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It's tacit knowledge but not as we know it: redirecting the search for knowledge

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  • N A D Connell

    (School of Management, University of Southampton)

  • J H Klein

    (School of Management, University of Southampton)

  • P L Powell

    (Centre for Information Management, School of Management, University of Bath)

Abstract

A central issue in the knowledge management literature is the definition of the nature of knowledge, and particularly the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. This paper reviews some of the common standpoints on this issue, but argues that, within an organisational context, a useful alternative view is one in which knowledge is viewed as a systemic property of the organisational system to which it belongs. Thus, attempts to codify knowledge, and position it on a tacit-explicit continuum, are sometimes misplaced. Instead, this paper advocates approaches that view knowledge as a holistic system property. The paper considers the practical implication of this stance, from the perspective of knowledge transfer between individuals and between organisations, and investigates the potential that this stance offers OR practitioners.

Suggested Citation

  • N A D Connell & J H Klein & P L Powell, 2003. "It's tacit knowledge but not as we know it: redirecting the search for knowledge," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 54(2), pages 140-152, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:54:y:2003:i:2:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2601444
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601444
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fascia, Michael, 2019. "The role of religious experience in the knowledge transfer process," OSF Preprints bm7s3, Center for Open Science.
    2. P Keys, 2006. "On becoming expert in the use of problem structuring methods," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(7), pages 822-829, July.
    3. Polyxeni Nicolopoulou-Stamati & Ioannis Matiatos & Chrysanthi Kotampasi & Panagiotis Stamatis & Annie Sasco & Evaggelia Protopapa & Luc Hens, 2015. "Training in environmental health necessitates tacit knowledge," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 299-314, April.
    4. Marina SOLESVIK, 2018. "The Rise and Fall of the Resource-Based View: Paradigm Shift in Strategic Management Elite Theory and Development of the Methodology for Researching Economic Well-Being in Mass Society," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 19(4), pages 5-18, August.
    5. Elizabeta Susaj & Enkelejda Kucaj & Erald Laçi & Lush Susaj, 2017. "Environmental Impacts Assessment of Chromium Minings in Bulqiza Area, Albania," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 3, ejis_v3_i.

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