An exploratory study on knowledge management (KM) in the Maltese pharmaceutical sector

Abstract

The pharmaceutical sector can be considered as a key player in the world’s economy. This is also the case for Malta’s economy where the pharmaceutical sector is considered an important business sector. Till October 2021, the Maltese Pharmaceutical Sector exported €353 million worth of pharmaceutical products making up approximately 13% of total exports for Malta (National Statistics Office, 2021). Nowadays we hear a lot about ‘a knowledge‑based economy’. Globalisation has brought an organisation’s knowledge assets into focus ‑ knowledge is being more and more recognised as a valued asset in competitive environments and “is increasingly at the heart of modern enterprises” (Ho et al., 2014, p. 734). Therefore, in these uncertain and challenging times we are living in, organisations, in particular, knowledge intensive organisations such as those operating in the pharmaceutical sector must make the best possible use of their knowledge‑based activities in order to maintain a competitive advantage (Valaei et al., 2017). Knowledge Management (KM) has been recognised as providing the key to organisations to attain organisational effectiveness (or related aspects such as organisational performance) by making the best use of their knowledge resources (Zack et al., 2009).