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Knowledge Management and Employee General Competencies in Accounting Firms

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Strategic Innovative Marketing

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

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Abstract

This paper aims to shed light upon the impact of knowledge management on employee general competencies in accounting firm services (accounting offices). In this study, general competencies consist of abilities regarding (a) communication and teamwork, (b) problem solving and prioritizing, (c) time management and creativity, (d) interpersonal relations, (e) knowledge acquisition and application, and (f) risk taking and challenging. Knowledge management is primarily regarded the knowledge sharing culture, which consists of values about communication and information exchange, human relations, group decision-making and knowledge diffusion. The stimuli of this research can be traced on the empirical inconclusiveness in the existing literature investigating individual competencies and knowledge management mechanisms, as well as their association. The empirical findings from a survey of 141 employees in accounting offices in Central Greece confirm that all types of general competencies are significantly associated with knowledge sharing culture. As a consequence, management may invest on training in order to develop general competencies, which in turn, will boost knowledge sharing. Thus, accounting services firms may build a sustainable competitive advantage on knowledge management.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been cofinanced by the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Frame-work (NSRF)—Research Funding Program: ARCHIMEDES III. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund References.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Logistics Management, TEI of Central Greece, Thiva, Greece

    Panagiotis Trivellas

  2. Department of Business Administration, TEI of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece

    Nikolaos Kakkos

  3. Department of Accountancy, TEI of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece

    Ilias Santouridis

Authors
  1. Panagiotis Trivellas
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  2. Nikolaos Kakkos
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  3. Ilias Santouridis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Panagiotis Trivellas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technological Educational Institute of Athens , Egaleo, Greece

    Androniki Kavoura

  2. Dept. of Computer Science & Technology, University of Peloponnese, Tripoli, Greece

    Damianos P. Sakas

  3. Technological Educational Institute of Athens , Egaleo, Greece

    Petros Tomaras

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Trivellas, P., Kakkos, N., Santouridis, I. (2017). Knowledge Management and Employee General Competencies in Accounting Firms. In: Kavoura, A., Sakas, D., Tomaras, P. (eds) Strategic Innovative Marketing. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33865-1_7

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