovations increases due to a larger stock of green knowledge and its wider dissemination among employees, as Abbas and Sağsan (2019) have observed. Thus, KM is a vital component in developing organizational capabilities that encompass economic, social, and environmental aspects, a concept explored by Wang et al. (2022).

Within the context of capabilities and intangible assets, CC is crucial for promoting knowledge sharing within a company, which can lead to improved SP. An organization’s values should emphasize collaboration, knowledge sharing, acceptance of failure, and fostering social interaction among its members, as Yang et al. (2018) suggest. This cultural framework facilitates the effective sharing and application of knowledge, ultimately enhancing an organization’s sustainable performance.

In the wine industry, effective management of winery knowledge is a critical strategic factor for market competition, primarily for two reasons. First, effective Knowledge Management (KM) enhances the flow and application of green knowledge within wineries, aiding them in addressing climatic challenges like climate change, energy, and water scarcity, which are crucial for the sector's survival, as noted by Obermayer et al. (2022). Second, KM facilitates the competitiveness and distinctiveness of wineries from their competitors by encouraging the creation of environmentally friendly products and processes, such as organic, natural, and biodynamic wines, as discussed by Marco-Lajara et al. (2022a). This approach can improve winery performance, especially since customers often prefer organic wines, despite a general lack of understanding about what this entails, as Fuentes-Fernández et al. (2022) have shown.