Abstract: Knowledge Management (KM) and innovation are considered as key sources for the continuous sustainable competitive advantage of an organization. This study aims at establishing the state-of-the-art of causal link between KM practices and organizational innovation. For this purpose, the study critically reviewed research published in KM and innovation domain over the last 10 years (i.e. 2008 and 2017). A systematic search strategy was employed to retrieve relevant empirical studies from the Web of Science (WoS). Thereafter, the authors applied a critical review strategy to analyse and synthesize the findings of studies which focused on theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches, key findings, gaps, limitations, and descriptive information. Findings disclosed that research in the recent past increased exponentially in this field. In terms of impact, KM actively contributes to different types of innovation associated with organizational processes, products, and services. However, it was also noted that there are several factors, e.g., organizational learning, corporate culture, IT application, organizational capabilities, knowledge-oriented human resource practices, reverse knowledge transfer, and dynamic capability, which interplay significantly between KM processes and innovation in a mediating role. From a methodological perspective, the scholars used mainly quantitative approaches in preference to qualitative or mixed methods. This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed by the KM research community since qualitative and pragmatic studies tend to provide better explanatory and descriptive findings. This study contributes to the body of knowledge offering insights for academics and practitioners and suggests future research directions to strengthen the KM and innovation field.
