International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration
Volume 5, Issue 1, November 2018, Pages 39-49
Analyzing Knowledge Sharing Behavior for Security Guards in Hospitals
DOI: 10.18775/ijmsba.1849-5664-5419.2014.51.1005
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.18775/ijmsba.1849-5664-5419.2014.51.1005
Nutthapol Orpipath
College of Management Sripatum University, Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract: This research focuses on Knowledge Sharing Behavior of hospital security guards and attempts to establish a conceptual framework for better understanding of the knowledge sharing behavior. The main methodology of this study consists of the detailed literature review, enabling the design of comprehensive research model and highlighting the relevant interrelations between the postulated variables. Some hypotheses were structured on the basis of the most emphasized correlations. According to these hypotheses, factors such as Organizational Citizenship, Motivation and Intention have been highlighted as the ones which have the significant effect on the Knowledge Sharing Behavior, and Knowledge Sharing Behavior had the highest impact on the Organizational Performance.
Keywords: Organizational citizenship behavior, Motivation, Intention, Knowledge sharing behavior, Performance
Analyzing Knowledge Sharing Behavior for Security Guards in Hospitals
1. Introduction
The 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) laid down the objective for 20 years of National Strategy (2017-2036) regarding the countries development according to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include the rearrangement of national structure of Thailand 4.0 for “Stable, Wealthy and Sustainable” country. This strategy is a system, focusing on the “Human” as the center of development by the virtue of technology appliance joint with the knowledge. Therefore, Knowledge Management becomes an essential strategy for all organizations. Many organizations are trying to systematically collect knowledge, skill, expertise, and experience of all personnel to improve the management of organizational knowledge. Because the formerly used information technology cannot currently guarantee the effectiveness of the knowledge sharing, there will be a huge advantage and positive impact on the organizational efficacy if the personnel is motivated to apply the Knowledge Sharing Behavior. Knowledge Sharing is becoming a major issue for every organization, including health service business; which is one of the growing industries able to sustain the growth of medical income in “Double-digit.” It gradually increases each year and it is highly likely that it will become the leader of the fast-growth trend. The reason for such a growth is the current increase of population aging in accordance with the government’s policy. Thailand’s development strategy for a 10-year health care center, drafted by the Prime Minister, led to a more rapid increase of the health service business and undeniably transformed Thailand into a global healthcare hub leading in four areas: the Wellness Hub, the Medical Hub, The Academic Hub and the Product Hub.
However, healthcare business cannot be successful without the support of other relevant business departments. Healthcare business is not only about healthcare services but also consists of many non-healthcare activities such as facilities management, biomedical management, cleaning management, laundry management, transportation management, and security management. Security management plays a significant role for healthcare business as it ensures the client’s confidence and reliability.
The role of Security Business has been regulated by the Security Business Act from 2015 which became effective on 4th March 2016. In 2015, Security Business in Thailand had revenue of 34,907.60 million baht from 2,051 companies, whose main responsibilities included safeguarding the clients and securing important assets. Results show that the main factor for ensuring the success in this business centers on a human agent, e.g., “the security guard.”
Security Guard is an occupation that requesting skills, requirement of which can vary according to the work place and situations. Their role is especially significant in the areas with high vulnerability such as hospitals, where the daily circulation of patients is particularly high. The security guard must have skills and knowledge to be able to communicate more effectively with staff and clients. For security guards having only secondary education, a job can become more challenging since their tasks consist of several duties. Consequently, it requires a variety of skills and knowledge. According to the experience of the famous researcher in the field of hospitality and risk assessment, the security system includes 7 categories.
(1) Security system, requiring security guard to patrol around the area and inspect infractions or in the case of unplanned events prevent the damage as fast as possible.
(2) CCTV system where security guard monitors the screen displaying real-time events in the search of infractions. This also requires the inspection of disorders in supervised areas concerning people, things or unsafe conditions. In addition, in case of an accident, the system’s features of traceability and rewinding can prove to be useful for the investigation.
(3) Traffic and car park system that security guard supervises requires diverse competences, such as having a detailed knowledge of traffic signals and regulations, having negotiation skills that can help in resolving conflicts among clients, and service mind to provide maximum comfort in limited circumstances. Moreover, the security guard should act as the cashier for receiving the parking fee .Security in traffic and car park areas that require from the Guard the knowledge of signals and regulations, as well as negotiation skills in solving conflicts.
(4) Access control system or key control system consists of a control system such as a finger scan or RFID (Radio-Frequency identification) and no-control system such as normal key access control. Both methods require a well-versed security guard managing the working processes.
(5) An equipment control system is a system that protects the company assets by controlling the inventory, whether it is an instrument or equipment. In order to effectively manage the building, security guard needs to understand the work of various departments.
(6) VVIP (Very Very Important Person) System is a system for protection and safeguarding the important figures such as Royal family or Prime minister. This also includes others VVIP processes which security guard must understand in order to act appropriately.
(7) Contingency plan in the case of an emergency. The Security guard must protect and reduce the damage in the case of emergency before there are significant losses. Contingency plan consists of three steps, Pre-events plan, the event plan, and Post-event plan. Given that the pre-event planning is the most important step, it requires appropriate training and team rehearsment intended for improving the security guard’s skills and knowledge.
Figure 1: Security Business categories
From the Picture 1 above, we can see that the skills or knowledge received from only one organization or education may not be enough. In such cases, Knowledge Sharing Behavior becomes an important factor for improving the work of Security Business in order to reduce losses when a security guard works in different areas. However, when security business is employed in various areas, acting as contractor or in the case of outsourcing, it may be difficult to obtain relevant knowledge and information directly from the owner. Due to this, Knowledge sharing behavior in security business is crucial.
Knowledge sharing behavior results from “Explosion from the inside”, which occurs when a change of personal attitude and will produce a change in the behavior. This principle corresponds to the process which King Rama IX called “Understanding, Accessibility, and Development”, which encourages people to have a positive attitude and causes the knowledge sharing behavior. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the factors contributing to changes in a security guard’s behavior. Consequently, when working in different locations and by analyzing the people in an organization, they can improve the understanding of their duties, this will in return have impact on reducing the losses and prove beneficial to security businesses.
Objectives
1. To create value for Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Motivation, Intention and Knowledge Sharing Behavior
2. To study the components of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Motivation, Intention and Knowledge Sharing Behavior
3. To design an effective model of Knowledge Sharing Behavior for security guards at the hospital in Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand
Conceptual Framework
As the basis, this research employs a system theory and focuses on a detailed literature review. The concept of System Theory was concieved in 1920-1940 , when scientists found the similar phenomena to be systematic. In 1956, Ludving Von Bertalanffy coined the term System Theory and is now regarded as the father of General Systems Theory. In 1990, Peter M. Senge discussed the systemic thinking in 5 different disciplines: Team Learning, Shared Vision, Personal Mastery, Mental Models, and Systems Thinking.
In conclusion, Systems Theory is a holistic view of management concepts, with subsystems that can be applied to achieve both set goals and objectives. System Theory consists of three main components: Inputs, Processes, and Outputs, and four secondary components: Goals, Feedback, Control, and Environments. This research focuses on Knowledge Sharing Behavior by creating a Conceptual Framework that has been derived from the impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Motivation, and Intention showed in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework
The research derived following 4 hypotheses:
H1: Organizational Citizenship Behavior has an impact on Knowledge Sharing Behavior;
H2: Motivation has an impact on Knowledge Sharing Behavior;
H3: Intention has an impact on Knowledge Sharing Behavior;
H4: Knowledge Sharing Behavior has an impact on Performance.
Table 1: Literature Review
This article studies the literature related to Knowledge Sharing Behavior in order to establish its connection to Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Motivation and Intention. Furthermore, the research aims to understand the components of every concept and creates the conceptual model of Knowledge Sharing Behavior for security guards at the hospital in Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand. We started with 50 articles and then selected ten articles as references by Emerald Insight. Afterward, by applying the Content Analysis (percentage), we combined these data to analyze and separate details.
2. Literature Review of the Meaning of a Factor and Component
2.1. Factor: Knowledge Sharing Behavior
Results from literature review relating to Knowledge Sharing Behavior found the connection to sharing experiences and skills implying that personal improvements should be beneficial (Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Ming-Chang Huang, Ya-Ping Chiu, et al. (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Zhenyuan Wang, Huiping Zhang, et al. (2016), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016)).
The main component of Knowledge Sharing Behavior consists of 3 structures known as Frequency, Voluntariness in Knowledge Sharing Behavior, and Participations in a discussion.
Table 2: Knowledge Sharing Behavior variables and References
(1) Frequency refers to how often knowledge sharing is distributed among peers at all levels of the organization using diverse communication channels. such as meetings, phone calls, electronic mail and etc. (Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun, 2012).
(2) Volunteering in knowledge sharing behavior refers to readiness to represent the organization in the sharing of knowledge with the organization’s personnel, willingness to help new employees solve problems and listening to problems among peers (Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc, 2013)
(3) Participation in the discussion refers to the staff’s willingness to provide feedback, suggestions during the meeting, discussions for efficient exchange of knowledge (Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al., 2016).
2.2. Factor: Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Results from the literature review related to Organizational Citizenship Behavior reveals that it mostly concerns an organization’s staff behavior which can have a significant effect and a positive impact on relationship management (Pei-Lee Teh (2012), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016)).
The main component of Organization Citizenship Behavior consists of 3 elements, i.e. the Endurance with the colleague, Living in harmony, and Achieving organization’s goals.
Table 3: Organization Citizenship Behavior variables and References
(1) Endurance with colleague refers to staff’s ability and willingness to teach, and to provide feedback to colleagues during regular working hours and outside work time (Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc, 2013).
(2) Living in harmony refers to the employees’ eagerness to work with the organization, having a commitment and loyalty towards the organization and believing that the organization could make people’s lives happy (Wen-Hai Chih et al., 2016).
(3) Achieving organization’s goals refers to the staff’s understanding of the corporate culture and recognizing the organization’s success factor and trying to work to achieve that goal (Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang, 2015).
Figure 4: Main component of Organization Citizenship Behavior
2.3. Factor: Motivation
Results from literature review related to Motivation revealed that Motivation means positive attitude towards knowledge sharing for the reward provided through organization’s policy (Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Ming-Chang Huang, Ya-Ping Chiu, et al. (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Zhenyuan Wang, Huiping Zhang, et al. (2016), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016)).
The main factors of Motivation consist of 3 elements: Expected Reward, Reputation and Enjoying helping others.
Table 4: Variables of Motivation and References
(1) Expected reward refers to the organization’s staffs understanding that knowledge sharing has a positive impact on the individual, colleagues, organizations, and it effects receiving bestows in various forms, such as promotion, bonuses, or increased revenue (Wang and Noe, 2010).
(2) Reputation refers to the personnel who decide to share knowledge when they perceive that it will likely result in them being valuable to the organization and colleagues (Thomas and Velthouse, 1990).
(3) Enjoying helping others refers to a person’s wishes to help others without being asked. (O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle, 2014).
Figure 5: Main component of Motivation
2.4. Factor: Intention
Results from the literature review related to Intention found that Intention indicates level of participation between internal and external personnel through actions of people, groups and departments within an organization (Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016)).
Intention consists of 3 main components: trust in organization culture, personal confidence, and happiness in teaching.
Table 5: Variables of Intention and References
(1) Trust in organization culture refers to staff placed in the working environment of the organization, facilitating collaboration which will result in knowledge sharing (Kristen et al., 2004).
(2) Personal confidence refers to staff being confident that the personnel is competent and that knowledge can be used to benefit from mutual sharing of information (Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al., 2016).
(3) Happiness in teaching refers to staff’s willingness to share the knowledge in the organization through lecturing or through coaching with various methods that will have an impact on staff’s specialization, development and improvement (Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al., 2016).
Figure 6: Main component of Intention
2.5. Factor: Performance
Results revealed that Performance showed that staff possess knowledge of sharing behavior that can improve career and effects organizations improvement (Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Ming-Chang Huang, Ya-Ping Chiu, et al. (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Zhenyuan Wang, Huiping Zhang, et al. (2016), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016)).
Performance consists of 2 main components, that is, of staff personal improvement and organization assessment.
Table 6: Variables of Performance and References
(1) Staff personal improvement refers to staff’s employing the knowledge within the organization which resulted from knowledge sharing as a driving force for self-change, modifying positive attitudes and behaviors which can influence the organization through the development of employee’s knowledge (Cabrera and Cabrera, 2005; Wang and Noe, 2010).
(2) Organization assessment refers to an organization receiveing a positive evaluation based on the profitability of the organization (Bock et al., 2005).
Figure 7: Main component of Performance
3. Relationship between Variable
3.1. The Relationship between Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Knowledge Sharing Behavior
Most of the sources showed positive relationship between Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Knowledge Sharing Behavior, which is consistent with Pei-Lee Teh (2012), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016). Accordingly, the researcher creates a hypothesis as Figure 8.
H1: Organizational Citizenship Behavior effects on Knowledge Sharing Behavior
Figure 8: Model of Relationship in Hypothesis 1 (H1)
3.2. The Relationship between Motivation and Knowledge Sharing Behavior
Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Ming-Chang Huang, Ya-Ping Chiu, et al. (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Zhenyuan Wang, Huiping Zhang, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016) found positive correlation between Motivation and Knowledge Sharing Behavior. As a result, the researcher created a hypothesis as shown in Figure 9.
H2: Motivation effects the Knowledge Sharing Behavior
Figure 9: Model of Relationship in Hypothesis 2 (H2)
3.3. The Relationship between Intention and Knowledge Sharing Behavior
The research found that there is a positive correlation between Intention and Knowledge Sharing Behavior, which is consistent with Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016). Therefore, the researcher created a hypothesis as shown in Figure 10.
H3: Intention effects the Knowledge Sharing Behavior
3.4 The Relationship between Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Performance
The research found that there is positive relation between Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Performance according to Pei-Lee Teh and Hongyi Sun (2012), Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Li-An Ho and Tsung-Hsien Kuo (2013), Ming-Chang Huang, Ya-Ping Chiu, et al. (2013), Seigyoung Auh and Bulent Menguc (2013), O. W. Bello and Rafiat A. Oyekunle (2014), Xiao Zhang and Jane Yan Jiang (2015), Zhenyuan Wang, Huiping Zhang, et al. (2016), Muhammad Sabbir Rahman, et al. (2016), Dah-Kwei Liou, Wen-Hai Chih, et al. (2016). Therefore, the researcher created a hypothesis as shown below in Figure 11.
H4: Knowledge Sharing Behavior effects on Performance
Figure 11: Model of Relationship in Hypothesis 4 (H4)
From the above-mentioned literature review, the researcher can create the conceptual framework by 4 latent variables and 14 observed variables that were used in this research, as shown in Figure 12.
Figure 12: Conceptual Idea Consists of Latent and Observed Variables
4. Future Research Procedure
The research explained the procedure of creating the Conceptual Model. Next step of study is shown in Figure 14. The researcher achieved a positive result in the context of population and sample group, which can be beneficial to the future academic researches.
Figure 13: Procedure for Future Research
5. Conclusion
Overall, Knowledge Sharing Behaviour has an impact on Performance, which was already studied in an international context. It consists of 4 important elements, that is, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, Motivation, Intension, Including Relationship, which reflects to our study. Every business in the security guard field, which wishes to raise the advantages and exceed the business competition, should consider applying Knowledge Sharing Behaviour n order to achieve success.
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