When an expert designer uses a term such as “interference fit" or “H7r6", they effortlessly invoke a rich set of associations across a wide range of experience. While at one level, the meaning of a termsuch as H7 is formally specified, many of these associations are implicitand hard to characterize formally. The explicit concepts build on layersof implicit abstraction; e.g. the concept of _t wo...

The paper outlines the role that tacit knowledge plays in what might seem to be an area of knowledge that can be made fully explicit or codified and which forms a central element of Evidence Based Medicine. Appeal to the role the role of tacit knowledge in science provides a way to unify the tripartite definition of Evidence Based Medicine given by Sackett et al: the integration of best researc...

Received: 12 April 2003 Revised: 2 March 2004 Accepted: 9 April 2004 Online publication date: 2 September 2004 Abstract Drawing on organizational learning and economic sociology, we address how relational embeddedness between the foreign parent and international joint venture (IJV) managers influences the type of knowledge (i.e., tacit and explicit) transferred to the IJV, and how the importanc...

While discussion about knowledge management often centers around how knowledge may best be codified into an explicit format for use in decision support or expert systems, some knowledge best serves the organization when it is kept in tacit form. We draw upon the resource-based view to identify how information technology can best be used during different types of strategic change. Specifically, ...

Purpose – This paper seeks to present an innovative scale that sheds light on the ways in which intentions to share explicit and tacit knowledge impact actual knowledge-sharing behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from a total of 278 hi-tech workers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the research model. Findings – SEM shows that the intention to...

Tacit knowledge has been one of the most discussed and contradictory concepts in the field of knowledge management since the mid 1990s. The concept is used relatively vaguely to refer to any type of information that is difficult to articulate, which has led to discussions about the original meaning of the concept (adopted from Polanyi’s philosophy) and the nature of tacit knowing. It is propose...

The phrase ‘tacit knowledge’ is used in a wide range of disciplines. Examination of definitions and usage in knowledge management, AI, sociology of science, and psychology reveals common aspects, but significant variations. It is a concept without consistency, or clear foundation. Polanyi in fact wrote of ‘tacit knowing’, a process, and so may have been misinterpreted. His emphasis on process m...

The study explores the impact of organizational information technology (IT) competency on knowledge sharing, both explicit and tacit, in context innovativeness products processes. Knowledge sharing is then assessed terms tacit-to-explicit conversion types innovation. Both process (internal) product/service (external) innovation are included. As an extension, this IT to framework evaluated conte...

This paper addresses the question of whether tacit knowledge can be an important contributory factor in the successful delivery of automation systems. The theoretical part of the paper deals with explicit and tacit knowledge, in particular with the essential nature of tacit knowledge and its manifestation in project activity. After this two related case studies are presented from the metallurgi...