Analyzing factors affecting knowledge sharing and their roles on supply chain performance through integrating hospitals suppliers in Mashhad

Hospitals are considered as critical health service providers. Taking the advantage of knowledge sharing and establishing trust between suppliers and hospitals, supply chain performance can achieve IT and supplier integration and pave the way for effective competition in the modern world, especially in health care services. Therefore, the current study aimed to analyze factors affecting knowledge sharing through supplier integration in hospitals in Mashhad.

This applied research was conducted from 2018 to 2019. The population consisted of all hospital managers and employees among whom 273 people were selected through multistage sampling carried out in private, charity and public hospitals. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire addressing five variables: trust, supplier integration, IT integration, knowledge sharing and supply chain performance. The construct validity of the questionnaire was assessed and confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis, and the reliability was calculated as 0.871 using Cronbach's alpha. The data were then analyzed by the SPSS, and Liserl software. Moreover, regression tests were run.

According to the findings, the impacts of trust and IT integration on knowledge sharing were 0.33 and 0.48, respectively. The impacts of trust and IT integration on supplier integration were 0.33 and 0.35, and the impacts of knowledge sharing and supplier integration on supply chain performance were 0.36 and 0.71, in that order. The results also confirmed the mediating effects of trust, knowledge sharing, and supplier integration on supply chain performance.

Supply chain performance requires the establishment of trust between hospitals and suppliers, leading to enhanced knowledge sharing, IT and supplier integration, reduced costs, increased speed, and improved quality.