The Knowing Model: Facilitating Behaviour Change in Organisations

Abstract

It is incumbent upon leadership to encourage member behaviour that is beneficial to both the organisation and the members themselves. This paper outlines a context-based model — utilising the existing theories and models in Knowledge Management, Library and Information Science, and Public Health — to increase leadership’s effectiveness in this area. The Knowing Model approaches behaviour change as an issue of information content, dissemination, and use — all within a complex environment. A behaviour — one that an organisation has unsuccessfully attempted to change in the past — is identified by leadership. Leaders then analyse the extent to which members were aware of these previous efforts, integrated information about them, and acted because of them. This data is used to develop an information campaign aimed at changing the target behaviour. Because organisations likely have several information dissemination channels available to them, this model is offered as a low-cost and low-resource first step in behaviour change efforts. It will not replace more extensive efforts noted in previous models, but because of its theoretical grounding it is expected to promote change in certain areas. Approaches requiring more extensive resources can then be applied to other areas. This paper outlines the Knowing Model, strategies for information dissemination, and methods for model implementation and validation.