ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Faraji Khiavi   F. (1 )
Mazarei   Sh. (1 )
Dashti   R. (* )






(* ) Rehabilitation Faculty, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
(1 ) Health-Care Services Management Department, Health School, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

Correspondence

Article History

Received:  November  15, 2015
Accepted:  January 31, 2015
ePublished:  March 15, 2015

BRIEF TEXT


… [1-11] Introducing the knowledge management tools and procedures empowers the universities in the fields of knowledge sharing, research improvement and educational cooperation and improves working relationships between staff and students [12]. Knowledge management presents experienced strategies in order to improve the learning environment [13]. … [14-21]

In Iran, studies have been conducted on the assessment of the level of knowledge management which have measured the parameters of knowledge management and required infrastructures for the implementation of knowledge management strategies [14, 22, 23]. … [24, 25]

The aim of this study was to determine the components of knowledge management from the viewpoints of departments` chairmen of Ahwaz Jondishapour University of Medical Sciences.

This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Departments` chairmen of Ahwaz Jondishapour University of Medical Sciences were studied in 2012.

60 subjects were enrolled through census method.

Data gathering instrument had 2 parts; demographic characteristics and a knowledge management questionnaire [17]. The questionnaire of knowledge management contained 20 questions, including knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer, knowledge application, and knowledge assessment components. Scoring was based on Likert scale (including the scores 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 instead of “very low”, “low”, “to some extent”, “high” and “very high”, respectively). For each component, 4 questions were considered. The reference value were set as the score above 4 being “appropriate”, between 3 and 4 being “relatively appropriate”, between 2 and 3 being“ relatively inappropriate” and less than 2 being “inappropriate”. The mean score of these five dimensions indicated the score of general knowledge management. The validity had been confirmed [17]. In this study, Cronbach's alpha was calculated 0.91. To determine the status of the components of knowledge management, Descriptive Statistics was used. According to Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, data was not normally distributed; and then, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used in SPSS 17 software to analyze data and estimating the status of knowledge management.

51 subjects in the research population completed the questionnaires and 9 subjects were excluded from the study because of their reluctance to participate. The response rate was 85%. The most frequent age category was 40-50 years and of the male sex. 40 (78.43%) of departments` chairmen had Ph.D. degree and most of them were in that position for less than 4 years. The majority of the study population had the experience of more than 20 years. 30 (58.82%) of the respondents were non-clinical departments` chairmen and most of them were from medical school (Table 1). From the components of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge assessment, one case was evaluated as “relatively appropriate” and three cases were evaluated as “relatively inappropriate”. The mean score for the elements of knowledge transfer was evaluated as relatively appropriate in two cases and relatively inappropriate in other two cases. In the component of knowledge application, three elements were relatively appropriate and one element was relatively inappropriate. Components of the knowledge transfer and knowledge application had the highest mean score and the component of knowledge creation had the lowest mean score. Except the component of knowledge creation which was evaluated as relatively inappropriate, other components of knowledge management were evaluated as relatively appropriate from the viewpoint of the respondents; and the score of general knowledge indicated its relatively appropriate status (table 2). None of the gender, education, working experience in the present position, total working experience, educational and university status groupings showed significant differences among each other. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference only in the mean score of knowledge application between the age groups. That is to say the mean score of respondents over 50 year old was less than the mean score of other two groups with the age below 50 years in the knowledge application component.

The component of knowledge creation was evaluated as relatively inappropriate. In other studies [12, 21, 22, 26], also, this component has been evaluated as inappropriate which is consistent with the results of this study. Weakness in knowledge creation can be one of the issues that the universities are expected to challenge it. This component has been evaluated as relatively appropriate in the educational hospitals [17].Water Organization of Jordan needs to convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, strengthen the knowledge at different levels of the organization and create conditions for continuous production of new knowledge [3]. This component has had a better condition in this research compared to the mentioned studies. Therefore, mentioned studies were consistent with the results of this study. Knowledge application was evaluated as relatively appropriate. In other studies [12, 17, 21], the knowledge application has been evaluated as appropriate which is consistent with this study. However, the result of some other studies [14, 22, 26] which have evaluated the knowledge application as inappropriate does not correspond to the present investigation. In the most conducted studies in the universities, knowledge application has been evaluated as weak that these results do not match with the results of this study. Individuals over 50 evaluated the knowledge application in their departments as relatively weak. The results of some researches [15, 27] are in line with and the results of other studies [26, 28] are inconsistent with the results of this study. The component of knowledge sharing has been relatively appropriate from the viewpoints of departments` chairmen. Similar results have been reported [17]. Contrary to these cases, in some studies, knowledge sharing has been evaluated as inappropriate [12, 14]. Staffs, due to their own interest and mistrust, are reluctant to share their knowledge [30]. The sharing of knowledge in governmental institutions has been in the average level [31]. The status of knowledge management in educational departments was relatively appropriate which is in consistency with some studies [17, 23]. The status of knowledge management in different domains of knowledge has been evaluated as weak and inappropriate [10, 12, 15, 21, 28]. Despite expecting the universities to be centers of creation, acquisition, production and application of knowledge, as well as the management parameters, they are not in a good condition [22]. Less attention has been paid to the components of knowledge management [26]. … [29, 30] Knowledge management at a university is at the average level and the schools and educational departments are not focused on the knowledge management processes [31]. … [32, 33] Chinese companies are at an early stage of knowledge management and most of them do not invest in this area [34] that the findings of the mentioned researches, also, are not consistent with the present study.

It is necessary for Ahvaz Jondishapour University of Medical Sciences to develop and implement knowledge management with the priority of knowledge creation in different departments.

Lack of participation of some departments` chairmen and spend a lot of time to access to the respondents were the limitations of this study.

From the viewpoints of the research population, the status of knowledge management is relatively appropriate, but the component of knowledge creation is estimated as relatively weak.

Deputy of Research and Technology Development of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences and the departments` chairmen are appreciated.

Non-declared

Non-declared

The research has been sponsored by the Student Research Committee of Research and Technology Development Department of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences.

TABLES and CHARTS

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