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

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 alt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of the Operational Research Society Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 140 - 152
Main Authors Connell, N A D, Klein, J H, Powell, P L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Taylor & Francis 01.02.2003
Palgrave Macmillan Press
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
cybernetic modelling
Cybernetics
Explicit knowledge
General Papers
Information management
Information storage and retrieval systems
Intellectual capital
Knowledge
Knowledge management
Learning
Memory
Operations research
Permeability
Search redirection
soft OR
Studies
systemic modelling
Tacit knowledge
Taxonomy
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0160-5682
1476-9360
DOI:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601444