Measuring Knowledge Vulnerabilities in Knowledge Processes: A Scale Development

The aim of this paper is to propose and test a new measuring scale for the concept of “knowledge vulnerabilities”. With this research, we are continuing our work on a research project concerning knowledge risks and knowledge vulnerabilities that can manifest in organizations, alongside knowledge processes. In the context of a scarce literature concerning knowledge vulnerabilities, this research adds value by understanding and measuring knowledge vulnerabilities, as weak points of the knowledge system and of the knowledge management routines that could trigger or facilitate the appearance of risks, exposing the organization to threats. In this paper, we present an instrument for measuring knowledge vulnerabilities related to the knowledge processes within an organization, in the form of a questionnaire. This instrument is developed starting from a previously tested instrument, with 21 items, proposed by Neștian and Guță (2023). The new instrument contains 42 items, with newly developed items reflecting a deeper understanding of knowledge vulnerabilities. The taxonomy for knowledge vulnerabilities is based on a recent perspective of organizational knowledge dynamics (Bratianu, Neștian and Guță, 2022). In this research, seven knowledge processes are considered and vulnerabilities related to them are proposed: vulnerabilities related to knowledge creation, vulnerabilities related to knowledge acquisition, vulnerabilities related to knowledge loss, vulnerabilities related to knowledge sharing, vulnerabilities related to knowledge use, vulnerabilities related to emotional knowledge dynamics and vulnerabilities related to spiritual knowledge dynamics. The questionnaire has been applied in private companies, on both managers and non-managers. Principal components analysis was undertaken to highlight the components forming the construct of vulnerabilities related to knowledge processes. The factors resulting from applying the statistical method of principal components analysis on the data collected with this improved questionnaire are composed starting from a larger number of items and are better aligned with the theoretical perspective used, compared with the questionnaire developed in 2023 by Neștian and Guță. The items of the questionnaire loaded in the principal components can be used for relevant future studies on knowledge vulnerabilities. The resulting components offer a better picture regarding the conceptualization of the notion of vulnerabilities associated with knowledge processes.