Recently, the importance of strategic management, such as the enhancement of adaptability through interaction with environment, the effort to secure the effectiveness of organization management, and the utilization and quality management of welfare re...
Recently, the importance of strategic management, such as the enhancement of adaptability through interaction with environment, the effort to secure the effectiveness of organization management, and the utilization and quality management of welfare resources, is increasingly being emphasized in managing welfare facilities. This indicates that welfare centers are increasingly pursuing business management methods that create organization culture through knowledge accumulation and sharing. Therefore, this study tried to prove the effectiveness of knowledge management in welfare organizations by analyzing the effects of human assets and structural assets, the critical factors of knowledge management, on organization effectiveness.
The subjects of this study included a total of 360 employees at 30 welfare centers for the handicapped or the elderly in Seoul-si, Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongbuk-do whose employees consisted of the director, manager, assistant manager and ordinary worker. A survey was conducted from August 27th, 2007 to September 14th, 2007. Of 360 questionnaires distributed, 271 were used in the final analyses.
The following analyses results were obtained.
First, as for the recognition of the employees at welfare centers about knowledge management, human assets and structural assets scored an average of 3.62points and 3.54points respectively. Among the sub factors of human assets, self-development received a top score of 3.66point. In the meantime, among the sub factors of structural assets, management strategy received the highest score of 3.68points.
Second, in order to examine the organization effectiveness of workers at welfare centers, job satisfaction and organization commitment, the sub factors of organizational effectiveness, were measured. Organization commitment and job satisfaction scored an average of 3.24points and 3.24points respectively.
Third, the analysis of the level of critical factors of knowledge management by organization feature found that the level of critical factors of knowledge management showed statistically significant differences only with regard to organization size. As for structural assets, it displayed differences in information technology, but showed little differences in process. As for human assets, differences were detected in self management.
Fourth, the analysis of the level of critical factors of knowledge management by individual feature found that the level of critical factors of knowledge management showed statistically significant differences with regard to all individual feature variables that included gender, age, academic level, status, and total employment duration. According to the results of analysis of the level of organization commitment and job satisfaction by the employees' general feature, the employees displayed significant differences in job satisfaction with respect to organization size, among the sub factors of organization feature.
Fifth, the effects of each critical factor of knowledge management were analyzed as follows. First of all, the analysis of the effects of the overall average of structural assets indicated that the overall average of structural assets exerted statistically significant effects on both job satisfaction and organization commitment. On the other hand, the overall average of human assets had little effect on organization effectiveness. Besides, the effects of knowledge management structural assets, human assets, the employees' general features, and the organizations' general features on job satisfaction were analyzed. According to the results, self-development and work performance among the sub factors of human assets, shared culture, management strategy, and process among the sub factors of structural assets, age among the employees' general features, and organization size among the organizations' general features affected the employees' job satisfaction. Lastly, the effects of knowledge management structural assets, human assets, the employees' general features, and the organizations' general features on organization commitment were analyzed. The results showed that shared culture, management strategy, and process among the sub factors of structural assets and age among the employees' general features affected the employees' organization commitment.
In conclusion, the analysis of the possibility of applying the critical factors of knowledge management to the employees at welfare centers empirically confirmed that the critical factors of knowledge management can increase organization effectiveness. In order to secure the justification of organization management and its responsibility, the welfare center should make continuing efforts to make its employees work more professionally.