When we are asked to select the most dominant paradigm among the various paradigms in our society, 'knowledge' will be the most dominant.
In business management, there has emerged a new move toward strategic management, called 'Knowledge Management(K...
When we are asked to select the most dominant paradigm among the various paradigms in our society, 'knowledge' will be the most dominant.
In business management, there has emerged a new move toward strategic management, called 'Knowledge Management(K.M.), by connecting the new paradigm of information society to the management environment around the developed countries since the 1990s. K.M. has been highlighted as a new alternative management strategy in many troubled organizations.
Hospital organizations, that had long benefited in the limited competition relative to other organizations, have been faced with great difficulties in management because of the rapid changing circumstances, and have recognized keenly the necessity of a new paradigm of management, or the introduction of knowledge management.
In the present condition, K.M. for hospitals in Korea has been led by large hospitals, the third medical organizations.
However, medium and small hospitals classified as the second medical organizations have suffered most in Korea, not large hospitals. This study extends the large hospital-focused K.M. to include that for medium and small hospitals.
For the procedure, both literature and demonstrative studies were used to find the relationship between the preparation level of K.M. and the performance for medium and small hospital organizations.
A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sampling group of 6 general hospitals in Pusan whose hospitalization capacity is not more than 200-400 beds and who have a similar reputation and accessibility; The sampling group was divided into 3 hospitals with better performance and 3 with poor performance.
Business performance was estimated with a reference to the net profit rate of total asset, a profit index of hospitals, and the present status of the public works which represents a contribution to the public, additional aspects of the performance specific to hospitals as non-organizations.
Various hypotheses were settled: a)preparation level of K.M. and workers' satisfaction, b)correlation between the preparation level of K.M. and c)business performance, workers' satisfaction with the preparation of K.M. by the characteristics of medium and small hospitals. The SPSSWIN statistical program was processed for regression analysis, T-test, and One way Anova.
As a result of the study, there is a significant relationship between the preparation level of K.M. and workers' satisfaction, showing that the better the preparation of K.M., the higher satisfaction workers have. Also, a significant difference between hospitals with better performance and those with poor performance is found, suggesting a positive relationship between the preparation level of K.M. and business performance. Thus, medium and small hospitals need to be aware of the necessity of K.M. which will have an impact on workers' satisfaction and business performance. Also, it is required to enhance an understanding of K.M. from the C.E.Os. to all of workers in companies. Further, it requires much effort to introduce K.M. to hospital organizations.