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The Role of Tacit Knowledge in Group Innovation
Abstract
The complexity of skills and processes needed in the development of today's products and services requires that managers attend to the role of tacit knowledge during innovation. Knowledge held in people's bodies and heads, our unarticulated knowledge, is the very basis of creativity and is not easily captured nor codified. The process of innovation is both an exploration and synthesis. This article examines ways in which managers can begin to deal with tacit knowledge; how to create an environment for a divergent process that includes a wide and healthy proliferation of ideas and a successful convergent process in which options are narrowed and a solution is decided upon and implemented.
... Tacit knowledge, which exists in people's minds and is difficult to convey in words, is highly individualized and formalized. The aggregation of tacit knowledge affects the innovation efficiency of high-tech enterprises, improving individual innovation ability and helping to train innovative talents [37,38]. ...
In the knowledge economy, innovation is playing an increasingly important role in urban sustainable development. Thus, how to strengthen the construction of innovation spaces has become a significant issue. Based on data from high-tech enterprises in the central urban area of Harbin, this study analyzes the distribution, agglomeration characteristics, and influencing factors of urban innovation spaces. The influencing factor index system was constructed based on four aspects: innovation support, service facilities, the social environment, and the natural environment. After analyzing these influencing factors through comparing the results obtained with an ordinary least squares (OLS) model and a geographical weighted regression (GWR) model, the GWR model was determined to have a better fitting effect and was thus used for further analysis. The findings are as follows: (1) Five closely related clusters of innovation spaces are identified. Innovation space has a significant agglomerating distribution pattern. (2) Overall, factors supporting innovation and transportation station factors have a positive effect on the agglomeration of innovation spaces, while natural environment factors have a negative effect on small innovation areas. (3) By region, the aggregation of innovation spaces in downtown areas is slightly negatively affected by service facilities, whereas those in the Harbin New District are mainly supported by policies and those in the Pingfang District are positively affected by the quantity of the labor force. Finally, based on the research results, some suggestions are put forward to promote the development of urban innovation spaces. This paper has certain guiding significance for optimizing and improving the construction and development of urban innovation spaces.
... Presumably, such logic is deducted from a resource-efficient perspective where the aim is to avoid multiple activities to solve the same problems within the company. However, from a knowledge-based view, the scale-up logic might overlook the competitive edge of developing problem-solving capabilities embedded in people and teams (Leonard & Sensiper, 1998). ...
Purpose: This paper aims to explore and describe how companies manage the level of standardisation of improvement practices in a multisite context. It seeks to explain the managerial strategies applied to change the standardisation level in manufacturing companies with multiple production sites worldwide.Design/methodology/approach: This paper collects data through interviews, observations and company documents from a large multinational producing company and, specifically, from of the largest production sites in the company. The research design resembles a grounded theory approach by being reflexive and open to emerging themes. The standardisation strategy was analysed at a company that strived to increase the standardisation of problem-solving practices within about 20 production sites as part of their corporate lean programme.Findings: Several managerial tools were applied at the corporate level to increase the standardisation level of problem-solving practices, such as developing standards and a company-specific toolbox aligned with an in-house maturity model. In addition, deploying change leaders and global implementation targets enabled audits and progress. However, consequences at the production-site level became minor adaptations of standards, the design of training models as a "roll-out", and a resource-demanding implementation process.Originality/Value: This paper empirically demonstrates strategic tools that corporate management teams apply to influence the company's standardisation level of practices. The study describes the purpose and consequences of the design of the toolbox, maturity model, training model, and implementation targets, which aims to simplify the complex task of managing standardisation in a corporate group. By applying a knowledge-based view, four processes (i.e. adaptation, integration, upskilling, and learning) were identified to improve the management strategies in multisite contexts.
... This type of knowledge has been described as 'sticky' because it is difficult to spread due to such issues as causal ambiguity, absorptive capacity, retentive capacity, and the arduousness (e.g., maintenance over a distance) of the relationship (Szulanski, 1996). Leonard and Sensiper (1998) have further elaborated the concept of tacit knowledge by identifying three different types of it in the contexts of developing innovation in organizations. A guiding concept resides at a high level of abstraction and is often metaphorical. ...
Contemporary organizations are confronted with increasing challenges in matching their structuraldesigns to the ever increasing flood of information and to the necessity to translate this informationinto actionable knowledge represented in innovations. The progression of organizations from U-forms,or simple unitary functions represented in classic bureaucracies, to M-forms, or multidivisionalstructures with many products often manufactured in many places were both embedded in aone-to-many framework, a top-down approach. However, modern organizations need to develop deeperand deeper tacit understandings that can lead to actionable knowledge that results in innovations andunique strategic advantages. This suggests a need to describe a newly emerging organizational from –the K-form. After detailing its fundamental unit, knowledge spheres, representing the increasingunderstanding from recognition of patterns in matter and energy to information to explicit and tacitknowledge to wisdom, how these spheres interact within a knowledge cube, formed by three dimensionsof domain, access, and function is discussed. Finally, the implications for practice of this approach, theintegration problem, and the importance of visualization are examined. Â
... Grounded on the foundations of knowledge-based view of the firms, Leonard and Sensiper (1998) defined knowledge as the content of information that is based on experience, is significant and is actionable. This knowledge-based perspective inculcates several components, namely, appropriate information, know-how, insights, values, etc. (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to get an understanding regarding the clusters of middle management employees on the basis of their knowledge sharing behaviour. Designing knowledge sharing behaviors with a distinct focus for a specified group of employees can be an effective and productive one. As it is often argued that the cluster of employees labeled as “middle management” is the key player for knowledge sharing behaviors – a subject of this study that intends to contribute to management strategy to enhance organizational effectiveness and subsequently to its knowledge sharing phenomona.
Design/methodology/approach
Cluster analysis was adopted as key tool as a part of quantitative method to accumulate the data from 597 employees who are working within the middle management of service sector located in the union territory of India named Jammu and Kashmir.
Findings
Three distinct segments namely – “knowledge sharing adepts (KSA),” “knowledge sharing scrupulous (KSC)” and “knowledge sharing servitudes (KSE)” as the prime domains of knowledge sharing behavior are identified.
Research limitations/implications
To draw a narrow focus, the study was limited to the service sector of a union territory in India, hence the findings may not be generalized. Furthermore, as knowledge sharing behavior of individuals is always evolved out of social and historical practices, findings of this cross-sectional study should ideally be needed to be updated time to time through further research.
Practical implications
Cluster dynamicism of knowledge sharing behavior based on the differentiated and specified group of employee functions distinctly which in turn increases the organizational productivity with a particular focus on the mid-management of the service sector – a key managerial implication of this study.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research paper is the first of its kind in Jammu and Kashmir adding value to the international literature in the area of knowledge sharing behaviors of service sector.
... When a firm possesses unique knowledge, internal team members may be more focused on maintaining and protecting their proprietary knowledge and may be reluctant to share it with external parties. This "information hoarding" behavior can hinder the flow of knowledge within the organization, impacting inter-team interaction and collaboration, resulting in insufficient and inefficient knowledge sharing and impeding external interaction and knowledge renewal (Leonard & Sensiper, 1998;Hansen et al., 2013). ...
This study describes collaboration between firms and different organizations as a process of knowledge sharing, integrating inter-organizational collaboration networks and knowledge networks into a unified framework. It analyzes the bilayer structure of collaborative innovation networks, namely, the firm-knowledge bipartite network. The study investigates the impact of firm knowledge characteristics (diversity and uniqueness) on breakthrough and incremental innovation within collaborative innovation networks. The research employs patent data from Chinese A-share high-tech manufacturing companies listed from 2000 to 2018 and verifies the related hypotheses using a negative binomial regression model. The results suggest that, within collaborative innovation networks, firm knowledge diversity has a negative impact on breakthrough innovation but a positive impact on incremental innovation. On the other hand, firm knowledge uniqueness plays a positive role in breakthrough innovation but a negative role in incremental innovation. This study extends the understanding of firm technological innovation by considering both breakthrough and incremental innovation as distinct behaviors, providing a new perspective on the mechanisms underlying different innovation behaviors. By adopting a multilevel network structure approach to collaborative innovation, it contributes to a deeper understanding of internal and external factors influencing firm innovation behavior and expands the application scope of social network analysis.
Tacit knowledge is an asset that boosts innovation and generates competitive advantage for organisations in all walks of life. Its application is not sector band, which makes it significant to every national economy. Several studies have been conducted to identify factors that aid its management, including the methods of managing it. By extension, the current study explored covid-era literature to identify additional factors/constructs that organisations need to consider for tacit knowledge optimisation. The research also aligns with many other tacit knowledge enablers and barriers in previous studies, and asked the following overriding research question “Are there any emerging themes/constructs/factors that can impact the maximum utilisation of tacit knowledge?” It was also important to determine the characteristics of search results. To answer the main research question, a systematic literature review (SLR) for the period 2020 to 2022 was carried out using the Scopus database. The search retrieved 135 studies from various fields of specialisation, out of which 16 were found eligible for inclusion. Findings revealed twenty-one constructs, including absorptive capacity, “ba”, co-working spaces, mistake acceptance, and willingness, that can be factored in to optimise tacit knowledge management. The study advocates that organisations begin to give credence to the roles of knowledge managers to coordinate the complexities involved in tacit knowledge management for optimal organisational advantage. It was intended that the findings will provide additional insight into factors that can enrich tacit knowledge management from different contexts.
La relation entre les pratiques RH et la résilience des entreprises via l’efficacité de la gestion des connaissances n’a pas été suffisamment étudiée. Alors cet article se donne pour objectif de remédier à cette insuffisance grâce à une démarche quantitative basée sur un échantillon de 171 entreprises nigériennes. Les résultats montrent que la formation, l’évaluation des salariés et la gestion des carrières sont positivement liées aux trois dimensions de la résilience (l’adaptation organisationnelle, la compétitivité organisationnelle et la valeur organisationnelle) tandis que le recrutement et le système de récompense n’ont pas de lien significatif avec ces trois dimensions. Les résultats indiquent également que les pratiques RH sont positivement liées à l’efficacité de la gestion des connaissances. On remarque que cette dernière est positivement liée à son tour à la résilience des entreprises. Enfin, les résultats montrent que l’efficacité de la gestion des connaissances assure la médiation dans la relation entre certaines pratiques RH (évaluation des salariés, formation et gestion des carrières) et la résilience des entreprises.
This paper provides insight into how the conceptualization of urban knowledge sharing has developed. Based on a structured review and categorization of the literature, we identify three forms of knowledge sharing in and between cities that are distinctly different: knowledge transfer, knowledge exchange, and knowledge co-creation. We find that the three forms have different boosts and barriers, whereby the complexities of knowledge sharing and hence the capacities required of the actors are lowest for knowledge transfer and highest for knowledge co-creation. We would therefore like to qualify the recent emphasis given in literature to co-creation; with its complexities and required capacities, it is not to be considered a panacea for solving all urban problems. We propose a model within which knowledge transfer and exchange are more suitable for less wicked problems and may sometimes fruitfully reduce complexities.
The construction industry is a dynamic and ever-evolving sector, continuously adapting to societal needs. Within this context, project managers play a pivotal role in steering projects from inception to completion. This study delves into the vital dimension of creativity among project managers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its substantial contribution to the growth of the construction industry in the region. Research in the broader field of construction and project management has traditionally concentrated on factors such as scheduling, cost control, and risk management. However, a noticeable gap exists in the exploration of the relationship between project manager creativity and project success. Hence, the objective of this study is to comprehensively explore various dimensions of project managers’ creativity and evaluate its influence, alongside other criteria, on the outcomes of construction projects. Dimensions and indicators of creativity are derived from a meticulous literature review, and online survey questionnaires were employed to gather insights from individuals engaged in construction projects. The resulting hypothetical model underwent rigorous statistical analysis, employing confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings indicate a positive impact of tacit knowledge sharing and emotional intelligence on the creativity of construction project managers in the UAE. Moreover, the study establishes that project managers’ creativity, combined with other criteria, significantly contributes to the success of construction projects in the region. These insights are instrumental for fostering creativity among project managers and enhancing overall project success within the construction industry. The study’s originality lies in its distinct contribution to the discourse on creativity in the construction sector.
Human decision making is an act or process that is based on explicit or tacit knowledge, and can be supported in a limitless number of ways. Knowledge is a broad and delicate concept, rich in nuance, a concept that has been interpreted, understood, and categorized in different ways. Even if it may be true that “all knowing is personal knowing,” all knowledge is not inevitably personal knowledge. Organizations have a common capability to act (i.e., knowledge capacity or intellectual capital), the lack of which would inevitably prevent organizational action and would lead to unpredictability, disorder and chaos. Hence, the conversion of personal knowledge to organizational usage has become an important and justified stream of research. However, there are serious conceptual barriers to deriving organizational knowledge directly from personal knowledge. Although the term “conversion” is partly misleading, it is used here in the absence of a better alternative to describe a type of knowledge generation process in which one kind of knowledge is used to create another kind of knowledge. In this paper, we define knowledge as the individual or organizational capability to make decisions. We show that the ability to make decisions is determined not only by the personal dimension but also by the social and material dimensions; knowledge is a triangular model that combines these three worlds. In order to explore and manage the resource of knowledge more effectively in organizational contexts, the key question involves how to support and stimulate the deployment of personal knowledge for common usage in organizational decision making. The contributions of this paper are firstly the provision of a theoretical basis for a virtual support context, and secondly a description of an experience with a concrete virtual context that supports and stimulates the conversion of personal knowledge into strategic, organizational decisions. The support system developed here provides a set of virtual conditions that can be used to exercise organizational skills and capabilities for effective decision making.
US manufacturing is today in a critical period. As a consequence of new global competitors, changes in technologies, and significant shifts in national priorities, our manufacturing base has shrunk alarmingly and thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost. To address this problem, a unique team was formed called the Manufacturing Vision Group, which included members from five major companies (Chaparral Steel, DEC, Ford Motor Company, Hewlett-Packard, and Eastman Kodak) and four major universities (Harvard, MIT, Purdue, and Stanford). In The Perpetual Enterprise Machine, this group argues that the manufacturer that can initiate successful projects--leading to new products and processes--will be the one that prospers in the years ahead. They reveal how to launch a successful project and how projects can be mechanisms for growth and learning for the firm. The Perpetual Enterprise Machine outlines seven critical elements that outstanding development projects have in common, principles that can be powerful engines of success for the manufacturer facing the challenges of today’s fiercely competitive environment. Successful firms are able to use their Core Capabilities across functions, to bring together disciplines and personnel crucial to the success of the program. They have a Guiding Vision, shared by all members of the project team, that helps coordinate the actions of workers with different skills and priorities. They Push the Performance Envelope, striving to make the improvements needed to cope with a rapidly changing competitive environment. They have Leadership, someone who can navigate uncertain terrain, who sees the project’s essential elements and how they fit together. They instill the team with a sense of Ownership and Commitment, linking their personal success, status, and esteem to accomplishing project goals. They use Prototyping to learn rapidly and reduce mistakes. And they Integrate within Projects, approaching individual tasks in terms of a system-wide solution. Throughout the book, the authors illustrate these seven principles with real life case histories. We see the story behind Kodak’s development of the FunSaver camera (done on a unique CAD/CAM system that greatly helped integration and shortened the lead time from design to production); Ford’s 1991 Crown Victoria, the first project launched under their Concept-to-Customer system; Chaparral Steel’s development of the world’s first horizontal steel caster; and Hewlett-Packard’s wildly successful DeskJet printer. The Perpetual Enterprise Machine delivers the insights of some of the top minds from industry and academia on one of the primary concerns of American business--how to revitalize our manufacturing industries. Visionary--yet engaging and immediately accessible--it gives managers the opportunity to profit from the trials and triumphs of five major corporations, and helps them shape the kinds of projects that will thrive and prosper in the years ahead.
How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.
This article analyzes the concept of expertise. Expertise can have varied definitions, and different theories can be used to explain how individuals become experts. Chunking theory, network theory, and schema theory are described as they relate to the development of expertise. Intuition and expertise are two concepts that are closely related, and this association is clear as characteristics of expertise are described. This article concludes with a presentation of clinical exemplars that serve as model cases to illustrate dimensions of expertise. (C) 1994 Aspen Publishers, Inc.
I examine the phenomenon of implicit learning, the process by which knowledge about the rule-governed complexities of the stimulus environment is acquired independently of conscious attempts to do so. Our research with the two, seemingly disparate experimental paradigms of synthetic grammar learning and probability learning is reviewed and integrated with other approaches to the general problem of unconscious cognition. The conclusions reached are as follows: (a) Implicit learning produces a tacit knowledge base that is abstract and representative of the structure of the environment; (b) such knowledge is optimally acquired independently of conscious efforts to learn; and (c) it can be used implicitly to solve problems and make accurate decisions about novel stimulus circumstances. Various epistemological issues and related problems such as intuition, neuroclinical disorders of learning and memory, and the relationship of evolutionary processes to cognitive science are also discussed.