Sharing Tacit Knowledge in an Organization

Journal of Accounting Research Utility Finance and Digital Assets, 2023

Knowledge is generally divided into two: Explicit (articulate) and Tacit. This article thus explores the concept of tacit knowledge and the role that it plays in learning institutions and business organizations. Evidently, tacit knowledge is linked to knowledge management and as such, the world should utilize it for resilience-building and sustainable development. Notably, due to its complex nature, acquiring and extracting tacit knowledge is not easy as it is an unspoken, unwritten and hidden in people and ultimately leads to the well-being and success of individuals in society. Accordingly, tacit knowledge is very personalised, contextual and hard to communicate or transfer from one person to another by the process of verbal expression or writing and is generally made up of values, perceptions and beliefs. It is obtainable and transferrable through direct interaction amongst individuals and their environments. This paper, thus, explores tacit knowledge and assesses its role and significance in the advancement, enhancement and sustenance of learning and performances in business organisations and learning institutions. Accordingly, approximately 90% of the total knowledge in an organization is held in tacit form, ultimately, impacting the overall output and effectiveness of institutions and organizations.

To manage intangible assets such as knowledge is perceived as an important capability for competition. One of the major issues for managing knowledge resources is diffusion of knowledge within organizations. Knowledge management needs different forms according to the possibility to code knowledge. Internal individual processes like experience and talent obtain tacit knowledge that is difficult to code. Therefore it cannot be managed and shared as explicit knowledge. To rely on personal tacit knowledge is risky. Conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit or at least ability to share it offers greater value to an organization. But what are the difficulties related to sharing tacit knowledge? Different difficulties are to be found related to perception, language, time, value and distance. Keywords: Knowledge management, Tacit knowledge, Organizational learning, Knowledge sharing

Oeconomia Copernicana, 2014

The paper focuses on the internal knowledge sharing, namely on the methods and practices used in the case of tacit knowledge exchange among the individuals within an enterprise. Therefore, the first aim of the paper is to present the methods and practices that are recommended by knowledge management’s experts in the process of tacit knowledge sharing. The second research purpose is to determine which of those methods and practices are most frequently used by surveyed enterprises and how employees evaluate their utility in tacit knowledge sharing. In order to achieve the second purpose of the research, a survey was carried out in 153 enterprises located in the region of Wielkopolska in Poland, operating on domestic and foreign market. The first section of the work provides a brief summary of guidelines on tacit knowledge sharing within an enterprise highlighted in the relevant literature and a set of methods and practices that are used in tacit knowledge sharing which are recommended...

Recent Advances in Knowledge Management, 2022

This chapter incorporates the relevance of tacit knowledge and highlights some major barriers to knowledge sharing. Knowledge transfer is action through which; information, skills, expertise and experience is exchanged among people in an organization and it is a valuable and tangible asset for creating sustainability, performance and competitive advantage. From what is currently known, knowledge sharing activities occur generally with the support of knowledge systems designed by the board and knowledge managers. It is suggested that technology is one of the tools that support knowledge sharing, though other factors exist, such as organizational culture, trust, leadership and management philosophy, incentives and internal control systems. In this study, the researchers explore possible knowledge sharing opportunities and associated barriers, starting from top management to employees. The main purpose of this chapter is to look at how tacit knowledge affects organizational success. Th...

Advances in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development

Twenty-first century markets are unstable: technologies rapidly proliferate, competitors multiply, products and services become obsolete almost overnight. It is knowledge that can help the organizations to remain competitive. But as knowledge is the source of competitive advantage for the organization, it is also the source of competitive advantage for individuals. People think that knowledge is power, so sharing the same may lead to losing the power. Moreover, the very nature of tacit knowledge poses many difficulties in sharing the same. But sharing tacit knowledge is a vital part of the knowledge management process because it is tacit knowledge that is inimitable and is unique for the firm and hence provides competitive advantage. Studies found that personal interaction and informal networks work as the most successful means of sharing tacit knowledge. This chapter discusses the concept of tacit knowledge and attempts to discuss and suggest some effective methods of sharing tacit knowledge in organizations.

Journal of Knowledge Management, 2012

Purpose-Tacit knowledge is often difficult to define, given its inexpressible characteristics. Literature review highlights the impact of tacit knowledge on certain knowledge management topics and these include organizational learning, intellectual capital, knowledge management strategy and so forth, but some research gaps remain. The paper aims to propose directions for future research in this domain of discourse. Design/methodology/approach-A review of existing studies highlights some gaps in the literature on the role of tacit knowledge, which is followed by questions for future research. Findings-Given the richness of tacit knowledge discourse, the authors believe that the proposed questions offer avenues for scholars to explore and develop greater understanding of the role of tacit know-how in certain knowledge management topics. Research limitations/implications-The authors acknowledge that there are certain limitations to this paper, namely, focusing on the review of tacit knowledge and not on other forms of knowledge. The review presents the role of tacit knowledge and its use in the context of knowledge management related topics. Finally this study proposes only future research directions that are far from being exhaustive, rather than presenting field study results. Originality/value-This paper reviews the existing literature on how tacit knowledge is perceived and used in certain knowledge management areas. Reviewing the current literature uncovers a number of gaps regarding the role of tacit knowledge.

International Journal of Project Management, 2003

In this article we address the question of what kind of social engagements provide the proper project work context for tacit knowledge acquisition and sharing to take place. In pursuit of this objective two epistemological assumptions are presented, and the analytical tool for understanding the behaviour of project team members, the Holistic Concept of Man, is illustrated and discussed. Project as a context of tacit knowledge utilisation is discussed, and different factors and situations that affect acquisition and sharing of tacit knowledge in project work, are analysed. The results of the study suggest that the situations, where the members of a project team can interact face-to-face with each other, reinforces tacit knowledge sharing. Also used language, mutual trust and proximity are factors which affect the grade of tacit knowledge utilisation in project work.

Management Science Letters

Knowledge has become one of the key strategic assets for the organizations to gain and maintain competitive advantage. There are two main types of the knowledge, which can be found in organizations and individuals: tacit and explicit. Tacit knowledge is Omni present in individual's head while explicit knowledge is a written and documented. The most valuable and remarkable human knowledge exists more implicitly. Sharing and managing this implicit knowledge is considered very difficult, so investigating the factors that may affect knowledge sharing has become a colorful area of research. The focus of this study is to examine the relationship between individual (individual attitude, organizational commitment, and knowledge self-efficacy) and tacit knowledge sharing. The study distributed 650 questionnaires among teaching staff in public higher educational institutes. Out of 650, only 320 questionnaires were returned. Hypotheses for direct relationships were tested using SEM. Results indicated that individual attitude and knowledge self-efficacy were substantially associated with tacit knowledge sharing, however, no relationship was found between organizational commitment and tacit knowledge sharing.

Knowledge manipulation is key for organizational innovation, to gain competitive advantage, enhancing the search for a caring and sharing environment between co-workers. How to foster such attitude? Many researchers have argued about the importance of tacit knowledge, highlighting how difficult - if not impossible - is to share that kind of knowledge. Giving a new definition of knowledge, the Author here presents a model of knowledge manipulation that highlights the fundamental role of education, both as knowledge enabler and recipient for a long-term change into the organization. Using education as common ground to instil a (tacit) knowledge sharing attitude, the Author argues on the importance of problem-based (PBL) training, to prepare lifelong learners to become better workers and to manipulate (tacit) knowledge.

International journal of innovative technology and exploring engineering, 2019

Tacit knowledge is undocumented knowledge, gained by an individual by virtue of his/her experience on an activity. It rests with the individual, is hard to discover, express and articulate. It is a valuable body of knowledge, hence is essential to solicit, gather and explicate, so as to facilitate its percolation to the younger generation. In this paper, characteristics of tacit knowledge, the issues and mechanisms of explicating have been presented. Seismic data interpretation, as a tacit knowledge domain has been identified, issues faced in its explication and process followed in development of explicit knowledge capsule is detailed. In order to infer the tacit knowledge sharing behavior of an individual a large approximate 5000 survey responses from participant base of individuals from IT firms, Educational Institutions, Government Organizations, Research Organization and Students Community were obtained. The validity and reliability of the measure were verified. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on received valid responses. Based on the analysis, the concrete inference was deliberated.