Meaning
Accordingtowhetherknowledgecanbeclearlyexpressedandeffectivelytransferred,knowledgecanbedividedintoExplicitKnowledgeandtacitknowledge(TacitKnowledge).
ExplicitknowledgealsoknownasClearknowledge,Explicitknowledgerefersto"knowledgethatcanbeclearlyexpressed",thatis:Peoplecanobtainitthroughoralteaching,textbooks,referencematerials,journals,patentdocuments,audio-visualmedia,software,anddatabases.Itcanbespreadthroughcodingmethodssuchaslanguage,books,text,anddatabases,anditisalsoeasyforpeopletolearn.Including"knowledgethatcanbewritteninbooksandmagazinesandspokenout".
Introduction
JapaneseknowledgemanagementexpertIkujiroNonakaproposedtheSECIprocessofmutualconversionbetweenexplicitknowledgeandtacitknowledge:
ExplicitTheprocessofmutualconversionbetweenknowledgeandtacitknowledge
Socializationistheprocessofgeneratingnewtacitknowledgethroughsharedexperience
ExternalizationistheprocessofTheprocessofexpressingknowledgetobecomeexplicitknowledge.Combinationistheprocessofcombiningexplicitknowledgetoformamorecomplexandsystematicexplicitknowledgesystem.Internalizationisthetransformationofexplicitknowledgeintotacitknowledgeandbecomingtheenterprise’sTheprocessoftheactualabilityofindividualsandgroupsTable1Thetransformationrelationshipbetweentacitknowledgeandexplicitknowledge
1.Thetransformationoftacitknowledgetotacitknowledge.
Thisisthesharingoftacitknowledgebetweenindividualsandtheprocessofknowledgesocialization.Thetacitknowledgecanbetransmittedmainlythroughobservation,imitationandpersonalpractice.Teachingfromteachertoapprenticeisatypicalformofsharingtacitknowledgebetweenindividuals.Theestablishmentofvirtualknowledgecommunitieswiththehelpofinformationtechnologycreatesconditionsforrealizingthetransformationfromtacitknowledgetotacitknowledgeinawiderrange.
2.Conversionoftacitknowledgetoexplicitknowledge.
Thisisanexplicitdescriptionoftacitknowledge,transformingitintoaformthatiseasyforotherstounderstand.Thistransformationusesanalogies,metaphorsandassumptions,listening,andin-depthtalks.Somecurrentintelligenttechnologies,suchasknowledgeminingsystems,businessintelligence,expertsystems,etc.,provideameanstorealizetheexplicitnessoftacitknowledge.
3.Thetransformationofexplicitknowledgetoexplicitknowledge.
Thisisaprocessofknowledgediffusion,usuallytofurthersystematizeandcomplicatefragmentaryexplicitknowledge.Integratingthesepiecemealknowledgeandexpressingitinprofessionallanguage,personalknowledgeiselevatedtoorganizationalknowledge,whichcanmoreeasilyshareandcreateorganizationalvalueformorepeople.Distributeddocumentmanagement,contentmanagement,datawarehouse,etc.areeffectivetoolstorealizethecombinationofexplicitknowledge.
4.Thetransformationofexplicitknowledgetotacitknowledge.
Thismeansthattheexplicitknowledgeoftheenterpriseistransformedintothetacitknowledgeofthemembersoftheenterprise.Inotherwords,knowledgeisdisseminatedamongemployees.Afteremployeesreceivethisnewknowledge,theycanuseitintheirworkandcreatenewtacitknowledge.Groupwork,learningbydoing,andon-the-jobtrainingareeffectivewaystorealizetheimplicitizationofexplicitknowledge.Inthisregard,therearealsosomecollaborationtools,suchase-communities,E-learningsystems,etc.
Methodstorealizetheexplicitnessofknowledge
1.Reducethepainofgrowththroughstandardizedmanagement.Theprerequisiteforstandardizedmanagementistoestablishastandardizedmanagementsystem.Theprocessofestablishingandimplementingamanagementsystemisitselfaprocessoforganizationallearning.Thewrittenmanagementsystemisactuallytheresultoftheexplicitorganizationofknowledge.Onlywhenanorganizationmakesitsownknowledgeexplicit,canitberelativelyeasilyunderstoodandacceptedbyitsorganizationmembers,andcanitprovidemorecommonlanguageforcommunicationandcoordinationamongorganizationmembers.
2.Transformpersonaltacitknowledgeintocommonknowledgethroughtheinternalteachingsystemofdepartmentheads\experts.Lettingdepartmentheadsorexpertsteachanddopre-classfilingisthefirststepinmakingknowledgeexplicit.Thisrequiressurmountingaseriesofobstacles.Thefirstistomakeyourownuniquetacitknowledgeexplicitandshareitwithothers.Thiscannotbethespontaneousbehaviorofthemembersoftheorganization.Itisthenatureofmostpeopletohidetheirownknowledgeandlookatknowledgefromothersindoubt.Secondly,inordertomaintaintheirspecialstatus,thosememberswhohaveuniquekeyknowledgeintheorganizationwillnoteasilysharetheirownknowledgewithothers,whichobjectivelyhinderstheexplicitnessoftheorganization'sknowledge.Therefore,itisahugechallengefortheorganizationtomaketheemployees'personalknowledgeresourcesexplicitandrealizethecommunicationandsharingamongthemembersoftheorganization.Thedifficultymaybenolessthanthedifficultyofcommunicatingandsharingknowledgebetweencompetitors.
3.Theimplementationofareasonablejobrotationsystemisalsoagoodprescriptionformakingknowledgeexplicit.Throughjobrotation,ontheonehand,latecomersshouldsummarizethesuccessandfailurelessonsoftheirpredecessors;ontheotherhand,theywillgathersomemessyinformationtodenyandabandonthem.Bothoftheseaspectsarebehaviorsofexplicitknowledge.
4.Thevariousformsofinteractivecommunicationbetweentheupperandlowerlevelsoftheorganizationarealsoagoodwaytomakeknowledgeexplicit,whichisparticularlyconducivetomakingthetacitknowledgeoforganizationalexecutivesexplicit.
5.The"threemodernizations"ofprocess,formatting,andtemplatingarethekeytotheexplicitorganizationoftacitknowledge,especiallyexperience-basedknowledge.