An Explorative Study of Knowledge-Transfer Mechanism

The practice of the healthcare including, treatment, policy planning and decisions, should be based on evidences (explicit knowledge) and experience (tacit knowledge) whenever possible. This might be achieved through investment in studying Knowledge Management (KM) in the healthcare practice. However, the studies of KM in practice and specifically in the healthcare is still limited for some reasons. One of the most important reason relates to looking at KM from the angle of technological solution without considering KM functions from the social aspects. Thus, this chapter initially tries to provide an in depth framework to a specific and fundamental function of the KM, which is knowledge transfer. Knowledge Transfer (KT) as a mechanism aims to facilitate producing, accessibility and application of tacit and explicit knowledge and may provide solutions to this challenge. However, based on longitudinal and systematic reviews, robust research into the KT mechanism is limited (Pentland et al., 2011). This chapter proposes a conceptual framework of a multilevel process-based of enablers and barriers of KT mechanism. On the basis of extensive literature from many fields and mainly sociotechnical model of Levite (1964), this chapter moderates the KT mechanism into five main elements related to characteristics of knowledge, source, recipient, relationships between them, tools (technologies) and context of the actual transfer. It will discuss how the different factors (i.e. enablers and barriers) can impact on KT mechanism at three levels; personal, team/ divisions, and organisation. Giving the longitudinal nature of KT processes and drawing on Szulansky’s (1996), Lane et al., (2006) and Minbaeva, D. B. (2007) models, this chapter proposes a sensible process model of different factors during stages of KT (i.e. starting from dissemination, reaching to assimilation). This model is conducted to notify the design and implementation of KT systems and mechanisms for public organisations including healthcare.

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