ABSTRACT Universities increasingly rely on effective knowledge creation to remain competitive and relevant in a changing educational landscape. This study explores how autonomy and participation in decision‐making influence knowledge creation in Romanian universities, with affective commitment considered as a potential mechanism linking these factors. Data were collected through a survey of 125 academic and administrative staff across 10 tertiary institutions. The measurement model was validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modeling was applied to examine the hypothesized relationships. The findings indicate that autonomy and participation in decision‐making significantly enhance affective commitment, which in turn positively predicts knowledge creation. Moreover, affective commitment mediates the effects of both autonomy and participation in decision‐making on knowledge creation. These results contribute to the literature by providing evidence from a Central and Eastern European context, highlighting the importance of organizational practices that empower staff and build commitment as drivers of knowledge management in higher education.
Hadžiahmetović et al. (Mon,) studied this question.