Digital Economy Competencies Through a Knowledge Management Lens: Identifying the Drivers of Managerial Performance

Authors

  • Zainal Abiddin Morshidi MR
  • Norhayati Hussin UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UITM)
  • Masitah Ahmad
  • Suhaila Osman
  • Nurul Syfa’ Mohd Tokiran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34190/eckm.27.1.5045

Keywords:

Knowledge Management Capabilities, Digital Economy Competencies, Digital Literacy, Competency Development, Managerial Performance

Abstract

Even with massive investments in digital transformation, manufacturing firms in emerging economies continue to demonstrate poor performance as a result of low workforce readiness to adopt new technologies. This study diverges from traditional research focus on technology implementation, examining instead the effect of digital economy capabilities on managerial performance from the standpoint of Knowledge Management (KM). It conceptualises digital competencies as human-centric and infrastructural KM capabilities using the Sarawak Digital Economy Competency (SarDEC) model. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), this quantitative study analyses the survey data of 385 managerial and technical employees in Sarawak’s manufacturing sector. Managerial performance is found to be significantly driven by the human-centric KM competencies of digital literacy, digital communication, business enablers, and competency development. Showing no significant direct effects on performance are digital infrastructure and content creation. This means that performance improvements are primarily determined by human knowledge interpretation and application once the technology threshold is reached. Despite the Malaysian manufacturing setting, the findings are generalisable to other developing economies in the region investing in digital transformation.

Author Biographies

Zainal Abiddin Morshidi, MR

Zainal Abiddin bin Morshidi is a postgraduate student in the Faculty of Information Science at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Puncak Perdana. His research interests lie at the intersection of digital systems, information management, and digital economy competencies. A dedicated alumnus of UiTM, Zainal began his academic journey with a Diploma in Information Science at the Samarahan campus in Sarawak, before advancing to complete both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Systems Science and Information Management at the Puncak Perdana campus. Driven by the evolving digital landscape, his current work focuses on identifying and developing the crucial competencies required to thrive in today's digital economy.

Norhayati Hussin, UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UITM)

NORHAYATI HUSSIN (PhD) received the degree in Information Studies at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and master’s degree in information system at University of Surrey, United Kingdom. She then completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Information Management at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in 2018. Currently, Norhayati Hussin is a Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Information Science at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, Malaysia. Her research interests are primarily in strategic information management, strategic information system, data and information analysis, information credibility, information system management, evaluation of information services and research and information science.

Masitah Ahmad

Masitah Ahmad is an Associate Professor of Information Science at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). She received her Ph.D. in Information Technology from Deakin University, Australia, in 2016. Her research focuses on Information Technology, Information Quality, and Digital Libraries. She has authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles in reputable international journals and has over 20 years of university teaching experience. She has supervised 12 Ph.D. candidates and 4 Master's by Research students.

Suhaila Osman

SUHAILA OSMAN received the degree in record management and master’s degree in knowledge management at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). She is a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor Branch, Segamat Campus, but currently on study leave in pursuing her PhD under scholarship by the Academic Training Scheme for Bumiputera at Public Institutions of Higher Learning (Program Skim Latihan Akademik Bumiputera/IPTA (SLAB/SLAI) [in Bahasa Melayu]) awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (October 2023). Her research interests are primarily in information management, record management, knowledge management, archive management and information science.

Nurul Syfa’ Mohd Tokiran

Nurul Syfa’ Mohd Tokiran is Postgraduate student at Faculty of Information Science, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Perdana Campus. Her education starts with Diploma of Information Science, UiTM Machang, Kelantan. After that, she further her study in degree and master level at UiTM Puncak Perdana in the field of records and document management. Her research interest are digital culture, local content, records and document management.

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Published

2026-08-25

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 1 (2026): The Proceedings of the 27th European Conference on Knowledge Management (ECKM 2026) Volume 1

Section

Academic Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2026 European Conference on Knowledge Management

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