A Critical Analysis of Nonaka’s Model of Knowledge Dynamics

The purpose of this paper is to present a critical analysis of the well known knowledge dynamics model elaborated by Ikujiro Nonaka and his co-workers. The essence of this model consists of three layers of the knowledge-creation process: (a) the process of knowledge creation through socialization-externalizationcombination-internalization (SECI), the knowledge conversion process between tacit and explicit knowledge, (b) Ba the platform for knowledge creation, (c) knowledge assets. The success and popularity of this model created premises and temptations for using it beyond the conceptual limits initially defined, generating this way a superficial interpretation of the complex organizational knowledge dynamics. Our critical analysis aims at the investigation of the operational power of Nonakas model of knowledge dynamics within the framework of organizational knowledge. In the same time, we would like to apply the entropy law to SECI model and to see how the conversion processes conceived by Nonaka satisfy this law. Actually, although Nonaka considers socialization, externalization, combination and internalization as being conversion processes, only externalization and internalization are truly conversions. They consist in transforming tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, and explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge, respectively. Socialization and combination are only processes of knowledge transfer, i.e. tacit knowledge to tacit knowledge, and explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge. Also, the evolving spiral is possible with inputs from the Ba platforms for knowledge creation and not with knowledge generation from within. The same evolving spiral of knowledge creation passes sequentially through individual processes and organizational processes in a deterministic way, although knowledge dynamics is not a physical process based on deterministic laws.