Exploring knowledge creation tacit knowledge

Abstract:

Tacit knowledge as part of knowledge management and knowledge creation is the most interesting and fascinating of areas to examine. Tacit knowledge is what makes knowledge management theory so unique. Because of this, the SECI model is crucial to knowledge creation theory as it explores the interactions between tacit and explicit knowledge. In fact, there is no split between tacit and explicit knowledge, but rather a continuum between these two discrete dimensions. This chapter examines the SECI model of knowledge creation, knowingness and know-how in greater detail.

Key words

SECI model

knowingness

know-how

While the twentieth-century management paradigm was all about control, efficiency and the bottom line in terms of costs, the twenty-first-century modern management paradigm widens its focus to incorporate a variety of elements that suggest that intangible value in the form of valuing smart and collaborative working practices has a much higher priority. At the core of knowledge management is Nonaka and Takeuchi's work (Nonaka 1991; Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995) on knowledge creation where the focus was to blend a Japanese perspective with a Western tradition. They discuss the integration of the teachings of Buddhism and Confucianism with management culture and major Western philosophical thought. In particular, the Japanese perspective focuses on the themes of 'oneness of humanity and nature' with an emphasis on living in the present, and on oneness of 'body and mind'. You can see this type of language and labels arising throughout their work. In many ways their work at the time was a break with traditional Western management approaches and brought with it a fresh and new perspective. Throughout this book we will aim to continue to discuss the 'body and mind' theme and expand upon this trait.

Knowledge creation and SECI

Knowledge creation theory is at the heart of knowledge management. It has enabled the processes of knowledge to be broken down into understandable parts. The theory of knowledge creation has been led by the work of Nonaka (1991) and Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). Nonaka and Takeuchi's theory has achieved paradigmatic status since the mid-1990s (Gourlay 2006), and it has been described as one of the best and most influential models in knowledge strategy literature (Choo and Bontis 2002, cited in Gourlay 2006), and as highly respected (Easterby-Smith and Lyles 2003, cited in Gourlay 2006). As this theory has become so highly regarded, we need to understand the theory in further detail, so as to make best use of it as we continue to advance into the twenty-first century. In order to understand knowledge creation it is crucial to have an understanding not only of the explicit dimension, but of the tacit dimension of knowledge creation. Explicit knowledge is that which can be articulated and written down: it is stored and repackaged knowledge. Explicit knowledge is more than information and data in that it brings greater insights to storage of information. However, it is an awareness of the value of the tacit dimension which makes knowledge management theory so unique An awareness of this concept - sometimes 'sticky' and rather difficult to define - is crucial for managers so that they can use and value the intangibles within the organisation. Having a discussion about the intangible is equally important when we consider this concept in terms of developing web technologies in the virtual dimension. We need to understand how the knowledge worker facilitates this intangible element within organisations and through personal usage of the technologies. Within the theory it is in fact the tacit dimension that is the most elusive element to pin down.

At the centre of Nonaka and Takeuchi's (1995) and Nonaka, Toyama and Konno's (2000) theory of knowledge creation is the SECI model where knowledge develops from the interactions between tacit and explicit knowledge in all four sections of the model. Within the model (see Fig 2.1 for full explanation) S stands for socialisation - the sharing of experiences between individuals; E indicates externalisation - articulating tacit knowledge into explicit concepts; C denotes combination - systemising concepts into a knowledge system combining different bodies of explicit knowledge, and I stands for internalisation - embodying explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge through learning by doing. Each area of the model links to a type of characteristic: socialisation links to empathy; externalisation to articulating; combination to connecting and internalisation to embodying. There is an evolving spiral movement occurring in and between the four processes of SECI. This starts at the individual level and expands out across the organisation. This spiral represents the expansion of knowledge creation. The model is in effect an attempt to break down the processes by which knowledge creation occurs. To begin any discussion on knowledge creation it is necessary first to explore the meaning of knowledge and the concept of tacitness which defines the knowledge creation theory within knowledge management.

Figure 2.1 The SECI model Source: After Nonaka, I and Takeuchi, H (1995). Reproduced with permission from Oxford University Press, from Fig. 3.4 'Contents of Knowledge created by the Four Modes' in Nonaka, I and Takeuchi, H (1995), The Knowledge Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation, p 72

Tacit knowledge conversion at the core of Nonaka's theory of organisational knowledge creation is clearly focused on the conversion of the tacit knowledge of performing individuals, teams and groups within organisations and institutions (Garcia 2009). If tacit knowledge conversion is at the heart of the knowledge management discipline, then understanding the deeper realms of individual tacitness is important to understanding how the principles and processes stretch out to reach the group and organisational levels.

Tacitness and the cognitive and technical elements

The early founders of knowledge creation, Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), introduced tacit knowledge to management, inviting an appreciation of tacitness, involving both a cognitive and a technical dimension. They suggest that once the importance of tacit knowledge is realised, then we begin to think about innovation in a whole new way as part of a highly individual process of personal and organisational self-renewal. Tacitness starts at the individual level within the knowledge worker. As such, the emphasis is upon new knowledge being a process of ongoing personal and organisational self-renewal where knowledge has to be built on its own, frequently requiring intensive and laborious interactions among members of the organisation (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995). This early discussion of tacit knowledge has an almost Zen feel about it as they highlight the importance of transcending a multitude of dichotomies including body versus mind. They highlight the point that tacit knowledge needs to be recognised not as a machine for processing information but as a living organism. Their emphasis upon tacit knowledge is placed upon highly subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches and they suggest that it also embraces ideas, values and emotions, images and symbols. According to Nonaka, Toyama and Konno (2000), tacit knowledge is deeply rooted in action, procedures, routines, commitment, ideals, values and emotions. This view of tacit knowledge is important as it embraces emotions, as well as images. In terms of emotions, tacit knowledge may be based on a subjective insight or hunch. An emphasis on the emotional aspect of tacit knowledge will be covered in the next two chapters. Each aspect of the SECI model may link to knowledge assets as discussed in a later chapter. In particular, socialisation within the SECI model loosely links to experiential knowledge assets in the unified theory of knowledge creation. One area of knowledge assets rarely fully acknowledged is emotional knowledge assets. Indeed, this is an area to explore further along with emotional tacit knowledge. As will be argued in this book, emotional knowledge in particular forms a strong element within personal knowledge capital.

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) stress that the cognitive element of tacit knowledge pertains to an individual's images of reality and visions for the future, suggesting that the articulation of tacit perspectives is a kind of 'mobilization' process for the creation of new knowledge. This cognitive dimension may centre on mental models, which include schemata, paradigms, beliefs, viewpoints and perspectives. According to Nonaka et al. the cognitive dimension of tacit knowledge reflects our image of reality - the what is, and what ought to be, elements. However, they suggest that these elements cannot be articulated very easily, because these implicit models shape the way we perceive the world around us. The cognitive dimension exists and is discussed only vaguely, and this suggests an area that could be more fully examined. This aspect will be further explored in more detail in Chapter 4. On the other hand, the...