Knowledge Management and Product Innovation as Drivers of Competitive Advantage in the Knowledge Economy: A Bibliometric Analysis

Knowledge management and innovation play a significant role in achieving competitive advantage in the knowledge economy. Although these constructs have been extensively studied individually and in various pairings, their intersection is still fragmented across theoretical and empirical research. To address this gap, this study provides a systematic overview of how knowledge management and product innovation jointly contribute to achieving competitive advantage. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on 99 publications sourced from the Web of Science database, published between 2015 and 2025, analyzing publication trends, citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence networks, and thematic clusters. This study answers the following research questions: (1) What are the primary themes and research trends in the academic literature at the intersection of knowledge management, product innovation, and competitive advantage? (2) What research areas show high potential for future research within this field? The results show a modest annual growth rate of 5.24%, a high average citation rate of 26.14 citations per document, and an international co-authorship rate of 31.31%, confirming global academic interest for this topic. The co-occurrence analysis reveals a strong conceptual core that is centered on innovation and knowledge management, while the thematic map identifies two foundational themes, (i) innovation, new product development, and competitive advantage, and (ii) knowledge management and innovation performance, together with a motor theme focused on intellectual capital and organizational capabilities. This study contributes to the literature by mapping the intellectual structure of this field and identifying potential directions for future research.