Knowledge Management

Delving into tacit knowledge flows requires at least a cursory understanding of its parent discipline, namely Knowledge Management (KM). In turn, discussion of KM is not possible without briefly discussing knowledge and more specifically organisational knowledge. Knowledge Management is a discipline that is quite recent, having been exposed largely in the 1990s. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of KM is that no one true definition, rather like with tacit knowledge, exists. If one were pressed to define KM, it would be the process whereby an organisation has in place plans or actions to maximise its knowledge assets both codified and soft to its best advantage. At this stage, let us examine the issues regarding this discipline and later examine how they relate to tacit knowledge management specifically. Concepts of knowledge relating specifically to tacit knowledge are discussed in much greater detail in the following chapter.

Medium Company (Z)

Company Z represents a microcosm of Company X. Whereas the previous firm was a small consultancy organisation, Z on the other hand is essentially a smaller version of X, for Z exists to support the mission of the organisation (selling furniture), rather than ICT being an end in itself as with Company Y. Organisation Z has a strong CIO who participates in most cliques and is considered by his peers to be an “expert.” Almost all staff members meet one another on a daily basis, if not weekly, at the same time there seem to be few staff avoiding one another. There are few contract staff members that present the risk of taking tacit knowledge with them. Electronic forms of communication exist but are minimal, which is not surprising given the small IT staff complement.

Small Company (Y)

In many ways, the dynamics of this smaller company is diametrically opposed to that of the previous one. Its mission one may recall was different, it was an IS management consultancy with a staff base that was senior (40s/50s) in age with relatively long years of IT experience. Although the sample population was very small (7), it was essentially a small firm with basically a mono-cultural (Anglo-Celtic) staff mix. Coupling these basic parameters with a physical layout that represents only one floor of a building, punctuated perhaps by a couple offices there is clearly a very different organisational structure. Organisation Y provides an opportunity to examine likely knowledge flows in a small entrepreneurial or professional firm.

Large Company (X)

In many ways the quote from Pfeffer (1992) illustrates the importance of tacit knowledge communication; or rather what takes place if the communication breaks down. This chapter deals with communication flows between personnel in the first of three organisations. An understanding of tacit knowledge patterns was gained in the previous chapter. It was noted that experts do in fact produce different responses generally speaking from that of the novices and that there existed a group of staff whose results made them effectively “expert” non-experts (ENEs). There existed in effect a certain street-smarted-ness to varying degrees amongst the IT staff studied in the three organisations. Through modelling the relationship patterns of individuals one is able to determine the consequences of knowledge flowing from one individual to the next. Implicit within this assumption is that those within a clique of higher tacit knowledge savvy individuals are more likely to benefit by gaining access to soft knowledge. Conversely those not within expert-rich cliques are likely to be disadvantaged by their lack of access to scarce knowledge related resources.

Testing for Tacit Knowledge

It is acknowledged that there exists a need for organisationally-based tacit knowledge research. Perhaps the major hurdle to undertaking any form of tacit knowledge testing however, is attempting to gain data that for all intents and purposes is not strictly speaking codified, even if aspects of it may be articulable (Dampney, Busch, & Richards, 2002). Given the often ethereal nature of tacit knowledge, testing must be based upon sound definitions. The definition arrived at for this study was that of “articulable implicit IT managerial knowledge,” which fits within Fleck’s (1997) designation of “informal knowledge.” What follows in this chapter is a discussion on the current research issues relating to testing for tacit knowledge.

Social Network Analysis

If one seeks to measure (knowledge) flows amongst individuals, then the means of doing so are limited. Observation is one technique but is hindered by certain constraints. The first constraint is that the researcher cannot always place him or herself in the organisation for political or managerial reasons, especially if management is concerned that the work being conducted is confidential or “cutting edge” in nature. Secondly, people are known to modify their behaviour if being observed. Finally even if permission were to be given to observe workers and staff supposedly did not modify their behaviour, the nature of ICT work is largely desk or meeting-bound such that observation is not likely to reveal what it might in say occupations that were more “physical” or active in character. To that end, Social Network Analysis becomes a serious contender in seeking to examine knowledge flows between staff based on the relationships they have with one another.

Methodology

There is more than reasonable support for the idea that the conduct of tacit knowledge related research is best commenced from a qualitative perspective (Stenmark, 2000/2001; 2000). The atypical nature of tacit knowledge does not lend itself easily to controlled experiments, whilst the knowledge itself is very much grounded within the organisation and the interactions personnel have with one another. To begin with a set of hypotheses and then seek to disprove these would arguably limit the researcher from the outset. Although both interpretivistic and positivistic research approaches have their advantages, it was felt that a positivistic approach would be more desirable because this would enable the author to broadly follow in the footsteps, though not necessarily precisely replicate, the work conducted by Sternberg’s group at Yale University. As psychologists utilising questionnaires with a statistical interpretation to their results, Sternberg’s group is firmly grounded in a positivistic epistemology. Nevertheless, as Chapter 4 has revealed and as other authors (Cutcliffe, 2000; Partington, 2000) have noted, there is strength in combining both epistemological approaches to a greater or lesser degree. Finally, the methodology adopted did not in any way intend at the start to adopt a critical social science perspective. That is to say, the initial intent of the researcher was not necessarily to force change in the organisation (Neuman, 1997), although recommendations in the concluding chapters of the book may lead to action being taken.

Introduction

At the dawn of a new century, the principal assets of many (perhaps most) corporations are now held in the intangible form of intellectual capital. The primary market value of Microsoft, for example, lies not in its buildings, equipment, or receivables, but instead in the smarts of its people, software development capacity, patents, copyrights, and trademarks (Housel & Bell, 2001 p. xi).

Discussion

One must, after reading the above two quotes, make up one’s own mind as to the composition of tacit knowledge, for it seems Cavusgil et al., (2003) are certainly not discussing the same tacit knowledge as von Krogh et al. (2000). The tacit knowledge studied herein is more akin to that discussed by the latter set of authors, that is to say a form of knowledge that is passed through what Nonaka and colleagues have labelled socialisation in intimate person to person settings. In time the organisation builds up a stock of such soft knowledge, which is lost when staff leave and not replaced again either until further skilled staff arrive, or the ones remaining acquire it through experience over time. Whilst earlier work in this empirical study examined the phenomenon of tacit knowledge in depth (including a multitude of definitions as revealed in Appendix A), what was ultimately settled upon for the empirical research in this study was that of articulable implicit managerial IT knowledge.

Results with Formal Concept Analysis

Chapter V provided some introduction to formal concept analysis through the visualization of biographical results from the tacit knowledge questionnaire. The attention now turns to the strength of using FCA by examining the tacit knowledge inventory results which are one of the two major underpinnings of this work. To remind the reader, FCA had its beginnings at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, and was the work of Professor Rudolf Wille. Formal Concept Analysis is a means of illustrating via a lattice like structure all sorts of information in virtually any discipline. The lattice-like structure illustrates relationships between objects (typically any type of noun), and their corresponding attributes (typically any kind of adjective). Through connecting these “concepts” together, sense is gained for the body of knowledge dealt with. The application of FCA to questionnaire results is rare but not unheard of, but its application to better understanding tacit knowledge is.