Bridging Individual and Organisational Knowledge: The Appeal to Tacit Knowledge in Knowledge Management Theory

This paper is a contribution to conceptual clarity with respect to Knowledge Management theory. It provides a conceptual analysis of aspects of the notion of tacit knowledge. The analysis consists of positioning the notion of tacit knowledge in two frameworks conceptual and contextual. The appeal to tacit knowledge as a basis for a Knowledge Management epistemology is reviewed in the conceptual framework. Positioning the notion in the contextual framework, the appeal to tacit knowledge as a link between individual and organisational knowledge is analysed. The paper suggests that the contextual framework should take preference, and concludes that the notion of tacit knowledge offers a conceptual tool that bridges individual and organisational knowledge. For this reason the notion has continued currency, despite its limitations as an epistemological basis for Knowledge Management. 1. The Double Bind for KM theory: Conceptual and Contextual. The paper starts from the assumption that Knowledge Management theory is in a double bind. On the one hand, it faces a conceptual problem related to the slippery nature of the concept of knowledge. On the other hand, it faces a contextual problem related to the phenomenon of organisation the context in which that knowledge is made productive through knowledge management practices. This presents Knowledge Management theory with two issues: firstly, the lack of a coherent theory of knowledge in Knowledge Management (because of the shifting nature