Designing a Meta-Synthesis Model for Identifying Risks in Knowledge-Based Companies Based on Information Technology

Abstract

This study aimed to design an integrated meta-synthesis model for identifying the major risks confronting knowledge-based companies from an information-technology perspective. This qualitative study employed a meta-synthesis design to integrate and reinterpret findings from previous research on information technology, knowledge management, organizational risk, cybersecurity, innovation, and knowledge-based enterprises. An initial search identified 436 potentially relevant documents from major national and international academic databases. After duplicate removal, title and abstract screening, full-text assessment, and methodological appraisal based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 42 studies were retained for final analysis. Data were extracted using a researcher-designed document-review form and analyzed through iterative coding, constant comparison, conceptual integration, and progressive abstraction. The analytical process involved identifying meaningful statements, generating primary codes, merging conceptually similar codes, forming subcategories, and synthesizing them into higher-order risk dimensions until theoretical saturation was achieved. The meta-synthesis yielded 118 primary codes organized into 28 subcategories and eight overarching dimensions: technological and digital infrastructure risk, cybersecurity and information security risk, strategic and innovation risk, organizational and operational risk, knowledge and human capital risk, financial and economic risk, legal and regulatory risk, and environmental, market, and ecosystem risk. The findings indicated that these dimensions were strongly interconnected rather than independent. Information technology emerged simultaneously as an independent source of risk, a transmission mechanism capable of amplifying risks across organizational domains, and a capability for mitigating uncertainty through improved governance, analytics, knowledge integration, and monitoring. Technological vulnerabilities were particularly linked to operational disruption, financial exposure, knowledge loss, legal liability, and weakened innovation capacity. The proposed model demonstrates that risk identification in knowledge-based companies requires a systemic and multidimensional approach in which technological, organizational, knowledge-related, financial, legal, and environmental risks are assessed jointly, enabling managers to identify interdependencies and design more coordinated risk-management strategies.