Knowledge management (KM) adoption is crucial to integrating sustainable development within the healthcare sector. Different barriers, enablers, and drivers affect KM adoption. Identifying these barriers, enablers, and drivers and their role in KM adoption is the core of successful KM adoption. However, there is scarcity of studies applying quantitative models and combing barriers, enablers and drivers to check their effect on KM adoption, especially form a developing country’s perspective such as Pakistan. Therefore, this study explores the role of barriers, enablers and drivers on KM adoption in Pakistan. Healthcare professionals participated in the data collection process, and results were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings described that: (1) organizational and strategic barriers have significant negative association with KM adoption; (2) government related enablers have significant positive association with KM adoption; (3) healthcare related drivers, and performance-based drivers have significant positive association with KM adoption. This study concludes that government intervention to promote KM adoption is necessary especially in developing countries. These findings will be helpful for the healthcare professionals and policy makers to promote KM adoption in healthcare sector. Current study contributes to the healthcare literature and body of knowledge by providing the empirical evidence of checking the quantitative effect of barriers, enablers and drivers on KM adoption.

Knowledge management (KM) is the source for creating a sustainable competitive advantage, and it helps the organizations to retain, develop, organize and utilize their knowledge. Due to globalization, the organizations must maintain their knowledge assets to survive. Many organizations have realized the potential of KM and are applying it. Since the healthcare industry is growing significantly, it is continuously generating a wealth of knowledge. This knowledge can be recorded, communicated and used by many health care professionals with the help of KM. There is a wealth of research on KM in healthcare of developed countries, but very few studies regarding KM implementation can be found in developing countries i.e., Pakistan. Pakistan is now looking towards the implementation of KM; it is in its initial stages. The implementation of KM in the healthcare of Pakistan is affected by different barriers. In this study, the barriers will be identified and analyzed. An interrelationship between the barriers will be determined, and how the different barriers support each other (driving power), and how they influence each other (dependence power). The results of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC (Matrice d'Impacts croises-multipication appliqué an classment i.e., cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) approach show that lack of support from top management, insufficient strategic planning and lack of support from organizational structure are the main barriers to KM adoption in the healthcare of Pakistan. This study provides a solution in determining the main barriers that need to be solved first, and to ensure effective implementation of KM in the healthcare of Pakistan.Sustainability 2018, 10, 4155 2 of 22 KM is being used by various fields such as business, public policy, and information science. A multi-sectorial survey (consisting of organizations from healthcare, manufacturing, retail/wholesale, utilities and telecommunication, financial services and other sectors) revealed that 43% of organizations have a KM initiative in place, and one in ten considered knowledge management to be transforming the way they do business [8]. The healthcare industry, however, is a late adopter of the KM concept compared to the business sector [9]. Researchers and scholars have recently started working on KM for the healthcare industry; KM has quickly and swiftly made its way into the organizational and managerial processes of the healthcare sector [10].In recent years, the healthcare industry has grown exponentially; it is generating a lot of knowledge. The doctors and researchers in the medical field are continuously learning about new diseases, treatments, and care pathways. To capture this knowledge, the healthcare industry is methodically trying to adopt knowledge management (KM) because the customers are expecting to receive better healthcare services. To provide better health service, KM is an appropriate strategy [11,12] to transform the current traditional system of knowledge sharing. KM he...

Investing in a sustainable future has no alternative; the healthcare sector in developing countries has failed to achieve sustainability objectives. Knowledge management (KM) is a concrete application of sustainability in healthcare, as organizations (hospitals) that manage their knowledge assets will gain sustainable competitive advantage. Several organizations in developed countries are moving towards the adoption of knowledge management so that they can manage their knowledge well and improve their performance. Due to the effective implementation of KM in developed countries, developing countries are also considering adopting KM in their healthcare. In this study, an attempt has been made to identify the drivers of KM adoption in public and private hospitals of Pakistan. With the help of an extensive literature review and expert opinion, the drivers were identified and a hierarchical structure was developed. Nineteen drivers were identified and screened out by experts. The experts identified the contextual relationships between the drivers during a brainstorming session. The hierarchical model of the drivers for KM in the healthcare of Pakistan was eventually developed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The structure has 10 levels, in which “developed competitive advantage” formed the foundation of the structure and “job creation” and “improvement in the reputation of healthcare” formed the topmost level. The “Matrices d’Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliqué a un Classement” (MICMAC) analysis classified the drivers by categorizing them according to their driving and dependence powers. One driver is identified as autonomous, six drivers as dependent, seven drivers as linkage, and five drivers as independent. The analysis of KM drivers will provide a good understanding of the interdependence and interactions between them and support the effect adoption of KM in developing countries especially in Pakistan.

Knowledge is considered to be an important resource; it is the source of competitive advantage. However, if knowledge is managed well with Knowledge Management (KM), then it becomes a source for sustainable competitive advantage for organizations. If KM is implemented in an organization, it would improve the organizational competitiveness, performance, and productivity, and facilitate the efficient use of resources. Due to intense competition in the global market, many organizations are moving towards the adoption of KM. The healthcare sectors of many developed countries have moved towards the implementation of KM because it can improve the procuring of knowledge from ongoing activities by the effective use of data repositories. Developing countries have now realized the potential and benefits of KM adoption. Pakistan is one of the developing countries that have recently shown an inclination towards the adoption of KM in its healthcare sector to improve performance of its healthcare. This study was composed of two main research phases. Firstly, the enablers of KM were reviewed from earlier studies. Secondly, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC (Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification) techniques were used to show the interrelationships between KM enablers and driving and dependence power of each enabler. The application of ISM and MICMAC technique shows that policy incentive, long-term strategic planning, Information Technology (IT), and alignment of KM efforts with business strategy are the main enablers of KM adoption in the healthcare of Pakistan. Focusing on the identified enablers will help in the implementation of KM. Policy incentives can work as a catalyst to promote KM adoption in the healthcare of Pakistan.

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