Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Saeed Ghaffari ¹
• Masoud Bakhtiari ²

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant professor, Department of Accounting Science, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction

Although in recent years and in the current conditions, knowledge management has become an important and vital issue for the success of organizations, and attention to it has increased by a wide range of activists in this field as well as the librarian community, knowledge management has not yet been systematically and widely implemented and used in libraries, and there is little agreement among some librarians regarding knowledge management (Gandhi, 2004); however, most managers and librarians agree that the use of knowledge management in libraries improves performance and enhances library services. Scientific communities believe that the power of knowledge in organizations can lead to long-term competitive advantages. In other words, successful organizations have realized that knowledge is their most important asset and that some of the basic principles of knowledge management exist in the organization's human resources, so they view knowledge management as one of the vital factors in the success of the organization. In this regard, many factors are closely related to knowledge management, and organizational wisdom is considered an important factor in the organization's performance and enables the best possible realization of knowledge management goals. Effective and efficient use of knowledge leads to the formation of wise organizations, but this requires innovative application of knowledge by organizations. Accordingly, educational organizations should simultaneously train knowledge, skills, efficiency, and utilization of knowledge to strengthen their potential abilities and talents. Therefore, organizational wisdom is the most important ability to realize this (Estifaei, 2014). Organizational wisdom is a concept that refers to the acquisition of knowledge that is achieved through the use of humans, computers, and other tools, and focuses on knowledge that is related to the organization's activity environment (internal and external) (Vazifeh Doost & Ghasemi, 2008).

Literature Review

One of the most important reasons that has led organizations to show interest in the subject of knowledge management is that knowledge management increases productivity, strengthens collaboration, the emergence and growth of innovation, encourages and innovates, accelerates the flow of knowledge transfer, facilitates information sharing among employees, prevents duplication of work, increases the organization's ability to deal with the phenomenon of information inflation, collects and stores information, and improves the quality of service delivery and organizational performance (Haraj Hassanabadi & Mozaffari, 2017). In fact, knowledge management means creating the necessary processes to identify and absorb the data, information, and knowledge needed by the organization from the environment and transfer it to individuals for the purpose of decision-making and taking appropriate internal and external actions in the organization (Muñoz & Galende, 2017). Given the importance of the role of organizational wisdom and innovation in knowledge management and the relationship between them and the value of knowledge management in libraries, it is important to be aware of the predictive power of organizational wisdom in the knowledge management process, as well as the mediating role of innovation in the relationship between wisdom and organizational wisdom and the knowledge management process of public libraries in Qom province, which is the subject of this study.

Methodology

The present study is a descriptive study in terms of its purpose and was conducted using a correlational method. The variables of the present study are innovation; organizational micro-organization, knowledge management, and its dimensions. Also, gender and education level constitute the demographic variables of the present study. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all specialist and non-specialist librarians who were working full-time in public libraries in Qom province at the time of the study. Based on the statistics obtained, the number of full-time librarians working in public libraries in Qom province was 112. To collect information through a questionnaire, the simple random sampling method of this study was used. The sample size was determined using the Cochran formula as 86 people. After sending and distributing the questionnaires and with the efforts and follow-ups of the researcher, 80 completed questionnaires were collected.

Results

The findings showed that organizational wisdom was a significant predictor of the knowledge management process among the participants of the study (Hypothesis 1). However, it is possible that other possible factors may intervene, the identification of which could help the growth and progress of organizations, especially public libraries in Qom province. The results showed that innovation was a significant predictor of knowledge management among librarians in public libraries in Qom province (Hypothesis 2). Therefore, considering the importance and role of innovation in knowledge management, it is suggested that in hiring new people in public libraries in Qom province, attracting and selecting creative people with special skills should be considered by those involved in human resource selection for public libraries. The research findings also showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between organizational wisdom and innovation (Hypothesis 3). Therefore, it is recommended that public library managers in Qom province try to correctly and efficiently manage and identify organizational wisdom, which is an unlimited source of intellectual capital, in order to increase the flexibility of libraries in adapting to local and national needs and to provide and promote the necessary conditions for creating knowledge management, organizational learning, and the ability to generate ideas, and innovate. Other results showed that the overall score of organizational wisdom predicts knowledge management and innovation. However, innovation did not play a mediating or interventionist role in the relationship between organizational wisdom and knowledge management (Hypothesis 4).

Discussion

Library staff or public library librarians, most of whom are graduates of information science and knowledge studies, become familiar with courses such as library management, management information systems, information and communication technologies, information software, and communication theories, etc. during their education, which prepares them to provide better services to users. In addition, the fact that librarians are surrounded by a multitude of information sources and an information environment inevitably makes most of them people who are fond of reading and leads them to share knowledge, provide information services to others, and help people in need of information. They will also know that if they do not keep their clients satisfied, their organization will not be successful. Therefore, they make decisions as a group for the survival and sustainability of their organizations, and provide the resources needed by the patrons, which are all examples of organizational wisdom. In this regard, and considering what has been said, the current results regarding the state of organizational wisdom among librarians in Qom province libraries can be attributed to such factors. The results of the present study are consistent with the results of Rashidi & Karani (2016), Hariri & Taremi(2012), Tahmasebi & Akbari(2010).

Conclusion

Although the present study was able to provide more and more necessary research evidence for the triple role and relationship between knowledge management, organizational wisdom, and innovation, and the predictive role of innovation and organizational wisdom in the knowledge management process, it was unable to provide the necessary research evidence for the interventionist role of innovation in the relationship between organizational wisdom and knowledge management, an issue that should be further addressed in future research.

Keywords

• Organizational Wisdom
• Knowledge Management
• Innovation
• Public Libraries
• Qom Province

Main Subjects

• Evaluation of Information and Knowledge Retrieval Systems