The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplacegmswan3/575/KM_roles.pdf · The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in ... 311 Journal of Knowledge ... The role of tacit

The role of tacit andexplicit knowledge inthe workplace

Elizabeth A Smith

Introduction

People have always passed their accumulatedknowledge and commercial wisdom on tofuture generations by telling stories abouttheir thoughts work and experiences Nowas in the past people use face-to-face andrsquorsquohands-onrsquorsquo methods to convey their rsquorsquoknowhowrsquorsquo or tacit knowledge to others (Hansenet al 1999) Throughout recorded historysome form of written language has been usedto document their rsquorsquoknow-whatrsquorsquo or explicitknowledge Pursuits of tacit explicit and self-knowledge self-renewal and innovation aretimeless endless and relentless

Historically capital raw materials andlabor have been considered more valuablethan creating and applying knowledge Theinformation age and the knowledge revolutionhave caused problems for people andorganizations Demands for imaginativeintuitive inspirational leaders who canmanage human intellect and convert it intouseful products and service continue to grow(Goffee and Jones 2000) People must domore work in less time Workers who lackadequate education and training or explicitknowledge struggle to keep up They rely ontheir common sense and intuition or tacitknowledge to get through the day Manycompanies are using tacit knowledge toaugment a personrsquos academic learning andexperience Wagner and Sternberg (1987)believe that the ability to acquire and managetacit knowledge are hallmarks of managerialsuccess Opportunities to use tacit knowledgeare prime factors in attracting andmaintaining a talented loyal productiveworkforce (Smith 2000)

Valuable human and knowledge resourceswill be wasted unless management openlyaccepts and supports efforts to gather sorttransform record and share knowledgePriceless knowledge will continue to be lostunless organizations make better use of theirprime resource shy relatively unchallengedcreative people who are eager to apply theirknowledge Tacit knowledge in particular islost through outsourcing downsizingmergers and terminations Reportedly 90percent of the knowledge in any organizationis embedded and synthesized in peoplesrsquoheads (Wah 1999b Bonner 2000a Lee2000) Most tacit knowledge is an invisibleline item in corporate budgets However it istacit knowledge that plays a key role in

The author

Elizabeth A Smith is Vice President of Summit

Resources Inc Houston Texas USA and Adjunct

Professor in Administrative Sciences School of Business

and Public Administration at the University of Houston

Clear Lake

Keywords

Knowledge workers Information resources management

Motivation

Abstract

Knowledge plays a key role in the information revolution

Major challenges are to select the ` rightrsquorsquo information

from numerous sources and transform it into useful

knowledge Tacit knowledge based on common sense

and explicit knowledge based on academic

accomplishment are both underutilized Ways knowledge-

enabled organizations acquire measure teach share and

apply knowledge are discussed and illustrated Methods

to balance the use tacit and explicit knowledge at work

and practical proven ways to improve the understanding

and use of knowledge are presented Organizations must

begin to create worker-centered environments to

encourage the open sharing and use of all forms of

knowledge

Electronic access

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is

available at

httpwwwemerald-librarycomft

311

Journal of Knowledge Management

Volume 5 Number 4 2001 pp 311plusmn321

MCB University Press ISSN 1367-3270

leveraging the overall quality of knowledge(Quinn et al 1996 Wah 1999a Goffee andJones 2000)

PurposeThis paper summarizes key factors inknowledge knowledge-creating companiesand knowledge management Majorcontributions of tacit and explicit knowledgeand ways to recognize use share acquireteach and measure tacit and explicitknowledge are discussed and illustratedMethods to balance the use of tacit andexplicit knowledge in the workplace andpractical proven ways to improve theunderstanding and use of knowledge arepresented

Knowledge knowledge-creatingcompanies and knowledge management

Employees seldom admit what they do anddonrsquo t know The book If Only We Knew WhatWe Know aptly conveys the need to find outand record what people really know (OrsquoDelland Grayson 1998) The exchange flow anduse of knowledge are increased when peoplecapture and apply what they really knowEach step in the entire knowledge-management effort will be at risk unlessorganizations recognize nourish andappropriately reward the contribution flowand application of knowledge Supportivework environments and user-friendly cost-effective technology are key enablers for thisentire process

KnowledgeKnowledge belongs to the family of steadilyincreasing corporate assets like managementsystems brand identity customerinformation and corporate reputation(Pascarella 1997) Knowledge is a humanhighly personal asset and represents thepooled expertise and efforts of networks andalliances Reportedly 99 percent of the workpeople do is knowledge based (Wah 1999b)Knowledge seems invisible but it clearlydrives the bottom line (Pascarella 1997) Thevalue of knowledge is increased when it has akey purpose and focuses on mission corevalues and strategic priorities Knowledgeassets like money or equipment exist and areworth cultivating only in the context of thestrategy used to apply them (Stewart 1997)

When organizations merge downsizereorganize or organizational culture changespriceless knowledge is lost or buried undernew information Employees who leave taketheir valuable knowledge resources skills andexperiences with them Those who stay maybe assigned new jobs and never use theirwealth of accumulated knowledge Unlessmanagers recognize the improvisations andinventive ways people get things done tacitknowledge in particular will be lost

Knowledge-creating companiesKnowledge-creating concepts begin life asdata Transformating data to information toknowledge to wisdom helps shape effectivestrategies to manage knowledge and createnew markets to serve customers (Garvin1997 Stewart 1997 Tobin 1997 Hansenet al 1999 Wah 1999a) Most data arenumeric basic information or observations ofwork activities that can be quantifiedInformation is data that have relevancepurpose and context like units ofmeasurement Information has little valueuntil it is given meaning or used on the joblike raising levels of competence (Pascarella1997) Human intervention is usually neededto interpret and extract various types of usefulinformation (Lee 2000) rsquorsquoData-miningrsquorsquosoftware and people skilled at seeing patternsof responses play prime roles in these intricateprocesses The ultimate challenge is to movebeyond knowledge to wisdom or intuitionbased on experience Wisdom closelyresembles tacit knowledge (Tobin 1997)

Organizations that dominate emergingtechnologies have a collective sense of identityand a shared understanding of what theystand for where they are going the kind ofworld they want to live in and how to makethat world a reality (Nonaka 1991)Companies with interactive learningenvironments develop ways to find sort usestore retrieve and link the growing number ofdata and information bases First they learnwhat local knowledge exists Second they putvaluable knowledge into wider circulation(Brown and Dugid 2000) Companies likeIBM and Xerox Corporation transformdatabases and information into useableformats that are readily shared and accessedThese databases are also used to create newknowledge To illustrate IBM consultantswho used knowledge sharing cut proposal-

312

The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplace

Elizabeth A Smith


Volume 5 Number 4 2001 311plusmn321

writing time from an average of 200 hours to30 hours (McCune 1999)

Knowledge managementKnowledge management a bottom-upongoing process finds value and use for rawinformation which is shared acrossorganizational boundaries (Bonner 2000b)This holistic organic process guides theorganizationrsquos development and exploitationof tangible assets and intangible knowledgeresources (McCune 1999) rsquorsquoKnowledgemanagement is a formal directed process ofdetermining what information a company hasthat could benefit others in the company andthen devising ways to making it easilyavailablersquorsquo (Liss 1999 p 1) Steps in thisprocess include how knowledge is capturedevaluated cleansed stored provided andused (Chait 1998)

At Xerox Corporation knowledgemanagement is 90 percent social process and10 percent infrastructure for instanceKnowledge management leverages and reusesthe organizationrsquos existing resources to helppeople seek out best practices not reinventthe wheel

A poll of over 1600 US managers revealedthat knowledge management includes fourareas managing tangible intellectual capitalsuch as copyrights patents licenses royaltiesetc gathering organizing and sharing thecompanyrsquos information and knowledge assetscreating work environments to share andtransfer knowledge among workers andleveraging knowledge from all stakeholders tobuild innovative corporate strategies (Wah1999a)

Different methods are used to codify andcreate personalized ways to manageknowledge Ernst amp Young and AndersenConsulting (now Accenture) use codificationto manage explicit knowledge For examplemany consultants use the knowledge assetslisted in a manual of procedures in a variety ofsituations or jobs Reusing knowledge savestime effort and cost (Hansen et al 1999)McKinsey amp Company and Bain amp Companyuse personalization to manage tacitknowledge For instance people use theiranalytic business problem and creative skillsto examine unique business problems skillsglean knowledge and then share this person-to-person knowledge (Hansen et al 1999)

Ways to manage codified and personalizedknowledge should support the organizationrsquos

competitive strategy consider how value iscreated for customers how employees delivervalue and the overall financial status of theorganization All knowledge databases shouldbe well organized accurate current and easyto search Unfortunately few organizationshandle explicit and tacit knowledge effectively(Bonner 2000b) Exceptions are learningorganizations that are skilled at creatingacquiring and transferring knowledge and atmodifying their behavior to reflect newknowledge and insights (Garvin 1993)Knowledge databases add value only whenemployees have direct access to knowledgerepositories and actually use them (Tobin1997) Cost speed and availability ofinformation technology tools play key roles inknowledge management

Creating and managing intellectual capital(Edvinsson and Malone 1997) rsquorsquoharnessingknowledgersquorsquo (Pascarella 1997) networkingknowledge (Tobin 1998) and managingprofessional intellect (Quinn et al 1996) arekeys to organizational success Despiteglobalization cultural diversity and keepingpace with the rsquorsquo trend of the dayrsquorsquo peopleacquire and apply tacit and explicitknowledge in their own way Efforts todiscover use and share professional intellectare more effective when people areconsistently recognized and rewarded fortheir understanding of the entire knowledgeprocess and for using their creativity andintuition at work Supportive managers and awork environment that nurtures knowledgemanagement are essential to success

Tacit and explicit knowledge

People possess slightly different types of tacitand explicit knowledge and apply theirknowledge in unique ways Individuals usedifferent perspectives to think about problemsand devise solutions They share knowledgeand group physical and intellectual assets innew and creative ways (Ashkenas et al1998) Comparing tacit and explicit types ofknowledge is a way to think not point outdifferences Table I summarizes basic waystacit knowledge and explicit knowledge areused in the workplace and groups majorconcepts underlying explicit and tacitknowledge into ten general categories

313


Elizabeth A Smith



Tacit knowledgeTacit knowledge is rsquorsquo being understoodwithout being openly expressedrsquorsquo (RandomHouse Dictionary of the English Language1971) or knowledge for which we do nothave words Tacit knowledge is automaticrequires little or no time or thought and helpsdetermine how organizations make decisionsand influence the collective behavior of theirmembers (Liebowitz and Beckman 1998)The philosopher Polanyi (1967) describedtacit knowledge as knowing more than we cantell or knowing how to do something withoutthinking about it like ride a bicycle Thishighly personal subjective form of knowledgeis usually informal and can be inferred fromthe statements of others (Sternberg 1997)Tacit knowledge tends to be local It is notfound in manuals books databases or files

Tacit knowledge is technical or cognitiveand is made up of mental models valuesbeliefs perceptions insights andassumptions Technical tacit knowledge isdemonstrated when people master a specificbody of knowledge or use skills like thosegradually developed by master craftsmen

Cognitive tacit knowledge incorporatesimplicit mental models and perceptions thatare so ingrained they are taken for granted(Sternberg 1997) Cognitive models affecthow we make sense of events in our worldPeople use metaphors analogiesdemonstrations and stories to convey theirtacit knowledge to others (Stewart 1997)Listeners can evaluate story content andactions and apply useful tacit knowledge totheir own jobs For instance employees ofDatafusion Inc an information-technologyproducts and consulting firm take photos atbusiness conferences and share these photoswith colleagues The stories employees writecontain notes and descriptions or explicitknowledge Stories about why thingshappened and how information could beapplied contain tacit knowledge Tacitknowledge as context is often easier toremember and talk about than explicitknowledge or content (Wah 1999b)

The value of tacit knowledge like customergood will is often underrated andunderutilized in the workplace Nearly two-thirds of work-related information that is

Table I Use of the explicit and tacit knowledge in the workplace

Explicit knowledge ndash academic knowledge or lsquolsquoknow-whatrsquorsquo that isdescribed in formal language print or electronic media often basedon established work processes use people-to-documents approach

Tacit knowledge ndash practical action-oriented knowledge or lsquolsquoknow-howrsquorsquo based on practice acquired by personal experienceseldom expressed openly often resembles intuition

Work process plusmn organized tasks routine orchestrated assumes a

predictable environment linear reuse codified knowledge create

knowledge objects

Work practice plusmn spontaneous improvised web-like responds to a

changing unpredictable environment channels individual expertise

creates knowledge

Learn plusmn on the job trial-and-error self-directed in areas of greatest

expertise meet work goals and objectives set by organization

Learn plusmn supervisor or team leader facilitates and reinforces openness and

trust to increase sharing of knowledge and business judgment

Teach plusmn trainer designed using syllabus uses formats selected by organization

based on goals and needs of the organization may be outsourced

Teach plusmn one-on-one mentor internships coach on-the-job training

apprenticeships competency based brainstorm people to people

Type of thinking plusmn logical based on facts use proven methods primarily

convergent thinking

Type of thinking plusmn creative flexible unchartered leads to divergent

thinking develop insights

Share knowledge plusmn extract knowledge from person code store and reuse

as needed for customers e-mail electronic discussions forums

Share knowledge plusmn altruistic sharing networking face-to-face contact

videoconferencing chatting storytelling personalize knowledge

Motivation plusmn often based on need to perform to meet specific goals Motivation plusmn inspire through leadership vision and frequent personal

contact with employees

Reward plusmn tied to business goals competitive within workplace compete

for scarce rewards may not be rewarded for information sharing

Reward plusmn incorporate intrinsic or non-monetary motivators and rewards

for sharing information directly recognize creativity and innovation

Relationships plusmn may be top-down from supervisor to subordinate or team

leader to team members

Relationships plusmn open friendly unstructured based on open spontaneous

sharing of knowledge

Technology plusmn related to job based on availability and cost invest heavily

in IT to develop professional library with hierarchy of databases using

existing knowledge

Technology plusmn tool to select personalized information facilitate

conversations exchange tacit knowledge invest moderately in the

framework of IT enable people to find one another

Evaluation plusmn based on tangible work accomplishments not necessarily

on creativity and knowledge sharing

Evaluation plusmn based on demonstrated performance ongoing spontaneous

evaluation

314


Elizabeth A Smith



gradually transformed into tacit knowledgecomes from face-to-face contacts like casualconversations stories mentoring internshipsand apprenticeships One-of-a-kindspontaneous creative conversations oftenoccur when people exchange ideas andpracticalities in a free and open environment

People who have technical tacit knowledgeare considered unconsciously skilled Theyknow something so well that they are unawareof what they need to do to be successful Toillustrate inexperienced managers use theirtacit knowledge common sense anddiplomacy to handle a difficult employeesuccessfully

Tacit knowledge is grouped according tocontent context and orientation Dependingon the person and the situation one or moretypes of tacit knowledge may be used indifferent contexts and orientations Contentknowledge is used to manage oneself othersor manage onersquos tasks Context is described interms of local and global Local involvesdoing the task at hand Global describes howthe current situation fits into the largerpicture Orientations are pragmatic and idealA pragmatic orientation is knowing howworkable an idea is without regard to its idealquality An ideal orientation stresses the idealquality of an idea or goal regardless of itspracticality like giving an employee negativefeedback in private not in public (Wagnerand Sternberg 1987)

McKinsey amp Company and Bain ampCompany use people-to-people methods topersonalize tacit knowledge and encourageand reward individual ownership ofknowledge and the process Tacit knowledgeis personalized when specific expertise is usedto provide creative analytically rigorousadvice on high-level strategic problems Thispersonalized tacit knowledge fits the companyculture customer needs and standardreporting methods Both companies builtworldwide networks of people who hadsuccessfully solved similar problems byenabling them all to work together to createrealistic solutions to the problems Networkswere connected so tacit knowledge could beshared face to face over the telephone bye-mail and through video conferences(Hansen et al 1999)

Explicit knowledgeMost explicit knowledge is technical oracademic data or information that is

described in formal language like manualsmathematical expressions copyright andpatents This rsquorsquoknow-whatrsquorsquo or systematicknowledge is readily communicated andshared through print electronic methods andother formal means Explicit knowledge istechnical and requires a level of academicknowledge or understanding that is gainedthrough formal education or structuredstudy Explicit knowledge is carefullycodified stored in a hierarchy of databasesand is accessed with high quality reliable fastinformation retrieval systems Once codifiedexplicit knowledge assets can be reused tosolve many similar types of problems orconnect people with valuable reusableknowledge Sharing processes often requiremajor monetary investments in theinfrastructure needed to support and fundinformation technology (Hansen et al 1999)Acts of gathering and using explicitknowledge assume a predictable relativelystable environment Marketplacecompetition changing customer needsamong other factors reduce stability

Examples 1 and 2 illustrate the use ofexplicit knowledge

Example 1 The 82000 worldwideemployees of Ernst amp Young are creatinga global brain of explicit knowledge toinclude cultural differences Theirrepository of global rsquorsquobest practicesrsquorsquo isfounded on sharing and documentingknowledge They approach businessissues from an array of perspectives Nomatter where in the world a problemoccurs there is rsquorsquono one right answerrsquorsquo butmany workable approaches Ernst ampYoung view knowledge objects astemplates of core insights that can beused in any cultural environment (Wah1999a)Example 2 Andersen Consulting (nowAccenture) created elaborate ways tocodify store and reuse explicitknowledge Its rsquorsquopeople-to-documentsrsquorsquoapproach extracts information from theperson who developed it and makes itindependent of its developer All client-sensitive information is removed andselected information is reusedInformation is transformed into a provensuccessful solution that can be used in thesame or similar industry (Hansen et al1999)

315


Elizabeth A Smith



Creating using and sharing tacit andexplicit knowledgeIsaacs (1999) believes that explicit knowledgecannot be converted to tacit knowledgeOpposing views are that tacit knowledgeskills unique talents and physicalaccomplishments can be converted to explicitknowledge and conversely throughobservation and verbal protocols Despite lackof agreement ways to codify and personalizeknowledge depend on how the companyserves its clients the economics of its businessand its workforce (Hansen et al 1999)

Each of the following patterns exists withina spiral of knowledge When patterns overlapthought processes people use to acquire anduse tacit knowledge alternate between two ormore patterns There are four basic patternsfor creating knowledge in organizations(Nonaka 1991)(1) From tacit to tacit shy learn by observing

imitating and practicing or becomersquorsquo socializedrsquorsquo into a specific way of doingthings like learn from mentors and peersKnowledge is not explicit in this stage

(2) From explicit to explicit shy combinesseparate pieces of explicit knowledge intoa new whole like using numerous datasources to write a financial report

(3) From tacit to explicit shy record discussionsdescriptions and innovations in a manualand then use the content to create a newproduct Converting tacit knowledge intoexplicit knowledge means finding a wayto express the inexpressible (Stewart1997) To illustrate moving from tacit toexplicit involves stating onersquos vision of theworld shy what it is and what it ought to be

(4) From explicit to tacit shy reframe or interpretexplicit knowledge using a personrsquos frameof reference so that knowledge can beunderstood and then internalized oraccepted by others A personrsquos uniquetacit knowledge can be applied in creativeways to broaden extend or reframe aspecific idea Tacit knowledge does notbecome part of a personrsquos knowledge baseuntil it is articulated and internalized

When tacit and explicit knowledge collide aburst of powerful energy appears in pattern 3or in pattern 4 or between patterns 3 and 4This magical process blends two different anddistant areas of experience into a singleinclusive symbol or image like rsquorsquo two ideas inone phrasersquorsquo For example Cannon applied

the technology of making disposablealuminium beer cans to the manufacturer of alow-cost disposable aluminium mini-copierdrum Canonrsquo s revolutionary breakthroughtechnology jump-started miniaturizationweight reduction and automated assemblyThese three processes were later applied tomicrofilm readers laser printers and wordprocessors (Nonaka 1991) In this exampleit was nearly impossible to know where andwhen tacit knowledge emerged or howknowledge was applied Like creativity tacitknowledge knows no direction or boundariesIt simply rsquorsquo isrsquorsquo

It is easier to transform explicit knowledgeinto tacit knowledge when people cooperatetrust each other and willingly contribute theirown valuable knowledge resourcesCooperation trust and sharing occur whenpeople who add to and use databases areappropriately recognized and rewarded forsharing their special form of knowledgeUnlike depletable resources knowledge assetsincrease with use provided databases aremaintained Outdated or inaccurate databasesused to create and access knowledge havelittle value

At Ernst amp Young incentives to stimulateknowledge sharing are used in performancereviews Employees who spend a lot of timehelping each other and adding to thecorporate knowledge base are openlyrewarded and recognized (Wah 1999b)Employees are evaluated on their workcontributions and on how well they use thefirmrsquo s knowledge resources Bain amp Companyrewards people for sharing knowledge withothers based on how much direct help theygive colleagues The degree of high-qualityperson-to-person dialogue a partner has withothers can represent as much as one-quarterof his or her annual salary (Hansen et al1999)

Examples 1 2 and 3 show how tacitknowledge is used and shared

Example 1 Merrill Lynch fosters andrewards cooperation and informationsharing and leverages knowledge byencouraging overlapping teams to shareinterests and values All employeessubmit a confidential evaluation ofeveryone with whom they have workedclosely Compensation is attached to thenetwork of peer relationship and isdirectly tied to cooperation and sharing ofknowledge Employees are also evaluated

316


Elizabeth A Smith



on how well they immerse themselves invarious projects work with differentgroups to meet priorities and meetclientsrsquo needs When there are enoughclose personal team contacts it is possibleto draw a truly multifaceted picture of anindividualrsquos performance Each MerrillLynch spider web of connecting networksis unique in its purpose pattern andorganizational power relationships(Quinn et al 1996)Example 2 In 1996 Xerox designedEureka a rsquorsquo social tactical systemrsquorsquo to link25000 field service representatives withlaptops and the Internet Xerox used acommon documentation method tofacilitate lateral communicationTechnicians write up rsquorsquowar storiesrsquorsquo toteach each other how to diagnose and fixmachines Service reps access over 5000tips a month for a 5 percent saving onboth parts and labor Field service repscreate and maintain the tacit knowledgebase by contributing and renewing all thetips and information and maintaining thesystem Each time reps contribute a tiptheir name goes on the system (Wah1999a)Example 3 Andersen Worldwide sharesIts explicit knowledge through ANetThis electronic system links its 82000people operating in 360 offices in 76countries Andersenrsquos Tl and frame-relaynetwork connects more than 85 percentof its professionals through data voiceand video interlinks Customersrsquoproblems from anywhere in the world areposted on Andersenrsquos electronic bulletinboard This request is followed up onwith visual and data contacts thatinstantly self-organize around thatspecific problem Centrally collected andcarefully indexed subjects customerreferences and resource files are accesseddirectly through ANet or fromCD-ROMS distributed to all offices Setsof possible solutions are created and sentto customers (Quinn et al 1996)

At Merrill Lynch Xerox and AndersenWorldwide work was done in an interactivelearning environment Employees wereencouraged to transfer knowledge acrossdisciplines Use of overlapping teams helpedensure continuity of control joint learningand information sharing In general teams

that internalize information and knowledgeare well equipped to solve problems

Every organization has a slightly differentknowledge base and organizational cultureTransferring useful information betweenorganizations is costly in terms of time andeffort and strains existing technologyOrganizations need to develop fair andequitable reward systems to encourageemployees to share tacit and explicitknowledge Unless management clearly statesexpectations for sharing knowledgeemployees are likely to share only explicitknowledge because it is easier to codedocument and transfer Employees must beencouraged and rewarded for sharing tacitknowledge when they write up their personalstories document their insights and usephotos drawings or rough diagrams to showhow to solve a difficult problem or improveexisting work processes

Technology plays a key role in collectingand codifying knowledge for distribution It isimportant to have a strong informationtechnology (IT) framework to design andimplement the systematic storage anddissemination of information IT is anenabler but by itself will not get anything outof someonersquos head (Wah 1999a) IT does notprovide content People do Before selectingthe management technology that is assumedto be needed it is vital to find out what willwork best for the organization Majorvariables to consider in the selection oftechnology are functional fit technical fitcost and cultural fit (Ettore 1999) Culturalfit which influences communication flow andopenness for sharing knowledge may be themost important factor in all personalinformation exchanges

Acquiring teaching and measuring tacitknowledgeTacit knowledge is acquired taught andshared through knowledge fairs learningcommunities study missions tours advisoryboards job rotation stories myths and taskforces Ways to teach both tacit knowledgeand formal academic knowledge or job skillsare similar Experienced people teach tacitknowledge directly to less experienced peopleby rsquorsquo showing them the ropesrsquorsquo Tacitknowledge is taught indirectly by writingdown answers to these questions(1) What do you know about your strengths

weaknesses values and ambitions

317


Elizabeth A Smith



(2) What are the strengths weakness valuesand ambitions of others with whom youwork

(3) How would you approach a similar jobdifferently in the future

People can be trained to use this newlyacquired information to improve their abilityto acquire and apply tacit knowledge It is alsoimportant to locate the most valued people inthe organization and determine why they areso highly valued

The following methods are used to acquireand teach tacit knowledge Methods may beused individually or combined to help makesense of new situations and re-evaluate oldsituations (Wagner and Sternberg 1987)

Selective encoding Select or filter relevantor needed information from theenvironment like use specificinformation in a clientrsquos reportSelective combination Combine specificinformation together in ways that arerelevant Show how facts form a patternor how the separate parts make acomplete wholeSelective comparison See relationshipsbetween old and new facts or separate outsimilarities and differences between pastand present Compare previously knowninformation with new information orapply existing knowledge in ways thatcreate new knowledge

Sternbergrsquos (1991) Tacit Knowledge Inventoryfor Managers assesses the level of tacitknowledge related to managing self tasks andother people Nine different work-relatedsituations or scenarios are used to assessmanagerial performance in decision makingsupervision and general use of rsquorsquo streetsmartsrsquorsquo The effectiveness of the responsealternatives is evaluated by comparing anindividualrsquos responses with those of expertgroups of managers Sternberg (1997) founda significant positive correlation betweenmeasures of tacit knowledge and jobperformance for lower middle and upperlevels of management

rsquorsquoCommunities of practicersquorsquo capture andshare knowledge and complement existingorganizational structures by galvanizingknowledge sharing learning and changeThese communities originated in classicalGreece as rsquorsquocorporationsrsquorsquo of metalworkersmasons and other craftsmen During theMiddle Ages these communities gradually

evolved into guilds that maintained standardsto protect the interests of their membersHistorically communities of practice aremade up of groups that are informally boundtogether by shared expertise and a passion fora joint enterprise They are dedicated to aproblem or mission These informal groups ofpeople from all levels and functions in theorganization meet regularly either in personor through e-mail networks (Wenger andSnyder 2000) Membership is self-selectedas those who join know if they have somethingto give Groups work outside the traditionalorganizational structure and are virtuallyimmune to management Members of variouscommunities of practice guide and inspireongoing work in the organization or functionin the rsquorsquowhite spacesrsquorsquo of organizational charts

Over time members of these communitiesdevelop group knowledge and generate assetsby transferring knowledge and stimulatinginnovation (Pascarella 1997) For instancein 1999 the World Bank had over 100communities of practice around the worldThese communities are in the process ofconnecting with each other to improve thequality of their knowledge base The vision ofthe World Bank is to share knowledge aboutdevelopment so that all interested people canuse the Internet to access information (Wah1999a)

Similarly communities of interest at Xeroxconsist of groups of people scattered throughthe company They do not meet formally butwork together on any given project Groupmembers either share specific knowledge orhave a common interest in a process or someparticular activity related to a productMembers of communities of interest buildknowledge for the company and themselvesthrough informal communication and contact(Tobin 1997)

Balance the use of explicit and tacitknowledgeHistorically tension exists between processand practice Process represents explicitknowledge or how knowledge is organizedPractice represents tacit knowledge or the waywork is really done The gradual shift from astandard linear process like re-engineering tonon-linear web-like applications of knowledgemanagement has created tension that isdifficult to reduce Companies that dealsuccessfully with this tension use the varioustypes of tacit and explicit knowledge to their

318


Elizabeth A Smith



advantage For instance they usually use tacitknowledge to foster creativity and innovationand use explicit knowledge to make the workenvironment predictable and guide the waytasks are organized (Brown and Dugid 2000)

Xerox representatives transformed explicitknowledge into tacit knowledge by reducingthe gap between what they were supposed todo as explained in technical terms in manualsand what they really did Actual workpractices customer service representatives useto fix Xerox machines succeed because repsdepart from formal processes and apply theirtacit knowledge While eating and gossipingreps talk about work they ask each otherquestions offer solutions laugh at mistakesand discuss changes in their work themachines and customer relations Reps tellstories and keep each other current on whatthey know what they learned and what theyare doing During this socialization processreps develop a collective pool of practical ortacit knowledge that any or all can draw uponIn turn reps also contribute their uniquestrengths and talents that other reps can useand improve on This collective knowledgepool transcends the knowledge of anyindividual member and the corporationrsquosdocumentation (Brown and Dugid 2000)Telling about successful knowledge-sharingefforts often helps people understandcomplicated ideas in an accessible andintelligent way (Wah 1999b)

Each organization has its unique way tohandle explicit and tacit knowledge Manycontrollable and uncontrollable factors affectthe time effort and money devoted to thepursuit of tacit and explicit knowledgeVariables like where organizations are in theirlife cycle type of business core competencesleadership culture infrastructure andmarketplace competition affect how tacit andexplicit knowledge are used

Conclusions

Organizations that recognize and use theiremployeesrsquo steadily growing wealth of tacitand explicit knowledge to solve problems andachieve goals have a major competitiveadvantage However many organizationsneed to improve how they acquire and sharetacit and explicit knowledge Supportiveinteractive learning environments built ontrust openness and collective ownership

definitely encourage knowledge acquisitionand sharing New knowledge is created whenpeople transfer and share what they knowinternalize it and apply what they learned(Wah 1999a) The value and worth ofindividual group and corporate intellectualassets grow exponentially when shared andincrease in value with use Human inertia isthe biggest obstacle to knowledge-management efforts (Wah 1999b)

Major concepts underlying the entirespectrum of knowledge like knowledgesharing and open communication should betied to corporate financial variablesMonetary and non-monetary (intrinsicmotivators) should be used to rewardedpeople for their abilities to recognize storeand share knowledge Monetary motivatorsare bonuses and percentages of corporateprofits Intrinsic motivators are non-financialrewards like peer recognition andopportunities to do challenging workUltimate judges of success are supervisorsteam members partners shareholders andmany others in the value chain

Vital tacit knowledge vanishes whencompanies reorganize merge or downsizeThe need for training in knowledge-basedareas is endless However people welcomeopportunities to teach others how to acquireand transform data and explicit informationinto tacit knowledge rsquorsquoLearnersrsquorsquo andrsquorsquo teachersrsquorsquo report that their most rewardingand meaningful learning experiences are oneon one These learner-centered ways to sharetacit knowledge are examples of intrinsic orself-motivators (Smith 1995 2000) Thestrong desire many people have to use andshare their tacit knowledge will furtherincrease the momentum and direction of theknowledge revolution

Practical applications

This section describes and illustrates howtacit and explicit knowledge can be used tofurther professional and organizational goalsand enhance the overall performance oforganizations

Instill a corporate-wide culture that weavesknowledge into every business process Forinstance the World Bank leverages globalknowledge sharing to attain its goal ofbecoming a clearinghouse for expertise onsustainable development (Wah 1999a)

319


Elizabeth A Smith



The World Bank spends 4 percent of itsadministrative budget on knowledgemanagement and is spending over $50million to build a global knowledge-management system (Isaacs 1999)Encourage knowledge sharing by locatingpeople who normally work together closeto each other Knowledge sharing an all-hands contribution is also the pooledexpertise and efforts of alliances andnetworks It is very important to haveonsite locations where people can connectwith others through briefings and readingbulletin boards Creating expensivehardware and software to shareknowledge works only when people talkto one another regularly at worknetwork serve on task forces or attendconferences and knowledge fairs Anorganization is what is knows What itknows is what it gets from its learning(Bonner 2000a)Implement communities of practice thatinformally bind together people whoshare expertise passion for jointenterprises and a common interest inknowledge sharing These efforts willenhance learning and encourage therecognition use and spread of tacit andexplicit knowledgeEncourage people to visualize a self-organizing network of overlappingelectronic spiderrsquos webs as intellectualwebs of knowledge that exist in actual andvirtual organizations Spiderrsquos webconnections bring people together andenable them to share knowledge Onceconnections are made a spiderrsquos web canbe disbanded just as fast as it was formed(Quinn et al 1996) Each knowledgenetwork shares different purposes andpatterns and uses its power relations invarious waysEngage in a human-talent exchange thatlets people rent their talents to differentcompanies rather than work for any onecompany rsquorsquoClick-and-gorsquorsquo organizationalstructures that link their human capital toworld-wide structural capital tap into thehighest level of human potential (Wah1999b) Quinn et al (1996) consider thislevel self-motivated creativity or rsquorsquocarewhyrsquorsquo something happenedUse extraordinary recruitment methodsto attract hire and retain the rsquorsquo bestrsquorsquopeople Provide pleasant supportive work

environments and intrinsic motivationalincentives that appeal to a personrsquos senseof belonging and friendship (Thomas2000) Encourage and support trainingand interactive learning that occurthrough work experiences and give-and-take communication with fellowpractitioners (Wah 1999b) People canbe trained to use tacit knowledge anddevelop their creative talents (Smith1998)Change performance measurement andreward systems by implementingequitable recognition and rewardprocesses built on trust and commitmentAn organizational culture that supportspeoplersquos needs for self-fulfillment alsoincreases their level of trust Different setsof cultural norms that are supported bysoftware and by performancemeasurement and reward systems can bedesigned to fit the organizationrsquos cultureor sub-culture (Quinn et al l996)Encourage people to collaborate as equalsand share their precious knowledge assetswith others At Ernst amp Young sharingknowledge is part of an employeersquosperformance review and has a majorimpact on salary McKinsey amp Companyencourages the flow of knowledge andexperience its consultants acquire fromtheir clients and researchers (Pascarella1997) Some organizations award specialtitles to employees who actively transferknowledge Ultimately sharingknowledge impacts efficiency andproductivity in positive waysEnable people to use tacit and explicitknowledge and technology as tools toleverage their own professional andpersonal intellect Help them feel secureabout admitting there is something theydo not know Get them to ask meaningfulquestions evaluate useful answers andthen make informed decisions Useknowledge guardians to constantly probethe unknown and encourage people tobounce their concerns off project teamsto generate new ideas (Wah 1999b)Train people in methods like rsquorsquoknowledgenavigationrsquorsquo Skandia uses this techniquein its Future Center to help employeesand visitors from other organizationsexperiment and develop prototypes ofhow tomorrowrsquos innovative knowledgeorganizations will work (Wah 1999b)

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Take ownership of knowledge tomaintain expertise and speed up theapplication of new ideas (Wah 1999a)Let knowledge workers take greatercontrol over their work to enable them toget more uninterrupted private thinkingtime Provide pleasant stimulatingworkplaces to create gather and shareinformationUse peer-to-peer networks to developglobal mind-sets and build their ownglobal brains (Dutton 1999) A globalbrain combines local expertise fromvarious geographical areas around theworld with the insights of local managersTacit knowledge from peer-to-peernetworks can use methods like Napster tobypass central exchanges to enablecomputers to talk to one another asequals (McAfee 2000)

References

Ashkenas R Ulrich D Jick T and Kerr S (1998)The Boundaryless Organization Jossey-BassSan Francisco CA

Bonner D (2000a) ` Knowledge from theory to practiceto golden opportunityrsquorsquo American Society forTraining amp Development September-Octoberpp 12-13

Bonner D (2000b) ` The knowledge managementchallenge new roles and responsibilities for chiefknowledge officers and chief learning officersrsquorsquo inPhillips JJ and Bonner D (Eds) LeadingKnowledge Management and Learning AmericanSociety for Training amp Development Alexandria VApp 3-19

Brown JS and Dugid P (2000) ` Balancing act how tocapture knowledge without killing itrsquorsquo HarvardBusiness Review May-June pp 73-4 76 78-80

Chait L (1998) ` Creating a successful knowledgemanagement systemrsquorsquo Prism second quarter

Dutton G (1999) ` Building a global brainrsquorsquo ManagementReview May pp 34-8

Edvinsson L and Malone MS (1997) Intellectual CapitalHarperCollins Publishers New York NY May p 8

Ettore B (1999) ` Knowledge managementrsquorsquoManagement Review p 8

Garvin DA (1993) ` Building a knowledge organizationrsquorsquoHarvard Business Review July-August pp 78-91

Garvin DA (1997) ` A note on knowledge managementcreating a system to manage knowledgersquorsquo HarvardBusiness Review Reprint Collection pp 55-74

Goffee R and Jones G (2000) ` Why should anyone beled by yoursquorsquo Harvard Business Review September-October pp 62-70

Hansen MT Nohria N and Tierney T (1999) ` Whatrsquosyour strategy for managing knowledgersquorsquo HarvardBusiness Review March-April pp 106-16

Isaacs W (1999) Dialog and the Art of ThinkingTogether CurrencyDoubleday New York NY

Lee J (2000) ` Knowledge management the intellectual

revolutionrsquorsquo IIE Solutions October pp 34-7Leibowitz J and Beckman T (1998) Knowledge

Organizations What Every Manager Should Know

CRC Press Boca Raton FLLiss K (1999) ` Do we know how to do that

Understanding knowledge managementrsquorsquo Harvard

Management Update February pp 1-4McAfee A (2000) ` The napsterizing of B2Brsquorsquo Harvard

Business Review November-December pp 18-19McCune JC (1999) ` Thirst for knowledgersquorsquo

Management Review April pp 10-12Nonaka I (1991) ` The knowledge-creating companyrsquorsquo

Harvard Business Review November-December

pp 96-104OrsquoDell C and Grayson CJ Jr (1998) If Only We Knew

What We Know The Free Press New York NYPascarella P (1997) ` Harnessing knowledgersquorsquo

Management Review October pp 37-40Polanyi M (1967) The Tacit Dimension Doubleday

New York NYQuinn JB Anderson T and Finkelstein S (1996)

` Managing professional intellect making the most

of the bestrsquorsquo Harvard Business Review MarchApril

pp 71-80Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1971)

Random House New York NYSmith EA (1995) Creating Productive Organizations

Developing Your Work Force St Lucie Press

Boca Raton FLSmith EA (1998) ` The role of creativity in motivation

and productivityrsquorsquo Sumanth DJ Werther WB and

Edosomwan JA (Eds) Proceedings Seventh

International Conference on Productivity and

Quality Research Engineering amp Management

Press Institute of Industrial Engineers Norgross

GA pp 11-23Smith EA (2000) ` Applying knowledge-enabling

methods in the classroom and in the workplacersquorsquo

Journal of Workplace Learning Vol 12 No 6

pp 236-44Sternberg RJ (1991) Tacit Knowledge Inventory for

Managers The Psychological Corporation

San Antonio TXSternberg RJ (1997) Successful Intelligence

Penguin Putnam New York NYStewart TA (1997) Intellectual Capital Currency

Doubleday New York NYThomas KW (2000) Intrinsic Motivation at Work

Berrett-Koehler Publishers San Francisco CATobin DR (1997) The Knowledge-enabled Organization

AMACOM New York NYTobin DR (1998) ` Networking your knowledgersquorsquo

Management Review April pp 46-8Wagner RK and Sternberg RJ (1987) ` Tacit knowledge

in managerial successrsquorsquo Journal of Business and

Psychology pp 303-12Wah L (1999a) ` Behind the buzzrsquorsquo Management Review

April pp 17-26Wah L (1999b) ` Making knowledge stickrsquorsquo Management

Review May pp 24-9Wegner EC and Snyder WM (2000) ` Communities of

practice the organizational frontierrsquorsquo Harvard

Business Review January-February pp 139-45

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leveraging the overall quality of knowledge(Quinn et al 1996 Wah 1999a Goffee andJones 2000)

PurposeThis paper summarizes key factors inknowledge knowledge-creating companiesand knowledge management Majorcontributions of tacit and explicit knowledgeand ways to recognize use share acquireteach and measure tacit and explicitknowledge are discussed and illustratedMethods to balance the use of tacit andexplicit knowledge in the workplace andpractical proven ways to improve theunderstanding and use of knowledge arepresented

Knowledge knowledge-creatingcompanies and knowledge management

Employees seldom admit what they do anddonrsquo t know The book If Only We Knew WhatWe Know aptly conveys the need to find outand record what people really know (OrsquoDelland Grayson 1998) The exchange flow anduse of knowledge are increased when peoplecapture and apply what they really knowEach step in the entire knowledge-management effort will be at risk unlessorganizations recognize nourish andappropriately reward the contribution flowand application of knowledge Supportivework environments and user-friendly cost-effective technology are key enablers for thisentire process

KnowledgeKnowledge belongs to the family of steadilyincreasing corporate assets like managementsystems brand identity customerinformation and corporate reputation(Pascarella 1997) Knowledge is a humanhighly personal asset and represents thepooled expertise and efforts of networks andalliances Reportedly 99 percent of the workpeople do is knowledge based (Wah 1999b)Knowledge seems invisible but it clearlydrives the bottom line (Pascarella 1997) Thevalue of knowledge is increased when it has akey purpose and focuses on mission corevalues and strategic priorities Knowledgeassets like money or equipment exist and areworth cultivating only in the context of thestrategy used to apply them (Stewart 1997)

When organizations merge downsizereorganize or organizational culture changespriceless knowledge is lost or buried undernew information Employees who leave taketheir valuable knowledge resources skills andexperiences with them Those who stay maybe assigned new jobs and never use theirwealth of accumulated knowledge Unlessmanagers recognize the improvisations andinventive ways people get things done tacitknowledge in particular will be lost

Knowledge-creating companiesKnowledge-creating concepts begin life asdata Transformating data to information toknowledge to wisdom helps shape effectivestrategies to manage knowledge and createnew markets to serve customers (Garvin1997 Stewart 1997 Tobin 1997 Hansenet al 1999 Wah 1999a) Most data arenumeric basic information or observations ofwork activities that can be quantifiedInformation is data that have relevancepurpose and context like units ofmeasurement Information has little valueuntil it is given meaning or used on the joblike raising levels of competence (Pascarella1997) Human intervention is usually neededto interpret and extract various types of usefulinformation (Lee 2000) rsquorsquoData-miningrsquorsquosoftware and people skilled at seeing patternsof responses play prime roles in these intricateprocesses The ultimate challenge is to movebeyond knowledge to wisdom or intuitionbased on experience Wisdom closelyresembles tacit knowledge (Tobin 1997)

Organizations that dominate emergingtechnologies have a collective sense of identityand a shared understanding of what theystand for where they are going the kind ofworld they want to live in and how to makethat world a reality (Nonaka 1991)Companies with interactive learningenvironments develop ways to find sort usestore retrieve and link the growing number ofdata and information bases First they learnwhat local knowledge exists Second they putvaluable knowledge into wider circulation(Brown and Dugid 2000) Companies likeIBM and Xerox Corporation transformdatabases and information into useableformats that are readily shared and accessedThese databases are also used to create newknowledge To illustrate IBM consultantswho used knowledge sharing cut proposal-

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knowledge objects



creates knowledge










convergent thinking



















existing knowledge







evaluation

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References























































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knowledge objects



creates knowledge










convergent thinking



















existing knowledge







evaluation

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Conclusions








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knowledge objects



creates knowledge










convergent thinking



















existing knowledge







evaluation

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Documents

The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplacegmswan3/575/KM_roles.pdf · The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in ... 311 Journal of Knowledge ... The role of tacit