Inter-organizational Knowledge Sharing: a Comprehensive Model

The dynamism of new economy requires researchers in different disciplines including medicine، not only to create knowledge quickly but also to acquire and apply knowledge through knowledge sharing (KS). So، determining factors that may influence knowledge sharing among organizations has become an important area of research. The purpose of this paper is to identify and determine factors that positively affect knowledge sharing for inter-organizational collaboration among medical research centers and universities in Iran and propose a comprehensive model for it. The method of this paper in data collection is mixed methods and applied research that was conducted in 2012. The faculty members of medical universities and research centers supervised by the Ministry of Health Treatment and Medical Education formed the population of the research and “stratified random sampling” was used and a minimum required capacity of 423 people was provided. The software Spss15 was utilized for testing the hypotheses and also the software Amos Graphics and modeling methods of structural equation were utilized for assessing the model. With respect to the statistical results and the factor analysis from amongst three studied factors، results showed that only the effect of organizational factor on the frequency of inter-organizational knowledge sharing was recognized significant and the two individual and technical factors did not indicate significant effects on knowledge sharing. Eventually the inter-organizational knowledge sharing model was presented with the results obtained from the quantitative section. The results of this Study will provide empirical basis for planning and implementing knowledge sharing mechanisms.