Investigating the Mediating Role of Unlearning in the Relationship between Organizational Culture and Knowledge Management in Public Hospitals of Iran

Abstract

Background. Knowledge, as the most valuable asset of the organization, should include social factors as well as economic and technological factors. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management by considering the mediating variable of unlearning. Methods. This study was a descriptive correlational study, and its initial statistical population included 450 employees of the support area from public hospitals in Tehran province, out of which 420 people participated in the research. The standard organizational culture, knowledge management, and unlearning questionnaires were used to collect the required data. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling in SPSS 16 and AMOS software. Results. The study results confirmed the assumed structural relationships, so that the organizational culture affected the knowledge management directly (0.34) and indirectly through unlearning (0.78). In addition, the unlearning variable had a significant and positive effect on the knowledge management (0.55). Conclusion. Considering the positive relationship between organizational culture and knowledge management and the role of unlearning as a mediating variable in this relationship, it was suggested that organizational culture development and unlearning dimension improvement may have facilitated implementing knowledge management and its development in hospitals. This, in turn, may have increased the patient satisfaction and improved the quality of services provided by the medical centers.