An Integrated Framework for Effective Tacit Knowledge Transfer

Effective tacit knowledge transfer is very critical for organizations. However, despite concerted efforts, many organizationsare finding it increasingly difficult to manage tacit knowledge transfer. This paper examines the characteristics of tacitknowledge and develops an integrated framework grounded in knowledge creation theory, social cognitive theory and mediarichness theory for transferring tacit knowledge effectively. The appropriateness and relevance of various knowledge transfermechanisms and the communication media types for different degrees of tacitness is discussed. This framework can guideorganizations in developing well suited knowledge transfer mechanisms to attain optimal tacit knowledge transfer

KNOWLEDGE AND THEIR SHELF LIFE IN THE BUSINESS CYCLE

In the attempt to draw a definition to the business topics of the current period, we report to a string of descriptive key words, which appeal to a growing amount of assets, other than the physical/tangible ones. Thus, the most used words/keywords are: knowledge, skills/abilities or talents and the successful leaders that can use/exploit them productively, to achieve competitive advantage, become the key individuals in the business organizations. This is partly due to the "promise" that "the world of intangibles" guarantee to the modern corporate success. Thus, knowledge has become valuable resources in the current competitive chaos. The issue of this paper focuses on how knowledge are used in business organizations, where they can be located within the organization domain and which is their shelf life/their term of validity comparing to the one of those tangible/physical

An investigation of the acquisition and sharing of tacit knowledge in software development teams

Knowledge in general, and tacit knowledge in particular, has been hailed as an important factor for successful performance in knowledge-worker teams. Despite claims of the importance of tacit knowledge, few researchers have studied the concept empirically, due in part to the confusion surrounding its conceptualisation. The present study examined the acquisition and sharing o f tacit knowledge and the consequent effect on team performance, through social interaction and the development of a transactive memory system (TMS). TMSs are important for the acquisition and sharing of tacit knowledge, since they enact ‘collective minds’ of teams, and are also a factor in successful team performance. In order to conduct this research, a team-level operational definition of tacit knowledge was forwarded and a direct measure of tacit knowledge for software development teams, called the Team Tacit Knowledge Measure (TTKM ) was developed and validated. To investigate the main premise of this research an empirical survey study was conducted which involved 48 software development teams (n = 181 individuals), from Ireland and the UK. Software developers were chosen as the example of knowledge-worker teams because they work with intangible cognitive processes. It was concluded that tacit knowledge was acquired and shared directly through good quality social interactions and through the development of a TMS. Quality of social interaction was found to be a more important route through which teams can learn and share tacit knowledge, than was transactive memory. However, transactive memory was not a mediator between social interaction and team tacit knowledge, indicating that both provided separate contributions. Team tacit knowledge was found to predict team performance above and beyond transactive memory, though both were significant. Based on these findings recommendations were made for the management of software development teams and for future research directions

An empirical investigation of knowledge management support for software projects.

Projects are unique by definition. Due to this novelty software development projects, in common with all other projects, require knowledge for effective implementation. Most knowledge management frameworks reported in the literature address the organisational need to manage knowledge. The existing frameworks typically discuss the dichotomy between tacit and explicit knowledge, and lay an emphasis on managing the latter. However, software development projects rely upon the experience, creativity and intuition of individual team members to address unstructured situations typified by inherent uncertainty, ambiguity and change. Therefore software projects require the facilitation and interaction of tacit knowledge along with managing and leveraging explicit knowledge.This research examines how tacit and explicit knowledge generated while implementing a software development project can be leveraged and effectively reused in future software projects. In order to address the need to provide knowledge management support to software projects an extended case study was conducted at one of the world's largest software project-based organisations. The aim of the research was to identify and analyse the flow of knowledge, and the capabilities required to support this flow. The research design utilised a combination of open-ended interviews, survey questionnaires, observations of team functioning, work methods and development practices, and a detailed examination of the knowledge management infrastructure and process capabilities. The extensive and exceptional access negotiated for this project enabled the research to focus on a single organisation and resulted in 100 hours of interviews and 340 hours of observations from 98 ongoing projects. Established case study protocols were used for data collection. The data analysis focused on determining categories from the different streams of activities and assigning attributes using Nudist software for data reduction and displaying group-nodes, and conclusion drawing. This enabled the research to establish the 'processual' nature of knowledge, and identify the capabilities required to mobilise and utilise knowledge assets. The research critically analysed the three parallel themes of knowledge management, project management and software engineering, and the outcome of the conceptual synthesis and validation is a dynamic model which represents the knowledge processes that facilitate the flow of tacit and explicit knowledge between software projects. The model depicts the relationships and interactions between the functional areas of the development effort, and presents a continuous and long-term view of supporting the implementation of software projects and developing knowledge practices. For software project-based organisations this research has implications for their ability to manage context, provide feedback and facilitate interaction, and thus build upon their existing knowledge resources and capabilities. The research provides such organisations with a perspective to achieve excellence not only through optimisation of software process improvement, but also through learning, and, the creation and sharing of tacit and explicit knowledge as facilitated by the proposed model

The employment of knowledge visualisation to facilitate tacit knowledge sharing

This research explores how knowledge visualisation can support the sharing of tacit knowledge. One research question guides the study: How can knowledge visualisation facilitate tacit knowledge sharing? The research employed semi-structured interviews, non-participatory observations, and document reviews to collect data from 35 participants in 19 organisations and eight industries. Research data were analysed with thematic analysis, with the help of ATLAS.ti™ software. Moreover, in-depth case studies were conducted to verify data saturation. The findings from this research show that the participants have little accurate understanding of the terminology being used in the academic literature to describe knowledge and tacit knowledge, and that participants in different industries use dissimilar definitions and knowledge sharing toolkits. It was found that tacit knowledge is shareable in the form of natural language expressed by stories, metaphors and cases, for instance, and by other representations such as visual. While it may not offer the complete solution, Knowledge visualisation can facilitate tacit knowledge building and sharing by providing the big picture, rapid scanning of detail, and rich connections. It is concluded that knowledge visualisation is a powerful tool to support and to facilitate the sharing of tacit knowledge. Also, a new generation of knowledge represtations could usefully address extended questions on how tacit knowledge sharing can best be facilitated using knowledge visualisatio

An Investigation into the Acquisition of Tacit Knowledge in e-Learning Environments: An Experimental Study

Given its soft nature and the fact that it’s difficult to make explicit, tacit knowledge is certainly the most critical form of knowledge to deal with. Often referred to as know-how, practical experiences and insights; tacit knowledge is known to have a significant impact on one’s quality of work and professional efficacy. A review of the literature has revealed that many studies address the questions related to the capacity of e-Learning environments to create conditions that are conducive for participants to share, acquire and retain tacit knowledge. Still, there is debate about learners’ ability to gain tacit knowledge in settings that are devoid of face-to-face contact, simply because of the lack of empirical or experimental studies on the subject. Assuming it’s even possible, there is a lack of models and practical guidelines addressing the acquisition of tacit knowledge at the individual level in online education. This study applies adult learning principles, Knowledge Management and e-Learning design best practices to posit a subject-specific e-Learning model based on Knowledge Objects and learning activities led in the spirit of Community of Practice. The model is tested in order to assess learners’ tacit knowledge and influencing factors that impact the acquisition of this knowledge. The business presentation field was chosen to meet the objectives of the research since the mere memorization of facts does not make an effective presenter. Using a control group design, learners’ tacit knowledge of the experimental group (n=231) and control group (n=212) was examined via a validated instrument (TKIBP). Twenty-three learners were closely monitored, and a panel of experts evaluated their performances at three different stages. Learners’ perceptions of the model were also examined on a number of variables like delivery effectiveness and knowledge acquisition. Results showed that a well-prepared e-Learning environment can create a strong potential to support the activities and learning processes necessary for learners to acquire tacit knowledge. The model proposed in this study is a viable approach to facilitate the acquisition of tacit knowledge in e-Learning environments; in a given field. Experience in the field, English as a first language, self-competence, perceived usefulness, self-directed learning and motivation all play a major role in learners’ capacity to acquire tacit knowledge in e-Learning environments. This study unveils evidence-based information for the better implementation of e-Learning. It also gives a conceptual framework for scholars to advance research related to tacit knowledge acquisition in online education

The recipient perspective: a mixed methods Inquiry of knowledge seeking factors in tacit knowledge contexts

Tacit knowledge is an important source of competitive advantage to organisations. Sharing tacit knowledge among employees is vital to realising its benefits. Knowledge sharing requires the effective provision of knowledge and the useful acquisition of knowledge. More recently, knowledge seeking has been proposed as an additional recipient behaviour which encourages the provider to share their knowledge. Additionally, research has acknowledged the important role individual and social factors play in influencing the knowledge sharing. However, whether those factors equally effect recipient knowledge seeking and acquisition has been under-investigated. To address these gaps, this research investigates the individual and social factors which influence interpersonal knowledge seeking by knowledge workers engaged in highly tacit tasks within two separate contexts. In addition, knowledge seeking as a strategy for effective tacit knowledge acquisition is explored. Study one uses interviews with 33 knowledge-workers to explore individual and social factors which influence their tacit knowledge seeking, acquisition and sharing. Study two surveyed 233 junior doctors to test direct and indirect relationships between individual and social factors and their tacit knowledge seeking and acquisition from consultant doctors. The key findings support the contention that the individual and social factors which effect knowledge seeking are not interchangeable with those that effect knowledge acquisition and sharing. Various individual and social factors effect knowledge seeking at different stages of this behaviour. Furthermore, findings indicate that knowledge seeking can enhance successful acquisition of tacit knowledge through the organisational learning process of interpreting. This is the first study to compare individual and social factors which influence behaviours of seeking, acquisition and sharing in one study. It is also the first to empirically examine the 4i framework, and specifically the mediating effect of interpreting to explain the relationship between knowledge seeking and acquisition. Both studies provide actionable insights to improve successful knowledge sharing practices for tacit tasks

Practical Wisdom in Literary Studies

This study explores the role of practical wisdom, an ability that we know but cannot explicitly tell, in literary studies. We argue from philosophical, cognitive, and literary perspectives that we cannot articulate all the things that we know and are able to do in literary interpretation. From the philosophical perspective, we discuss Gadamer’s understanding of the originally Aristotelian concept, phronesis, which (1) always depends on the concrete situation, (2) cannot be formalized into rules, and (3) can only be learned by experience. From the cognitive perspective, we argue that, according to the emerging psychology of wisdom, the three features of practical wisdom may have empirical foundations. From the literary perspective, by critically examining Nussbaum’s argument that literature matters for ethics and revisiting the cognitive evidence mentioned before, we argue that, for an adequate understanding of ethics, we need the literary form to grasp the ambiguities of a concrete situation, which is required by practical wisdom for a responsible moral judgment. Overall, we advocate the idea of cognitive poetics, which is not, as its opponents often claim, necessarily about how literary studies one-sidedly learn from cognitive science, but can be a two-way street where the two parties contribute to each other