Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Knowledge Management despite Resource and Institutional limitations: Advancing Innovation, Resilience, and Organizational Learning

Why are resource and institutional constraints relevant?

A growing number of organizations are facing political uncertainty (Roy & Gautam, 2026), a knowledge-based economy with heterogeneous development (Mei et al., 2026), and technological upheavals that not only pose ethical and social challenges but also demand new business models and ways to maintain competitiveness (Fang et al., 2026; Lu et al., 2026).

Many of these organisations operate in underdeveloped regions, geographically isolated areas, rural communities, conflict zones, post-disaster environments, or informal settlements. Others, like NGOs, operate in sectors with a lack of financial resources (Mahasuar, 2023). These entrepreneurial contexts share characteristics such as financial constraints (Surya et al., 2026), difficulties in accessing and applying technologies (Mishra et al., 2026), and a shortage of skilled workers (Wang et al., 2026). Organisations operating in these contexts must learn to innovate and remain (globally) competitive despite challenging conditions.

The role of knowledge management (KM)

Given limited resources, institutional frameworks, and other uncertainties in today's world, companies should strive to make better use of their knowledge. Targeted and strategic KM enables organizations to maximize the value of their relevant knowledge (Zack, 1999). Research has shown that KM can mitigate the disadvantages associated with financial and technological constraints (Dávila et al., 2019; McDermott & Pietrobelli, 2017). In this sense, it might represent a strategic organisational capability that supports innovation (Dávila et al., 2018; Grant, 1996; Lin et al., 2013; Saeed & Dangelico, 2026), strengthens resilience (Abbas et al., 2026; Zhang et al., 2024), and fosters organisational learning (Sahibzada et al., 2023; Van Grinsven & Visser, 2011).

Empirical evidence from different contexts supports the critical role of KM in this regard. Regarding innovation, KM practices have been associated with higher innovation performance in firms from Brazil (Dávila et al., 2019) and China (Sahibzada et al., 2023). In terms of resilience, studies suggest that organisational resilience can be reinforced through knowledge-based resources and capabilities, including dynamic capabilities in Indonesian firms (Hafnidah et al., 2026), the joint action of intellectual capital and generative AI in Turkish organisations (Abbas et al., 2026), and knowledge transfer, integration, and sharing mechanisms in emergency management systems in China (Zhang et al., 2024). Likewise, organisational learning has been linked to intellectual capital and knowledge process capability in Taiwanese firms (Wu & Chen, 2014). KM has also proven to be very beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their development, as a recently published literature review on the topic of knowledge management in SMEs by Durst et al. (2023) shows. The review reveals, among other things, the relationship between KM and different types of performance.

When operating under constraints, it is crucial to understand the qualities of available resources, including knowledge, as it is not automatically an intrinsic asset (Durst, 2019). Against this backdrop, discussing risks related to knowledge is relevant, allowing the organisation to examine knowledge from both a positive and a negative perspective. This, in turn, can lead to new ways of thinking and thus to novel solutions for leveraging knowledge (Durst & Zieba, 2026).

The missing pieces

Although KM has become an established field in recent years, the focus of studies remains on relatively stable and well-institutionalized environments, i.e., developed economies and mature organizational environments (Durst et al., 2023). Contexts characterized by institutional weaknesses or resource constraints are comparatively under-researched, although emerging findings suggest that KM could play a crucial role in overcoming such constraints through mechanisms such as tinkering, socialization, and knowledge-sharing routines (Hasmin & Nurung, 2026). Recent studies (e.g., Cegarra-Sánchez et al., 2022) have begun to address these situations, but they still represent the exception rather than the norm. Since SMEs constitute the majority of businesses in all economies, and in the World Bank Group's 2020 database, which includes approximately 322 million formal micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, about 61 percent (196 million) of SMEs are from emerging economies, there is a significant need for more context-sensitive KM research that examines the roles KM can play in contexts characterized by resource and institutional scarcity (Zhao et., 2022).

Objectives of the Special Issue

This special issue aims to deepen the understanding of KM in contexts with limited resources and institutional frameworks. It seeks to identify mechanisms, capabilities, and theoretical perspectives through which KM enables organisational development and resilience despite such conditions. It welcomes the application or proposal of novel methodological approaches for investigating KM phenomena in such environments. By promoting context-sensitive research from underrepresented areas, this special issue aims to generate both theoretical and practical contributions that help to reduce the existing gap between established and underrepresented contexts.

Some of the topic invited to be discussed in this special issue include, but are not limited to:

• KM as an enabler of organizational performance under conditions of resource scarcity.
• Knowledge risk management as crucial function in environments characterized by internal and external constraints.
• KM in underrepresented organisational settings, including SMEs, family businesses, informal organisations, low-technology firms, social organisations or geographically isolated regions.
• Organisational learning processes in contexts characterised by institutional and resource constraints.
• The role of KM in strengthening organisational resilience during internal and external crises and disruptions.
• Necessary conditions and bottlenecks for organizational development empowered by KM
• The interplay between artificial intelligence and KM in overcoming organisational and institutional constraints.
• The role of institutional ecosystems and inter-organisational networks in enhancing the effectiveness of KM.
• Novel methodological approaches for studying KM in constrained and underrepresented contexts.

Expected contributions

This Special Issue welcomes a wide range of contributions, including conceptual papers, literature reviews, empirical studies, , comparative and cross-country studies, theory-building research, practice-oriented studies, and methodological contributions, that advance understanding of KM in contexts characterised by resource and institutional constraints.

Keywords

Knowledge Management, Resource and Institutional Constraints, Underrepresented Contexts, Innovation, Risks related to knowledge, Knowledge Risk Management Organisational Learning, Organisational Resilience, Organisational Capabilities, Dynamic Capabilities, Knowledge-Based View.

References

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