Knowledge sharing behavior of physicians in hospitals

Sharing knowledge of Physicians within hospitals can realize potential gains enormously and is critical to be successful and survive in competitive environments. There is a need for empirical research to identify the factors that determine physician's behavior to share knowledge. This study investigates the factors that determine the physician's individual knowledge sharing behavior in his/her department. The purpose of this study is to examine empirically the physicians' knowledge sharing behavior The research models under investigation are the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) model and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPBI model. These models are empirically examined and compared, using the survey results on physicians' knowledge sharing behavior collected from 286 physicians practicing in 28 departments in 13 tertiary hospitals in Korea. TPB model exhibited a good fit with the data and appeared to be superior to TRA in explaining physicians' intentions to share knowledge. Amended TPB model provided an important improvement In fit over that of original TPB model. In amended TPB model, subjective norms were found to have the strongest total effects on behavioral intentions to share knowledge of physicians through direct and indirect path by attitude. Attitude was found to be the second important factor influencing physicians' intentions. Perceived behavioral control was also found to have effect on the intentions to share knowledge though it was weaker than that of subjective norms or attitude. The implications for physician's knowledge sharing activities are discussed