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

Abstract

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