Exploring knowledge sharing behavior in healthcare organizations: an integrated perspective of the empowerment theory and self-determination theory

Purpose: This study examines the role of user psychological empowerment (PE) as a specific type of PE in the context of using health information systems (HIS) and incorporates the contribution of autonomous motivation and knowledge sharing intention (KSI) to the resolution of the key dynamics of interpersonal knowledge sharing behavior (KSB) in healthcare organizations. Design/methodology/approach: For the data analysis, survey data were collected from 350 employees at three large teaching hospitals in Taiwan. In this study, the partial least squares technique was used with SmartPLS 3.3 software to validate the research model. Findings: User PE had significant positive effects on autonomous motivation, KSI and KSB. Additionally, autonomous motivation positively affected KSB directly and indirectly via KSI. Practical implications: Insights into motivation (e.g. user PE and autonomous motivation) play a key role in driving KSI and lead to effective KSB, which aids managers in tailoring their efforts to foster knowledge dissemination and enhance organizational performance. Originality/value: While finding ways to encourage employees to share knowledge with one another in an organization is an important task, there exists a lack of understanding as to how this task can be accomplished in the context of healthcare organizations. This study is the first to specifically address this issue from a perspective integrating PE and self-determination theory while also incorporating the HIS context with population-specific measures (healthcare organizations) to expand the application of empowerment theory to the information system domain.