Public Health Care Managers Views on Knowledge Management

Abstract

Ritva Kosklin, Johanna Lammintakanen and Tuula Kivinen

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate public health care managers’ views on Knowledge Management (KM), and how managers’ individual and organisational factors are related to their views.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Data was gathered through a survey of strategic, middle and first-line managers (n=406) in the public health care sector in Finland. The data were analysed using SPSS (version 28.0). Factor analysis was performed to formulate sum variables. The Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann Whitney U test was used to determine the relationship between managers’ background and sum variables.

Findings: Managers' views on knowledge management were quite positive. Organisational factors, such as management position in the organisation, the nature of the work and the organisation they work had more influence on managers’ views on KM than their individual characteristics. Health care managers expressed the most positive views about knowledge use in management. By contrast the creation of common managerial knowledge was considered as the weakest component of KM. In this study we found new KM component, which was named comprehensive knowledge about operations.

Implications: These findings indicate the need to consider how to enhance creation shared knowledge among the health care man- agers, and development of organisational practices, culture, and strategy from knowledge management perspective. The results can be used developing KM in health care environments.

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