Abstract:
Performance of manufacturing firms has been highly influenced by macro
environmental factors ranging from political instability and socio-economic
factors. As a result, knowledge management has increasingly become crucial
in reducing the impact on both internal and external factors. The study aimed
to determine the relationship between knowledge management capacity
building and productivity of sugar companies in Kenya. The study assessed
the moderating effect of transformational leadership on the relationship
between capacity building and the productivity of sugar companies. This was
anchored on the theory of change which explains the need for knowledge
management in managing business dynamic external environment. The study
adopted a positivist research philosophy and correlational research designs.
Questionnaires were administered in a census survey to 218 managers working
in 8 sugar companies in Kenya. Mean and standard deviation was utilized with
frequencies as descriptive statistics. A simple regression was adopted to
establish the relationship between knowledge management capacity building
and productivity of firms. The finding revealed that the sugar firms shared
knowledge, however, there was need to improve knowledge management
system, knowledge retrieval and knowledge acquisition. There was significant
relationship between innovative capacity building and productivity. The study
concludes that there was statistically significant relationship between
knowledge management capacity building and organization productivity. It is
recommended that there is a need to improve the knowledge management
system and policies to enhance productivity of organizations
