Waves of Knowledge Management: The Flow between Explicit and Tacit Knowledge

Abstract

Problem statement: Knowledge Management (KM) is often equated with content management. Indeed, robust knowledge management processes include a database; but, information becomes knowledge when it is understood, manipulated and can become tied to a purpose or idea. By equating KM with content management and by equating the purpose of KM with predictability and control, companies may inadvertently de-emphasize knowledge creation and transfer. To keep pace with global market dynamics, an explicit focus on the creation and transference of new knowledge and transferring has to be encouraged. Companies that are able to foster new knowledge creation and transference alongside the more traditional view of KM are able to strike a balance between effectiveness and efficiency and between innovation and productivity. But, how do companies foster knowledge creation and, further, how do they transfer such knowledge? Approach: The purpose of this study was to explore the various connections between knowledge transfer focusing on explicit and tacit knowledge. Results: The research argued and resulted impacting the discipline of Knowledge Transfer (KT). The discipline’s main ideas and their directions and limitations were examined. Conclusion: Additionally, the researchers proposed a knowledge transfer model which diagrams the transfer flow between explicit and tacit knowledge. The authors put forth a new direction of exploration in the transference of explicit and tacit knowledge-the knowledge transfer flow model.