Knowledge work in hospitals

Abstract

Slogan-like arguments from knowledge management literature suggest that reuse of externalized knowledge is fundamental for improved efficiency, reduced costs, and reduced dependency on individual know-how. Rather than considering knowledge as a specific thing, the paper relates knowledge to the work people do. The aim of the paper is to identify conditions for sharing and reuse of knowledge in large organizational contexts. The paper analyses how knowledge reuse is influenced by complexity of contexts, trust, and uncertainty. Based on the findings, the paper also makes suggestions for information systems design. Empirically, the paper draws on different medical contexts at the University Hospital of Northern Norway. © 2003 by Springer Science+Business Media New York.