Knowledge Creation Processes: A Survey of SMEs In the Iranian Province of Mazandaran

The main purpose of this research is the explanation of knowledge creation processes (KCP) in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iran. The study is based on Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) conceptual model and a standard questionnaire. According to this approach, the survey was conducted on 300 active SMEs of Mazandaran Province. The findings demonstrated that the proposed structural equation model has the best-fitting comparison with data in real world. Based on structural equation of KCP, socialization (0.96) has more effect on KCP. Moreover, the variables of externalisation (0.79), combination (0.54) and internalisation (0.53) were in next levels respectively. The managers of SMEs in Iran can utilize this structural equation to measure their firms’ potentials in organisational performance improvement and find the situation of their firms compared to peer groups.

Structural Equation Model, Knowledge Creation Processes, SMEs, Mazandaran Province, Iran, Knowledge Creation Process