Showing papers on "Tacit knowledge published in 2005"
Book•
30 Jun 2005
TL;DR: This second edition of this textbook and professional reference offers a comprehensive overview of the field of KM, providing both a substantive theoretical grounding and a pragmatic approach to applying key concepts.
Abstract: The ability to manage knowledge has become increasingly important in today's knowledge economy. Knowledge is considered a valuable commodity, embedded in products and in the tacit knowledge of highly mobile individual employees. Knowledge management (KM) represents a deliberate and systematic approach to cultivating and sharing an organization's knowledge base. It is a highly multidisciplinary field that encompasses both information technology and intellectual capital. This textbook and professional reference offers a comprehensive overview of the field of KM, providing both a substantive theoretical grounding and a pragmatic approach to applying key concepts. Drawing on ideas, tools, and techniques from such disciplines as sociology, cognitive science, organizational behavior, and information science, the text describes KM theory and practice at the individual, community, and organizational levels. It offers illuminating case studies and vignettes from companies including IBM, Xerox, British Telecommunications, JP Morgan Chase, and Nokia. This second edition has been updated and revised throughout. New material has been added on the information and library science perspectives, taxonomies and knowledge classification, the media richness of the knowledge-sharing channel, e-learning, social networking in KM contexts, strategy tools, results-based outcome assessments, knowledge continuity and organizational learning models, KM job descriptions, copyleft and Creative Commons, and other topics. New case studies and vignettes have been added; and the references and glossary have been updated and expanded.
1,468 citations
TL;DR: This article challenges economists' attempts to reduce knowledge to information held by individuals and to reject tacit knowledge as mere uncodified explicit knowledge and attempts to limit the scope of community of practice analysis.
Abstract: Community of practice theory is inherently a social theory. As such it is distinct from more individualist accounts of human behavior, such as mainstream economics. Consequently, community of practice theory and economics favor different accounts of knowledge. Taking a community of practice perspective, this article challenges economists' attempts to reduce knowledge to information held by individuals and to reject tacit knowledge as mere uncodified explicit knowledge. The essay argues that Polanyi's notion of a tacit dimension affected numerous disciplines (including economics) because it addressed aspects of learning and identity that conventional social sciences overlooked. The article situates knowledge, identity, and learning within communities and points to ethical and epistemic entailments of community practice. In so doing it attempts to limit, rather than expand, the scope of community of practice analysis and to stress the difference, rather than the commonalities, between this and other apparen...
538 citations
478 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of interpersonal trust on complex knowledge sharing in an organization has been examined from an organizational point of view, where trustworthiness is suggested as a positive factor.
Abstract: Since the late eighties, the field of strategic management has seen a paradigm shift towards the resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1986, 1991; Rumelt, 1987; Wernerfelt, 1984). At the fundamental level, the resource-based view focuses on firm differences based on resource endowment. According to this view, resource heterogeneity exists among firms. Also, the superior firm performance based on valuable and rare resources may sustain over time if firms can protect themselves from imitation and diffusion. Resources that are abstract, complex, ambiguous, and indigenous to a firm provide sustainability as they are not easily imitated or diffused (Barney, 1991). Building on the resource-based view of the firm, scholars have suggested that complex knowledge that is tacit and dependent can be protected from imitation and diffusion (Berman et al., 2002; McEvily et al., 2000). This is because highly complex knowledge that is hard to codify and dependent on a specific context or a system of knowledge is difficult to transfer (Teece, 1977). Accordingly, valuable and rare complex knowledge can be an important source of superior performance and sustainable competitive advantage (Spender and Grant, 1996). Valuable complex knowledge often originates in individual experiences and perceptions (Polanyi, 1966). Such individualized knowledge must be shared throughout the organization for it to become a source of competitive advantage. Hence, the process of sharing complex knowledge within an organization becomes important. Consequently, the question that begs an answer is, "what makes individuals share complex knowledge effectively with others within an organization?" The overall contribution of this study is to address the above question. Although the underlying process in complex knowledge sharing is multifaceted, trustworthiness is suggested in the literature as a positive factor. However, organizational literature lacks an adequate empirical evidence of the influence of trust on complex knowledge sharing. This study provides a much needed empirical examination of the influence of interpersonal trust on complex knowledge sharing. To do so, this article starts with a brief discussion of knowledge and trust from the organizational point of view. Next, hypotheses are developed proposing specific relationships between interpersonal trust and complex knowledge sharing. Then, research methodology and data analysis results are presented. Finally, the conclusion is presented with a discussion of implications and the need for future research. KNOWLEDGE AS AN ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCE Prahalad and Hamel (1990) suggested that, it is often the quality of people that personifies the core competency of an organization. This is because the knowledge and capabilities of people within an organization are important indicators of organizational competitiveness (Pfeffer, 1994). Accordingly, organizational knowledge and its sharing has become a topic of great interest and produced a vast and diverse body of research (Argyris, 1999; Berman et al., 2002; McEvily and Chakravarthy, 2002; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Tsang, 2002). Management literature suggests that the concept of knowledge is far broader and richer than the concept of data or information. Following Davenport and Prusak (1998), organizational knowledge can be defined as a dynamic mix of experiences, expert insights, unique know-how, important values, and situational information that provide a framework for analyzing and incorporating new knowledge regarding organizational processes and various relationships with its stakeholders. For further understanding, theorists have variously conceptualized the concept of knowledge in terms of its tacitness, complexity, and systemic nature (Garud and Nayyar, 1994). Tacit knowledge deals with the abstract and implicit versus concrete and explicit characters of knowledge. Tacit knowledge resides in the form of subjective insights, intuitions, hunches, and know-how. …
381 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used critical discourse analysis as a methodology for analysis, and set out the nature and form of the challenges directed to the compulsory schooling sector by the knowledge economy that is contained in key policy and related documents put out by the OECD, the World Bank and the UK government.
Abstract: Using critical discourse analysis as a methodology for analysis, this paper sets out the nature and form of the challenges directed to the compulsory schooling sector by the knowledge economy that is contained in key policy and related documents put out by the OECD, the World Bank and the UK government. The OECD and the World Bank’s policy agendas are increasingly important in setting policy and programme agendas for the developed and developing countries respectively; however there are important differences between the two institutions regarding how education should be redesigned. The World Bank’s redesign of education favours the market and individualism as the means for developing knowledge and skills for the knowledge economy. The OECD, however, while concerned with human capital formation, rejects the market model in favour of an institutionally embedded liberalism to overcome the problems posed by tacit knowledge. The UK, on the other hand, has promoted the idea of personalized learning. The paper s...
264 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the methods and difficulties of establishing, sharing and applying assessment standards within module teams working in a business school and question whether academic communities of practice provide an adequate framework to support the sharing of assessment standards.
Abstract: This article considers the methods and difficulties of establishing, sharing and applying assessment standards within module teams working in a business school. Against a background of increasing reliance on explicit knowledge to establish standards in the HE sector the study looks at ways in which staff within module teams attempted to reach a common view of assessment standards through sharing tacit knowledge in order to make consistent judgements about student work. In so doing it identifies and questions the assumptions, myths and beliefs that bolster the culture around standard setting and marking/grading. The paper questions whether academic communities of practice provide an adequate framework to support the sharing of assessment standards. In particular it argues that the scholarship of assessment would support the development of a specialist assessment and assessment standards discourse within communities that could, in turn, support the sharing of assessment standards.
169 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a business case for knowledge management in the context of the construction industry and a case study of the use of knowledge lifecycle management (KLM) in a construction project.
Abstract: Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION. Chapter 2 NATURE AND DIMENSIONS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Why knowledge management now? The Drivers 2.3 Nature of knowledge 2.4 Extra organisational knowledge and absorptive capacity 2.5 Key knowledge processes 2.6 Conclusions. Chapter 3 CONSTRUCTION AS A KNOWLEDGE-BASED INDUSTRY. 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Construction industry and knowledge intensive products and services 3.3 Knowledge production in Construction 3.4 Communicating and sharing knowledge 3.5 Creating and sustaining a knowledge culture 3.6 Conclusions. Chapter 4 THE BUSINESS CASE FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. 4.1 Introduction 4.2 What does Knowledge Management mean to Construction? 4.3 What Knowledge Management strategy should be adopted? 4.4 Delivering Knowledge Management in practice 4.5 A business case for Knowledge Management 4.6 The Future. Chapter 5 ORGANISATIONAL READINESS FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Importance of knowledge lifecycle management (KLM) 5.3 Preparing the organisational context for KLM 5.4 Conclusions. Chapter 6 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Knowledge management tools 6.3 Selecting Knowledge management tools 6.4 The SeLEKT approach 6.5 Conclusions. Chapter 7 CROSS-PROJECT KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Nature of projects 7.3 Construction projects 7.4 Cross project knowledge transfer 7.5 Live capture and re-use of project knowledge 7.6 Conclusions. Chapter 8 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AS A DRIVER FOR INNOVATION. 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Knowledge management and innovations - building and maintaining capabilities 8.3 Knowledge management and improved innovations: Issues of strategy, process, structure, culture and technology 8.4 Managing knowledge for exploitations: Implications for managers 8.5 Conclusions. Chapter 9 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT. 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Why measure the performance of knowledge management and knowledge assets 9.3 Types of performance measures 9.4 Measurement approaches 9.5 Application tools 9.6 Conclusions. Chapter 10 KM STATEGY DEVELOPMENT: A CLEVER APPROACH. 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The CLEVER project 10.3 The Clever Framework 10.4 Utilisation and Evaluation of the Framework 10.5 Conclusions . Chapter 11 CORPORATE MEMORY. 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Research Methodology 11.3 Related Research 11.4 Tacit knowledge, capture, sharing and reuse 11.5 Tacit and explicit knowledge capture, sharing and reuse 11.6 Conclusions. Chapter 12 BUILDING A KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TEAMS. 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Case study 12.3 Discussion 12.4 Conclusions. Chapter 13 CONCLUDING NOTES. 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Summary 13.3 Benefits of knowledge management to construction organisations 13.4 Issues in knowledge management implementation Future directions
163 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the emergence of networks of practice and the role of knowledge sharing via knowledge portals and conclude that a knowledge portal will have an impact on how projects are sharing knowledge.
Abstract: This article addresses the emergence of networks of practice and the role of knowledge sharing via knowledge portals. Its focus is on factors that stimulate the successful emergence of networks of practice. Literature onknowledge management and communities of practice suggest the preexistence of shared knowledge or a shared believe system as a condition sinequa non for the networks of practice to emerge. We challenge this assumption and argue and demonstrate that common knowledge and believe systems are rather a result of knowledge sharing instead of a pre-condition. The central question is how a knowledge portal facilitates the diffusion of knowledge among rather loosely coupled and often disconnected innovation projects.Research is carried out in the agricultural industry in the Netherlands. In this industry there is a need to change from a product-oriented to a problemorientedinnovation structure. The set up of a platform and knowledge portalaround agro-logistics – crossing different product-oriented production clusters – was therefore a logical result. It gave the opportunity to analyze what the impact of a knowledge portal is in a situation that people and projects come from different organizations that do not know each other. Do they start toshare knowledge and what are the conditions? With regard to the case study of the knowledge portal in the agricultural industry we conclude that a knowledge portal will have an impact on how projects are sharing knowledgeand on the emergence of a network of practice. The results show that preconditions for the emergence of a network of practice are sense of urgency and fragmented awareness. These results also indicate the important role of a knowledge broker. The developed knowledge portal seems to lead to overcoming structural holes and a closer cognitive distance among theprojects. However, we did not find a direct effect of the knowledge portal on sharing tacit knowledge. In the initial phase of a network of practice the knowledge exchange seems to focus on general, non-project specific and explicit knowledge. There was also no direct effect of the knowledge portal on the reciprocity of knowledge exchange among the projects. However, knowledge was shared between the project level and the platform and public level. Conclusions and directions for future research are formulated.
159 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that firms within industrial clusters have privileged access to "tacit knowledge" that is unavailable or available only at high cost to firms located elsewhere, and that such access provides competitive advantages that cause the growth and development of both firms and regions.
Abstract: This paper questions the prevailing notions that firms within industrial clusters have privileged access to “tacit knowledge” that is unavailable—or available only at high cost—to firms located elsewhere, and that such access provides competitive advantages that cause the growth and development of both firms and regions. It outlines a model of cluster dynamics emphasizing two mutually interdependent processes: the concentration of specialized and complementary epistemic communities, on the one hand, and entrepreneurship and a high rate of new firm formation on the other.
144 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The questionnaire data suggest that the overall level of knowledge transfer is higher during periods of product redesign than it is during the steady state, whereas the nterview data indicate that there were more mentions of knowledgeTransfer during the Steady state.
Abstract: This study provides a longitudinal empirical examination of the basic elements of Nonaka's (1994) dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. First, the data illustrate the notion that knowledge creation in organizations proceeds through an intertwined four-phase process: (1) socialization (tacit knowledge amplification); (2) externalization (tacit knowledge is transformed into explicit knowledge); (3) combination (explicit knowledge amplification); and (4) internalization (explicit knowledge is transformed into tacit knowledge). Second, the study extends Nonaka's theory by comparing the relative amount of intra-organizational knowledge transfer occurring during periods of product redesign with the amount of knowledge transfer occurring during steady-state periods. The questionnaire data suggest that the overall level of knowledge transfer is higher during periods of product redesign than it is during the steady state, whereas the nterview data indicate that there were more mentions of knowledge transfer during the steady state. Third, the data suggest that there may be benefit in adding tacit error correction as a fifth phase in the learning cycle. This phase is characterized by a dual emphasis on externalization and internalization. Implications of these findings are discussed.
143 citations
20 Jun 2005
TL;DR: The idea of "tacit knowledge" has proved fruitful in the sociology of scientific knowledge even while remaining ill-defined and elusive as discussed by the authors, and it has been widely used by practitioners of practice.
Abstract: The idea of ‘tacit knowledge’ has proved fruitful in the sociology of scientific
knowledge even while remaining ill-defined and elusive. I will describe and
classify what has been done. I will set out some ways in which the idea has been
used by practitioners of practice and then offer some comments on the different
approaches.1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the emergence of networks of practice and the role of knowledge sharing via knowledge portals and analyze the impact of a knowledge portal on the diffusion of knowledge among rather loosely coupled and often disconnected innovation projects.
TL;DR: This approach demonstrates the use of cognitive mapping to extract tacit knowledge from employees in knowledge-intensive organizations and the extensive array of performance-relevant variables that arises from such mapping, and the potential to use the resulting causal performance map as a comprehensive, articulated basis for developing a performance measurement system.
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal empirical examination of the basic elements of Nonaka's (1994) dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation is provided, which illustrates the notion that knowledge creation in organizations proceeds through an intertwined four-phase process: (1) socialization (tacit knowledge amplification), (2) externalization, (3) combination, (4) internalization, and (5) tacit knowledge transformation.
Abstract: This study provides a longitudinal empirical examination of the basic elements of Nonaka's (1994) dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. First, the data illustrate the notion that knowledge creation in organizations proceeds through an intertwined four-phase process: (1) socialization (tacit knowledge amplification); (2) externalization (tacit knowledge is transformed into explicit knowledge); (3) combination (explicit knowledge amplification); and (4) internalization (explicit knowledge is transformed into tacit knowledge). Second, the study extends Nonaka's theory by comparing the relative amount of intra-organizational knowledge transfer occurring during periods of product redesign with the amount of knowledge transfer occurring during steady-state periods. The questionnaire data suggest that the overall level of knowledge transfer is higher during periods of product redesign than it is during the steady state, whereas the interview data indicate that there were more mentions of knowledge transfer during the steady state. Third, the data suggest that there may be benefit in adding tacit error correction as a fifth phase in the learning cycle. This phase is characterized by a dual emphasis on externalization and internalization. Implications of these findings are discussed.
TL;DR: The main conclusion of the paper is that the concept of tacit knowledge as it appears in the literature is vague and ambiguous, which creates confusion that makes developing and implementing KM strategies more difficult.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and clarify a central concept of knowledge management, tacit knowledge.Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates the philosophical roots of the concept of tacit knowledge and compares its core elements with current uses of the concept in contemporary knowledge management research. Different interpretations of the concept are identified, analyzed and clarified. A more explanatory and useful interpretation is developed and applied to current issues in knowledge management. A new KM implementation model is described based on a fuller understanding of the tacit/explicit distinction.Findings – The main conclusion of the paper is that the concept of tacit knowledge as it appears in the literature is vague and ambiguous. This vagueness creates confusion that, in turn, makes developing and implementing KM strategies more difficult. However, by understanding the philosophic roots of the concept of tacit knowledge it becomes possible to develop a clearer ...
TL;DR: The concept of evidence-based nursing education is explored, a body of knowledge on which nurse educators base teaching, educational strategies, and curricular designs, but most of this knowledge is tacit, experiential, and based on practice.
Abstract: This article explores the concept of evidence-based nursing education. Because nurse educators incorporate evidence-based practice as a basic tenet of their programs, they assume nursing education itself is evidence based. Nursing education has a body of knowledge on which nurse educators base teaching, educational strategies, and curricular designs, but most of this knowledge is tacit, experiential, and based on practice. This knowledge relates to the art of teaching in nursing and can warrant the practice of nurse educators. However, research is also necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of teaching approaches and strategies. Nurse educators need to develop the science of nursing education through qualitative and quantitative research, to add to the tacit knowledge underpinning nursing education strategies. When the science of nursing education is adequately developed through rigorous research, we will truly be able to say that nursing education is evidence based. Until then, it may be only a myth.
Book•
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: This monograph presents and analyzes in detail this new concept together with its ontology the list and meanings of the analyzed nodes of this space and of the character of transitions linking these nodes.
Abstract: Creative Space summarizes and integrates the various up-to-date approaches of computational intelligence to knowledge and technology creation including the specific novel feature of utilizing the creative abilities of the human mind, such as tacit knowledge, emotions and instincts, and intuition It analyzes several important approaches of this new paradigm such as the Shinayakana Systems Approach, the organizational knowledge creation theory, in particular SECI Spiral, and the Rational Theory of Intuition resulting in the concept of Creative Space This monograph presents and analyzes in detail this new concept together with its ontology the list and meanings of the analyzed nodes of this space and of the character of transitions linking these nodes
TL;DR: This study draws on Nonaka and Takeuchi's framework to explore how focusing on tacit‐to‐tacit knowledge‐sharing strategies influence early literacy‐based knowledge sharing within and across schools.
Abstract: Purpose – Drawn from a recent research study of the Toronto District School Board, this paper aims to examine how the District employs knowledge management to initiate and improve early literacy instruction and achievement.Design/methodology/approach – This study draws on Nonaka and Takeuchi's framework to explore how focusing on tacit‐to‐tacit knowledge‐sharing strategies influence early literacy‐based knowledge sharing within and across schools. Data collection involved the collection and analysis of documents used and designed by Early Years Listeracy Project (EYLP) staff members. The second phase engaged a cross‐section of 34 EYLP teachers, administrators and senior TDSB superintendents and EYLP management team members in individual semi‐structured interviews. Participants commented on their experience vis‐a‐vis the various knowledge management strategies used to support its implementation. Data from the interviews was codified, analyzed and summarized and summaries were shared with participants for c...
TL;DR: ProPL (Pro-PELL) is described, a dialogue-based intelligent tutoring system that elicits goal decompositions and program plans from students in natural language that leverage students' intuitive understandings of the problem, how it might be solved, and the underlying concepts of programming.
Abstract: For beginning programmers, inadequate problem solving and planning skills are among the most salient of their weaknesses. In this paper, we test the efficacy of natural language tutoring to teach and scaffold acquisition of these skills. We describe ProPL (Pro-PELL), a dialogue-based intelligent tutoring system that elicits goal decompositions and program plans from students in natural language. The system uses a variety of tutoring tactics that leverage students' intuitive understandings of the problem, how it might be solved, and the underlying concepts of programming. We report the results of a small-scale evaluation comparing students who used ProPL with a control group who read the same content. Our primary findings are that students who received tutoring from ProPL seem to have developed an improved ability to solve the composition problem and displayed behaviors that suggest they were able to think at greater levels of abstraction than students in the read-only group.
TL;DR: In this article, a knowledge management system for a regional innovation network is designed, where explicit and tacit knowledge, self-transcending knowledge, and considerations of knowledge vision as well as methods from futures studies are incorporated into the system.
Abstract: This article focuses on knowledge creation and management in regional innovation networks. A knowledge management system for a regional innovation network is designed. Besides explicit and tacit knowledge, self-transcending knowledge is taken into account within the knowledge management system. In addition, considerations of knowledge vision as well as methods from futures studies are incorporated into the system. An innovation network of the Lahti regional innovation system, Finland, is used as a case example in the article. The article highlights the importance of combining loose network development and an explicit, systematic approach to planning and working on knowledge-related matters within regional innovation networks.
TL;DR: The goal of the paper is to highlight boundary objects that co‐ordinate knowledge sharing within and between firms' innovation processes.
Abstract: Purpose – In order that knowledge distribution in companies can be efficient and effective, it should take place without boundaries. However, this is not often the reality. People tend to build up their own boundaries, often creating overly technical terminology so that others cannot participate in what they do. In other words, identity hinges on difference. Establishing these identities weakens the existence of real innovative companies and reinforces barriers within and between organisations. The ability of companies to transcend these barriers is partly based on the recognition of boundary objects. This means that the better the companies understand the nature of the existing boundary objects, the better they can take actions that will help to overcome existing barriers. Therefore the goal of the paper is to highlight boundary objects that co‐ordinate knowledge sharing within and between firms' innovation processes.Design/methodology/approach – There are many different types of boundary objects. The co...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored different knowledge management perspectives (the object view and process view, the tacit view and the explicit view) to explain how knowledge is generated through the cyclic interaction between knowledge stock and knowledge process flow.
Abstract: With product life-cycles shortening and technologies becoming increasingly imitable, organization knowledge emerges as a major source of competitive advantage. Although Knowledge Management (KM) has promised to provide superb benefits, studies have showed that many are failing to exploit it. One of the main reasons is that people have no clear understanding of KM and knowledge. Accordingly, we have explored different KM perspectives – the object view and the process view, the tacit view and the explicit view – to clarify it. The object and process views explain how knowledge is generated through the cyclic interaction between knowledge stock and knowledge process flow. The tacit and the explicit views explain that there is no objective explicit knowledge independent of an individual's tacit knowledge. This points out the crucial role of human in KM. Moreover, we also propose that the full benefits of KM come from the third generation, which focuses on innovation. The first and second generation c...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore some of the issues in voluntary succession associated with finding and successfully developing principal successors to ensure the survival and growth of small firms, including recruiting employees with potential, considering the work/career motives of potential successors and ways of transferring organisational and personal/tacit knowledge from the owner to the successor, whether an internal employee or a new purchaser.
Abstract: Purpose – The paper aims to explore some of the issues in voluntary succession associated with finding and successfully developing principal successors to ensure the survival and growth of small firms. It highlights the key issues identified, including recruiting employees with potential, considering the work/career motives of potential successors and ways of transferring organisational and personal/tacit knowledge from the owner‐manager to the successor, whether an internal employee or a new purchaser. An initial, simple model is presented, identifying three types of knowledge transfer and two tiers of succession.Design/methodology/approach – Literature from entrepreneurship, organisation studies and human resourcing highlights the issues associated with succession planning. Qualitative research provides empirical data from four owner‐managers and employees.Findings – Insight into the reasons why it is difficult to plan voluntary succession are provided.Research limitations/implications – A recognised li...
TL;DR: This ethnographic study investigates how a project group deals with the contradiction between distributed knowledge in boundary-spanning collaborative processes and the expectation that software systems will provide unified, codified knowledge.
Abstract: This ethnographic study investigates how a project group deals with the contradiction between distributed knowledge in boundary-spanning collaborative processes and the expectation that software systems will provide unified, codified knowledge. Group and individual activities were observed over a period of 18 months, to examine the ways knowledge was presented, recognized, shared, or otherwise managed during joint design of business process and IT systems change. The study explores how knowledge and expertise were translated across organizational boundaries, and identifies four stages in the development of group understanding of how to manage sensemaking and expertise across knowledge boundaries: focus on defining shared goals; acknowledging and sharing tacit knowledge about organizational practice; identifying external influences; and explicit knowledge generation.
TL;DR: Two theoretical problems in Knowledge Management's notion of “implicit knowledge,” which undermine empirical work in this area, are examined and Polanyi's concept of tacit knowledge in relation to the role of analogical thought in expertise is examined.
Abstract: “Implicit knowledge” and “tacit knowledge” in Knowledge Management (KM) are important, often synonymous, terms. In KM they often refer to private or personal knowledge that needs to be made public. The original reference of “tacit knowledge” is to the work of the late scientist and philosopher, Michael Polanyi (Polanyi, 1969), but there is substantial evidence that the KM discourse has poorly understood Polanyi's term. Two theoretical problems in Knowledge Management's notion of “implicit knowledge,” which undermine empirical work in this area, are examined. The first problem involves understanding the term “knowledge” according to a folk-psychology of mental representation to model expression. The second is epistemological and social: understanding Polanyi's term, tacit knowing as a psychological concept instead of as an epistemological problem, in general, and one of social epistemology and of the epistemology of the sciences, in particular. Further, exploring Polanyi's notion of tacit knowing in more detail yields important insights into the role of knowledge in science, including empirical work in information science. This article has two parts: first, there is a discussion of the folk-psychology model of representation and the need to replace this with a more expressionist model. In the second part, Polanyi's concept of tacit knowledge in relation to the role of analogical thought in expertise is examined. The works of philosophers, particularly Harre and Wittgenstein, are brought to bear on these problems. Conceptual methods play several roles in information science that cannot satisfactorily be performed empirically at all or alone. Among these roles, such methods may examine historical issues, they may critically engage foundational assumptions, and they may deploy new concepts. In this article the last two roles are examined.
01 Jun 2005
TL;DR: This paper presents a KM methodology, together with its computational implementation, to acquire the tacit knowledge possessed by health-care experts and represent the acquired tacit knowledge in a computational formalism that allows the reuse of stored knowledge to acquire tacit knowledge.
Abstract: Tacit knowledge of health-care experts is an important source of experiential know-how, yet due to various operational and technical reasons, such health-care knowledge is not entirely harnessed and put into professional practice. Emerging knowledge-management (KM) solutions suggest strategies to acquire the seemingly intractable and nonarticulated tacit knowledge of health-care experts. This paper presents a KM methodology, together with its computational implementation, to 1) acquire the tacit knowledge possessed by health-care experts; 2) represent the acquired tacit health-care knowledge in a computational formalism-i.e., clinical scenarios-that allows the reuse of stored knowledge to acquire tacit knowledge; and 3) crystallize the acquired tacit knowledge so that it is validated for health-care decision-support and medical education systems.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact of team demography on knowledge sharing within software project teams and found that individuals who perceive themselves in a minority based on gender, marital status, and type of education are less likely to participate in knowledge sharing.
Abstract: An organization, in order to be capable of creating new knowledge and to utilize existing knowledge, knowledge sharing across the organization and between individuals is essential. A recent study examined the impact of organizational, group and individual characteristics on the sharing of knowledge among individuals within software project teams. This paper extends that work to examine the impact of team demography on knowledge sharing within teams. It is well established in the literature that individual behavior in groups is influenced, among other things, by the team demography. This paper examines the impact of team demography on knowledge sharing within software project teams. The findings suggest that individuals who perceive themselves in a minority based on gender, marital status, and type of education are less likely to participate in knowledge sharing. Also, long organizational tenure has a negative impact on knowledge sharing. I. INTRODUCTION In recent times, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of organizations that have explicit strategies and programs to manage the knowledge they create and possess. There has also been a spurt in efforts to understand the process of knowledge creation, assimilation and dissemination in organizations. Despite the attention to knowledge management, there have been very few empirical studies attempting to understand knowledge management in organizations. This paper presents the results of an attempt to address this gap. Traditionally, the literature has focused on knowledge as something to be possessed or as a 'stock of expertise'. While in actual practice it is often difficult to isolate the role of existing knowledge on performance, there seems to be a relationship between stock of knowledge and performance that is similar to the relationship between assets and income (Starbuck, 1992). It can be asserted that the more knowledge an organization or team possesses, the better will be its performance. More recently, however, there has been a focus on the act of knowing rather than the possession of knowledge. Knowledge is not seen as something static but a dynamic entity that actively supports the acquisition of more knowledge and keeps the asset value of an organization's knowledge current (Cook & Brown, 1999). Inherent in this approach is the assumption that knowledge that is not used is depleted, and knowledge that is used increases in value because knowledge creation is a social activity involving constant interaction between existing knowledge and the context in which it is applied. This study has a focus on the knowing process, and particularly on knowledge sharing among members of a team. Software project teams provide an interesting context to study knowledge sharing within teams. Software development is an intensely cognitive activity, which produces an intangible output that has been described as a codified form of pure knowledge (Hoch et al, 2000). Software projects teams are formed because the nature of the activity is such that it is beyond the ability of an individual to perform all the necessary tasks required (Carmel, 1993; Curtis et al, 1988; Waltz et al, 1993). Team performances are significantly better if team members are able to draw on the knowledge of other members of the team (Raymond, 1999). As a result, team members spend a considerable amount of their project time interacting with others in the team (DeMarco & Lister, 1999). As suggested above, one of the advantages of having a software project team is the ability to draw on a larger and more diverse knowledge base. However, the existence of knowledge with members of the team does not ensure that it is utilized (Pfeffer &Sutton, 1999). In order for the stock of knowledge available to have an impact on actual work, knowledge sharing among team members is essential. Sharing of knowledge goes beyond simple two-way communication, particularly in the case of tacit knowledge. …
TL;DR: In this paper, sound and hearing are integral aspects of experimentation in science and technology studies, and sound helps define how and when lab work is done, and in what kinds of spaces.
Abstract: Works in science and technology studies (STS) have repeatedly pointed to the importance of the visual in scientific practice. STS has also explicated how embodied practice generates scientific knowledge. I aim to supplement this literature by pointing out how sound and hearing are integral aspects of experimentation. Sound helps define how and when lab work is done, and in what kinds of spaces. It structures experimental experience. It affords interactions between researchers and instruments that are richer than could be obtained with vision alone. And it is a site for tacit knowledge, providing a resource for the replication of results, and the transmission of knowledge, and the construction of social boundaries within instrumental communities.
TL;DR: This study identifies and categorizes factors that facilitate tacit knowledge sharing during ERP implementation and proposes which facilitators seem to result in the most tacit knowledgesharing.
Abstract: This study examines tacit knowledge sharing in enterprise resource planning ERP implementation. There is often a large gap in knowledge among ERP implementation personnel because of ERP's cross-functional nature. An underlying assumption of knowledge sharing is that individuals can share the knowledge they have. Although this is a valid assumption for explicit knowledge that can readily be examined apart from the individual who originated it, tacit knowledge is not as easily examined. This study presents findings about facilitators of tacit knowledge sharing in three firms that have implemented ERP. Data were collected through interviews using a multi-site case study. This study contributes to the body of knowledge about tacit knowledge sharing in ERP implementation in several ways. First, it identifies and categorizes factors that facilitate tacit knowledge sharing during ERP implementation. Second, it proposes which facilitators seem to result in the most tacit knowledge sharing. Third, it provides several guidelines for practitioners that they can use in their own ERP implementations. Finally, the study provides directions for avenues of future research, and suggests two research questions arising out of these findings that might be explored.
TL;DR: A 5-factor model of academic tacit knowledge provided a strong fit for the data and a domain-specific measure, the Academic Tacit Knowledge Scale (ATKS), was developed to explore the multidimensionality of tacit knowledge proposed in the model.
Abstract: The authors propose a multidimensional model of tacit knowledge and develop a measure of tacit knowledge in academia. They discuss the theory and extant literature on tacit knowledge and propose a 6-factor model. Experiment 1 is a replication of a recent study of academic tacit knowledge using the scale developed and administered at an Israeli university (A. Somech & R. Bogler, 1999). The results of the replication differed from those found in the original study. For Experiment 2, the authors developed a domain-specific measure of academic tacit knowledge, the Academic Tacit Knowledge Scale (ATKS), and used this measure to explore the multidimensionality of tacit knowledge proposed in the model. The results of an exploratory factor analysis (n=142) followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (n=286) are reported. The sample for both experiments was 428 undergraduate students enrolled at a large public university in the eastern United States. Results indicated that a 5-factor model of academic tacit knowledge provided a strong fit for the data.