Distributed knowledge management based on product state models - the case of decision support in health care administration

Knowledge management has inspired a shift from a transaction to a distribut ed knowledge management (DKM) perspective on inter-organizational informati on processing. The DKM concept structures the knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge exploitation in organizations according to a produc t state model (PSM) required for management of technological diversity. Eac h player in the network acquires specific knowledge from other players for decision support. This article shows the relevance of the DKM model in a ca se study of a distributed decision support system (DDSS) in health care adm inistration in the US. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.