The Tacit Dimension of Organizational Learning

This research was conducted to observe the self-reflections of an organizational participant group to further understand the organizational learning phenomenon. The participant group consisted of the 15 managers, spanning three levels of management, of a large engineering group in the southeastern United States. The intent of the research was to generate theory, rather than to test theory. To accomplish this objective, a qualitative research methodology in a participatory action framework was modeled from Keating\u27s (1993) Organizational Learning Process (OLP) to co-construct participants\u27 organizational reflections. The methodology included individual interviews designed to elicit spontaneity that co-generated organizational perspectives. These perspectives were then combined and anonymously assessed by the participants as to their personal beliefs, and their perceptions of the organization\u27s rhetoric and actions. The assessed perspectives were finally used to facilitate group dialogues. The assessed perspectives revealed what the participant group believed, and what they perceived themselves to say and do. It was discovered that there were many perspectives that revealed large incongruities between the participant group\u27s beliefs, rhetoric, and actions. Analysis of these incongruities and the group dialogues: (1) demonstrated Argyris and Schon\u27s (1978) theoretical constructs for barriers to organizational learning; (2) indicated that the expectations generated by their quality program were incongruent with more traditional expectations that pre-dated their quality program; and (3) suggested the existence of a body of largely tacit and experiential organizational perspectives that established a strong context for decision and action. The existence of these influential, yet tacit, perspectives implied a new essential process for the development of an advanced organizational learning system (Argyris and Schon, 1978), i.e., the co-construction of tacit knowledge. The processes through which such co-constructions appeared to occur naturally within the participant group were detailed as a proposed explanatory model for organizational learning. Implications of the research for the management of organizations, for organizational learning theory, and for future research were also developed

A Knowledge Management System (KMS) Using a Storytelling-based Approach to Collect Tacit Knowledge

Since the 1990s, Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) have been largely unsuccessful in the collection of tacit knowledge. The process, whether through direct input by the holder of the tacit knowledge or through an intermediary such as the collection of tacit knowledge through interviews and videos, has not succeeded. Reasons encompass the organizational (such as culture of the organization), the technological (example: poor tools), and the individual (example: knowledge is power, i.e. where experts with rare knowledge results in knowledge hoarding instead of transfer). The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that tacit knowledge could be successfully and consistently collected from the participants themselves and placed into a KMS using a storytelling-based approach. This study extended past research that collected stories for KMS’ using interviews and videos by having participants directly entering their data, as stories, into a KMS. This was a new approach and it was posited that having participants use stories to enter their tacit knowledge themselves into a KMS would overcome their reluctance to provide tacit knowledge thus overcoming barriers to providing tacit knowledge into a KMS The validation methodology was based upon three elements: the deep-dive research element, the issues and solution element, and the dissertation proposition element. The deep-dive research element was the extensive research for the study into knowledge management, storytelling, and other various methods for collection of tacit knowledge. The issues and solution element consisted of issues about tacit knowledge that were identified from the deep-dive research element, i.e. general arguments constructed about knowledge management which were backed by data from research into knowledge management systems and storytelling. Theoretical solutions to the issues regarding the capture of tacit knowledge were then constructed which included the storytelling-based approach and a KMS framework for the collection of tacit knowledge. Lastly was the dissertation proposition element which consisted of a thorough analysis of the survey data against each of the dissertation propositions. There were three propositions. Proposition 1 was sharing of knowledge and the storytelling-based approach. Proposition 2 was about the framework, the scenarios, guiding questions, and Communities of Practice (CoP), and Proposition 3 was about participant knowledge and interaction with forums. Each proposition was evaluated independently. The study was successful and validated propositions 1 and 2. For proposition 1, 81% of the participants responded positively to the eight study questions directed towards this proposition. For all eight questions across all 21 participants, the mean was 29.952 against a target test mean of 24 with a range of 27.538-32.367. For proposition 2, 76.19% of participants scored this section positive. For all six questions across all 21 participants, the mean was 23 against a target test mean of 18 with a range of 21.394-24.606. However, the results for proposition 3 were inconclusive and must be considered a failure. Most of the respondents either scored ‘no change’ to at least 50% of the questions or they stated they had never been to a forum. For all four questions across all 21 participants, the mean was 12.905 against a target mean of 12 with a range of 11.896-13.914. Based upon propositions 1 and 2, the null hypothesis was disproved. Participants liked the storytelling-based approach, providing their tacit knowledge, and they liked the framework

An Ecological Framework for Supervision in Teacher Education

Pre-service teachers are typically supervised by two differently situated mentors: university-based clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers. These two types of supervisors are positioned differently within the institution of teacher education. Using ecological systems theory combined with institution theory, this paper offers an analytical framework for ecologically investigating how teacher supervisors and cooperating teachers are positioned and the effects on their labor, identities, and practices and how ecological forces operating at multiple levels shape new teacher learning. Drawing from empirical research to provide examples of this framework in action, the paper examines challenges to the field and offers potential responses that teacher education programs and teacher supervisors can take to mitigate these challenges

Organization, atmosphere, and digital technologies: designing sensory order

We argue technology and organization are inherently spatial phenomenon. We conceptualize this conjunction as atmosphere: a gathering of mood, human practice, material and environmental conditions, and values that has sufficient coherence and distinction to constitute a distinct interior. Atmospheres, however, are not entirely stable and present: the interior is porous to outside influence, and the interior is never wholly ordered. We show this through the study of digitally mediated architectural design practice. We find the technological mediation of atmospheres is constituted in sensory and affective spatial arrangements, and not in rationally calculated configurations of assets and goals. An atmosphere is inherently aesthetic. This allows us to gesture toward a definition of organization as technologically mediated spatial struggle to reconcile interior coherence with outward exposure

The Recognition of Fires Originating from Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Systems

There has been an observable increase in the fitting of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the roofs of buildings in the UK over the last decade. The origin of some fires in domestic and commercial properties has been attributed to PV systems. This thesis examines the ability of fire examiners to recognise and record details of fires believed to have originated from PV systems, as well as investigating the effect of internal heating in direct current (DC) isolators to the point at which they fail. National fire data was examined along with the methods for collecting and collating these data. This clarified that national fire data cannot identify the specifics of electrical fires. Validity of these data was then tested by identifying the confidence and competence in the recognition of the origin of fire, (especially when associated with PV systems), of some fire staff responsible for collecting fire data. This suggests that some fire scenes examiners are not confident in their own ability to recognise fires originating from PV systems. Evidence for fires occurring in PV systems in Kent between 2009 and 2014 was then examined, including a cold case forensic review of the evidence. This provided an indication that a potential common point of failure, which may lead to fire originating from a PV system, was to be found within the DC section of the PV circuits and probably within the DC isolator switch itself. Experimentation revealed that internal heating of a terminal connection can lead to changes of the phase of the insulating material, causing failure of structural integrity and therefore allowing an arc to be established. Observable post fire indicators associated with this mechanism of failure have been identified as well as hydrocarbons evolved from pyrolysis of isolator insulating material. Finally, areas for further experimental research and training of fire staff are suggested as well as the modification of recording mechanisms and building regulations

The antecedent roles of personal constructs and culture in the construing of psychological contracts by staff in a Czech financial services company

The modern conceptualisation of the psychological contract recognises a tacit mental representation or schema, spanning all aspects of an employee’s perception of work. Reciprocity is a normative force in contract functioning. For over 500 years, the Czech Republic was subject to the rule of other nations. The failed totalitarianism of the most recent Soviet hegemony precipitated the Velvet Revolution and Czech adoption of the market economy in 1989. Some commentators have argued that unproductive work attitudes remain as a legacy of the command system. Following the phenomenological paradigm and constructivist epistemology, the research uses concepts from Personal Construct Psychology to compare the work constructs of Czech and non-Czech staff within the Czech and UK subsidiaries of the same company, examining antecedent effects of culture and individual experiences on psychological contract formation and development. The findings show that the two nationalities construe work along broadly similar lines, prioritizing its social qualities. Czech constructs seem to be simpler than those of non- Czechs, apparently lacking the value placed on personal ambition and achievement by the comparator group. Czechs do, however, appear to value independence much more than non-Czechs, with young Czechs also seemingly expecting social justice and the right to self-determination. The findings make a strong case for suggesting that these values have their origins in Czech culture and history, implying that both influence the work dispositions of Czechs and may plausibly be psychological contract antecedents. The conclusions call for a wider conceptualisation of the psychological contract, specifically in its anticipatory (pre-work) form, and suggest that existing theory might benefit from giving greater consideration and prominence to the social properties of work. Suggestions for further research and business applications are included

A new framework for defining, identifying and explicating tacit knowledge : qualitative research using Aspectual Analysis on SMEs

Area of Concern: There is a growing awareness that tacit knowledge accounts for asubstantial portion of vital knowledge in both individuals and organisations. The advent ofknowledge and organisational management frameworks has brought about a realisation thatthe difficulty of managing tacit knowledge is primarily due to a wide variety of conflictingdefinitions in both philosophy and scientific theories (Gourlay, 2004). These conflicts inliterature are yet to be resolved by current frameworks, particularly those that examine themodels of tacit knowledge flow in organisations. This indicates that a gap exists for creating anew foundation for identifying tacit knowledge. For this to be achieved, empirical data hasbeen collated in the form of perceptions of personnel at two SME organisations inManchester. The research has obtained these perceptions through semi-structured qualitativeinterviews. These interviews form the necessary data for analysis that has been carried out using the method of aspectual analysis. Aspectual analysis derives from the principles ofHerman Dooyeweerd’s theory of modal aspects, and has been the primary form of analysis ofthe data collected. By utilising these modal aspects, and applying Dooyeweerd’s theory ofknowing to the concept of tacit knowing; this research aims to identify different forms of tacitknowledge and their varying degrees of explication. This research may in turn be used tounite the views of tacit knowledge in literature, and propel the current discourse into a moreconstructive narrative that the researcher hopes will aid greater understanding of theimportance of tacit knowledge. It may also be used as a base for the extension of literature inareas where knowledge is paramount such as organisational learning and the creation offrameworks for managing tacit knowledge in both organisational & knowledge management.This issues discussed thus lead to the researcher asking the question:“How can Dooyeweerd’s philosophy be used to analyse the tacit knowledge held by a varietyof people of at an SME thus revealing the different types of tacit knowledge and discerningwhich types can be explicated?”In answering this main research question, the research has achieved three main contributionsthat can be described as: Theoretical, Practical, and Methodological.Theoretical Contribution: The research performed a review of both philosophical andpractical literature on tacit knowledge showing that there is no agreed foundation fordefining, identifying or explicating tacit knowledge. In terms of philosophical review of thenature of tacit knowledge, authors such as Yu (2004)’s Wittgenstein examination of Polanyi’stacit knowing encompasses detailed review of philosophical underpinnings of tacit knowing,but ultimately limited scope of the types of tacit knowing and exploration of their differinglevels of explication. This research expands this thinking and shows how these different areascan be articulated. In the case of practical literature, authors such as Gourlay (2002;2004)show how different empirical researchers define tacit knowledge differently, yet do not gofurther into stating that this are different types of tacit knowledge being discussed. Theconflict is illuminated, but the theoretical frameworks for accounting for differences in tacit knowledge views tends to exclude rather than include important observations. This researchshows how different views of tacit knowledge can be unified within a singular framework asguided by Dooyeweerd’s modal aspects.Practical Contribution: As Gourlay (2004) notes, different empirical studies have takenmultiple interpretations of tacit knowledge in their research, thus resulting in ambiguity onthe nature of tacit knowledge in research. Gourlay review shows that two of the maindifferences in literature concerning the nature of tacit knowledge is whether tacit knowledge is individually or collectively held and whether it can be made explicit. In addressing the firstproblematic of individually or collectively held tacit knowing, the research in this thesisshows how different types of tacit knowledge are held in a spectrum with some individuallyheld, and others collectively held and also some with both a collective and individualcomponent of knowing. In the second problematic of explication, the research creates aframework that shows how some forms of tacit knowledge can be explicated to varyingdegrees within the spectrum of different types of tacit knowing while utilising aspectual analysis and the property of inter-aspect reaching out.Methodological Contribution: The research expands on utilising Dooyeweerd’s philosophyto illuminate scientific fields in this case applying the theory of modal aspects in conjunctionwith the property of inter-aspect reaching out within the modal spheres to reveal the forms oftacit knowledge that exists behind “the making of a statement”, and the tacit knowledge thatexists “behind the content of the statement” within an interview setting. This is an expansionof aspectual analysis that is described by authors such as Winfield (2001) & Basden (2008)