Tacit Knowledge Transfer In Dynamic Global Organizations: A Case Study At A Multinational Company

The rate of change for organizations has accelerated over the last fifteen years fuelled primarily by the internet revolution. Knowledge is now an indispensable economic factor of the globalized free trade era. To maintain sustainable competitive advantage, organizations are faced with the challenge of retaining and growing intellectual capital to contend with the dynamic forces of globalization. Organizations are maintaining flexible workforces although they serve to erode loyalties between employees and employees. The availability and effective transfer of tacit knowledge is fundamental to the survival, growth and ultimate capacity of an organization to maintain its competitive advantage, exploit current available resources to the maximum, increase internal efficiencies while creatively exploring opportunities with new knowledge. This study stresses the importance for organizations to focus on the exploitation of tacit knowledge by equipping their staff, a key knowledge asset, with sufficient competencies to create relevant frameworks specific to their environment. In doing so, staff would identify initiatives, harness, develop, coach and nurture the organization to redefine its business case and maintain its competitive edge. The study findings revealed that global organizations can achieve sustainable competitive advantage by nurturing a knowledge management system for tacit knowledge capture and new knowledge generation. The success of this is dependent on knowledge management being incorporated in the organizational management process with knowledge management training and development being a key component of organizational culture. On the basis of the findings, the study offers recommendations pertaining to policy and professional practice.