Health and Social Care Managers' Competence in Knowledge Management Instrument: Development and Validation

Area of Science:

• Health Services Management
• Organizational Psychology
• Knowledge Management

Background:

• Effective knowledge management (KM) is crucial for competitiveness in health and social care organizations.
• Managerial KM competence directly impacts organizational performance and adaptability.
• Existing tools for assessing managerial KM competence were insufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a robust instrument to measure the knowledge management competence of health and social care managers.
• To create the Managers' Competence in Knowledge Management (MCKM) instrument.
• To ensure the psychometric properties of the MCKM instrument for reliable self-assessment.

Main Methods:

• Instrument development based on a conceptual framework, followed by expert content validation (S-CVI=0.83).
• Pilot testing with managers for user feedback.
• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) for construct validity and Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency (α=0.913–0.964).
• Data collected from 116 Finnish managers.

Main Results:

• The MCKM instrument consists of 43 items across five factors, explaining 72% of the variance.
• The five factors identified are: planning competence development and cooperation, managing a culture of competence, anticipating and defining competence, developing competence, and assessing competence.
• The instrument demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including high internal consistency.

Conclusions:

• The MCKM instrument is a valid and reliable tool for assessing knowledge management competence.
• The instrument is suitable for self-assessment by health and social care managers.
• Regular assessment of KM competence is vital for addressing future challenges in the sector.