Investigating the role of knowledge management in the pharmaceutical sector: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: The pharmaceutical sector, in its routine operations, heavily relies on numerous collaborators who exchange knowledge to maintain high-quality pharmaceutical care. This study examined the extent to which Knowledge Management (KM) impacts organisational performance, identifying the enablers and challenges to effective KM in the pharmaceutical industry. Lack of robust KM strategies is a threat to patient safety as it is linked to drug development delays, supply chain disruptions, medication errors and poor treatment outcomes.

Methods: A systematic literature review following PRISMA was conducted on Google Scholar to examine the role of KM initiatives in pharmaceutical organisations. A total of 21 peer-reviewed papers published in the English language from the year 2013 to date, focusing on KM within the pharmaceutical sector, were included in this study. The articles were selected, screened and examined following the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: A positive relationship exists between Knowledge Management (KM)/Knowledge Sharing (KS) and Organisational Performance (OP), with significant R² values ranging from 0.255 to 0.281. The study revealed that knowledge sharing specifically emerged as a significant predictor of organisational performance (p < 0.05) and organisational agility (β = 0.348). These findings suggest that effective KM strategies contribute to business performance optimisation, reinforcing the strategic importance of KM in organisational success.

Conclusion: The pharmaceutical industry can benefit from establishing cross-functional knowledge maps, implementing formal tacit knowledge transfer, developing clear SOPs for knowledge capture and transfer, and ensuring mobile accessibility of knowledge resources. Implementing these KM strategies contributes to higher productivity, quality products and services, market expansion, and increased revenues.