Tacit Knowledge Management Within Hospitality Establishments: Revealing the Body of the Iceberg

Tacit knowledge is a concept developed in connection with knowledge management research field. It is acknowledged as the cornerstone of competitive advantage; however, merely its possession does not guarantee an edge in fierce competition. Even though tacit knowledge holds a dominative role towards labor efficiency, productivity and innovation, the subject of tacit knowledge acquisition and transfer has been rather unexploited, mostly due to its intrinsic, highly personal and seamlessly bonded to holder's personality, attributes. The purpose of the article is to contribute to the exploitation of the embedded tacit knowledge of employees in hospitality establishments, a sector where the employment of tacit knowledge has to be extensive and foremost, capitalizing the maximum of personnel competences. Moreover, the paper correlates tacit knowledge acquisition and transfer, with behaviors stemming from a working environment where task assignment is adjusted to employees personal characteristics. Towards this goal, research hypotheses were built and tested, using SEM Methodology.