Obstacles in implementing Knowledge Management in Hospitals: Application on Saudi Arabia Hospitals

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LITERATURE REVIEW1

Concept of Knowledge Management1

The Need for Knowledge Management2

Conceptual Overview of Knowledge Management4

Data, Information, and Knowledge4

Classification of Knowledge5

Approaches to Knowledge Management7

Knowledge Management Critical Success Factors8

Barriers to Knowledge Management12

REFERENCES15

LITERATURE REVIEW

Concept of Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management (KM) is actually not a new concept; on the contrary, it has been the subject of several studies in various settings as companies seek more effective ways of increasing organizational capability for competitive advantage. Similar to these processes, the early Knowledge Management literature stressed the importance of knowledge integration in enabling organizations to achieve distinct competitive advantages at a lower cost (Wielinga, 1992). Furthermore, sparse empirical evidence concerning factors associated with successful Knowledge Management implementation is not in itself sufficient to predict Knowledge Management success. In addition, the term knowledge has also become a subject of considerable debate among Knowledge Management experts. Nevertheless, organizational knowledge is being increasingly recognized as a valuable strategic asset both in the short and the long term.

Knowledge Management (KM) can be defined as “the process by which an organization creates, captures, acquires and uses knowledge to support and improve the performance of the organization. In this regard, there has been a growing interest in Knowledge Management within various organizations due to the belief in them value of knowledge creation and knowledge transfer to achieve long-term organizational effectiveness and success. In this context, KM has been viewed and discussed in the literature as a process involving knowledge creation and transfer activities (Shu-hsien, 2005).

One accepted view of Knowledge Management considers it as a “collection of processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge” (Newman 1991). This collection of processes significantly affects the quality of organizations' decision-making and actions. Based on this premise, it can be said that KM is not only concerned with technology, but also more broadly, with the entire process of knowledge discovery, creation, dissemination, and utilization. In fact, Newman connects KM with other popular business strategies such as change management, best practices, risk management, and benchmarking. Another view of Knowledge Management is the one embraced by Pentland (1997), who views Knowledge Management as a “strategic and systematic approach to capitalize on what an organization knows.” Similarly, Knowledge Management is also seen as a systematic means of transforming information into actionable knowledge, which is made available in usable form to those who need it for problem-solving purposes (Stankosky, 2005).

The Need for Knowledge Management

A study conducted by Wickramasinghe (2005) identifies the reasons companies need Knowledge Management systems. These reasons include increasing employee turnover rates, missed opportunities to repeat success by not capturing a firm's past knowledge, and not using lessons learned from previous experiences to prevent the repetition of mistakes. High rates of employee turnover are a problem for companies because as employees leave, they take with them valuable knowledge of business processes and expertise. In addition, there is a tendency for employees who stay with companies to share their knowledge and expertise only with those they work with ...