This study purports to investigate the recognition and readiness of hospital employees in the knowledge management. Data were collected from nurses, administrative staff, and technologists working at 9 university hospitals in Seoul and Kyunggi Provin...
This study purports to investigate the recognition and readiness of hospital employees in the knowledge management. Data were collected from nurses, administrative staff, and technologists working at 9 university hospitals in Seoul and Kyunggi Province through the self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using frequency analysis, t-test, and one-way ANOVA.
The level of readiness of hospital employees in knowledge management were analyzed based on the following 4 dimensions; strategy, process, culture, and technology. The level of readiness in strategy was measured by the recognition of the essential knowledge and the value-sharing of knowledge. With regard to the level of readiness in process, it was measured by the channel of communication, the variety of the connection, and the system of the knowledge management. In case of the level of readiness in culture, it was measured by creativity, trust, cooperation and openness. And the level of readiness in technology was measured by the computing ability and the scope of personal computer utilization.
The results of the study were as follows;
1)Most of the hospital employees seem to understand the concept of knowledge-management and the group of senior staff understand its concept more than the junior staff.. Most employees agree to the introduction of the knowledge management.
2)The main communication channel of hospital employees were telephone, formal and informal meeting, person-to-person contact, memorandum, and E-mail. They need to prepare for the expansion of information technology such as E-mail and Internet in hospital communication channel.
3)There is a need to appoint a chief knowledge officer(CKO) for managing strategically the knowledge in the hospital. And it is desirable to appoint a medical doctor as chief knowledge officer because medical doctors are the opinion leading group in the hospital.
4)The reward system for the creation and sharing of knowledge should be established.
5)The role of top management is very important in creating the culture which induce the creation, retrieval, sharing, reward of knowledge in the hospital. They should respond quickly and favorably to employees' behavior of knowledge management.
6)The efforts for improving the ability of hospital employees especially in information technology should be made urgently.