A study on organizational culture, structure and information technology as three KM enablers: A case study in five Iranian medical and healthcare research centers

Ali Khalghani,Hamideh Reshadatjoo,Mahdi Iran-nejad-parizi

doi:10.5267/j.msl.2012.11.022

Abstract

Article history: Received July 12, 2012 Received in revised format 29 October 2012 Accepted 15 November 2012 Available online November 17 2012 This study investigates organizational structure, culture, and information technology as knowledge management (KM) infrastructural capabilities, and compares their significance and status quo in five medical research centers in Tehran, Iran. Objectives of this research were pursued by employing two statistical methods, regression analysis and Friedman test. Included in the study were 135 people (researchers and support staff) from five medical and healthcare research centers of Tehran. A survey questionnaire including 23 questions was utilized to examine organizational structure, culture and information technology indicators. And another 12 questions examined KM effectiveness. The Friedman test indicated that in terms of their status quo, the three studied KM enablers are at different conditions, with organizational culture having the best (mean rank=1.79) and IT the worst (mean rank=2.14) status. Moreover, it was revealed by regression analysis that organizational structure is believed to have the most significant impact (Beta= 0.397) on the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives, while information technology gained the least perceived impact (Beta= 0.176). © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highlights

Knowledge Management (KM) in healthcare is normally considered as the confluence of formal methodologies and techniques to facilitate creation, identification, acquisition, development, preservation, dissemination and utilization of the different aspects of a healthcare enterprise’s knowledge assets(Abidi, 2001).If organizational knowledge is to be implemented in an efficient way, relevant knowledge management strategies must be acquired
Results of this study include the ranking of status quo of the three KM enablers, obtained via the Friedman test, and ranking of the Three KM Enablers in terms of their impact on KM effectiveness, which was attained using the regression analysis
The fact that cultural acceptance of knowledge management exists among organization members could be a sign of hope for the success of KM initiatives

Summary

Introduction

If organizational knowledge is to be implemented in an efficient way, relevant knowledge management strategies must be acquired. For this purpose, environmental factors, which act as KM infrastructures must be recognized and their conditions and significances must be taken into account for effective implementation of KM. There are normally three key infrastructures including technical, structural, and cultural, enable maximization of social capital (Gold et al, 2001). Organizational structure may encourage or inhibit KM and centralization and formalization are key variables underlying the structural construct. They have recognizable impacts on KM within organizations (Lee & Choi, 2003)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion