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When objects are talking : How tacit knowing becomes explicit knowledge

Philipson, Sarah and Kjellström, Elisabeth LU (2020) In Journal of Small Business Strategy 30(1). p.68-82
Abstract

The objective of this paper is to build a model of how tacit knowing is externalised and becomes reflected external knowledge. Knowledge Management (Nonaka, 1991, 1994; Nonaka, Toyama, & Konno, 2000) is an important field in Business Administration. Based on the model provided by Nonaka and his colleagues (Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka et al., 2000) researchers and practitioners have fallen into the pipe dream that employees’ tacit knowing can be coded and canned in computers (structural capital), eventually leading to the enterprise without humans. Earlier critics (Gourlay, 2002, 2006; Gourlay & Nurse, 2005, Grant, 2007; Philipson, 2016, 2019) of the knowledge management paradigm have shown that it does not... (More)

The objective of this paper is to build a model of how tacit knowing is externalised and becomes reflected external knowledge. Knowledge Management (Nonaka, 1991, 1994; Nonaka, Toyama, & Konno, 2000) is an important field in Business Administration. Based on the model provided by Nonaka and his colleagues (Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka et al., 2000) researchers and practitioners have fallen into the pipe dream that employees’ tacit knowing can be coded and canned in computers (structural capital), eventually leading to the enterprise without humans. Earlier critics (Gourlay, 2002, 2006; Gourlay & Nurse, 2005, Grant, 2007; Philipson, 2016, 2019) of the knowledge management paradigm have shown that it does not understand Polanyi’s concept tacit knowing and that it is much more complicated to “externalize” such knowing than presumed by KM. The understanding in extant management literature of this process has been very problematic. Building on concepts in philosophy, psychology, pedagogics, organizational science, and engineering, a model is built and exemplified. This paper develops a theoretical framework for how tacit knowing can be externalized, what is required for such an externalization, and discusses the problems in such externalization, limiting it.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Boundary objects, Externalization, Reflected knowledge, Tacit knowing
in
Journal of Small Business Strategy
volume
30
issue
1
pages
15 pages
publisher
Middle Tennessee State University
external identifiers
  • scopus:85079873080
ISSN
1081-8510
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
33421fa4-5474-4605-8c49-5eec19a035f4
date added to LUP
2020-03-18 14:35:52
date last changed
2022-04-18 21:13:44
@article{33421fa4-5474-4605-8c49-5eec19a035f4,
  abstract     = {{<p>The objective of this paper is to build a model of how tacit knowing is externalised and becomes reflected external knowledge. Knowledge Management (Nonaka, 1991, 1994; Nonaka, Toyama, &amp; Konno, 2000) is an important field in Business Administration. Based on the model provided by Nonaka and his colleagues (Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka &amp; Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka et al., 2000) researchers and practitioners have fallen into the pipe dream that employees’ tacit knowing can be coded and canned in computers (structural capital), eventually leading to the enterprise without humans. Earlier critics (Gourlay, 2002, 2006; Gourlay &amp; Nurse, 2005, Grant, 2007; Philipson, 2016, 2019) of the knowledge management paradigm have shown that it does not understand Polanyi’s concept tacit knowing and that it is much more complicated to “externalize” such knowing than presumed by KM. The understanding in extant management literature of this process has been very problematic. Building on concepts in philosophy, psychology, pedagogics, organizational science, and engineering, a model is built and exemplified. This paper develops a theoretical framework for how tacit knowing can be externalized, what is required for such an externalization, and discusses the problems in such externalization, limiting it.</p>}},
  author       = {{Philipson, Sarah and Kjellström, Elisabeth}},
  issn         = {{1081-8510}},
  keywords     = {{Boundary objects; Externalization; Reflected knowledge; Tacit knowing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{68--82}},
  publisher    = {{Middle Tennessee State University}},
  series       = {{Journal of Small Business Strategy}},
  title        = {{When objects are talking : How tacit knowing becomes explicit knowledge}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}