Knowledge
Acquisition and Transfer
Methods of Obtaining Knowledge
Reason or Logic
 Modeling
 Observation/Experimentation
 Testimony
 Authority
 Revelation

Types of Knowledge





Embrained knowledge
 dependent on conceptual skills and cognitive abilities.
 practical, high-level knowledge, where objectives are met through perpetual
recognition and revamping.
 Tacit knowledge may also be embrained, even though it is mainly subconscious.
Embodied knowledge
 action oriented and consists of contextual practices.
 social acquisition, as how
 individuals interact in and interpret their environment creates this non-explicit type
of knowledge.
Encultured knowledge
 process of achieving shared understandings through socialization and
acculturation.
 Language and negotiation.
Embedded knowledge
 explicit and resides within systematic routines.
 relationships between roles, technologies, formal procedures and emergent
routines within a complex system.
Encoded knowledge
 information that is conveyed in signs and symbols (books, manuals, data bases)
 decontextualized into codes of practice.
 deals more with the transmission, storage and interrogation of knowledge.
Challenges in Knowledge Transfer
















Inability to recognize & articulate tacit knowledge idea (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995)
Geography or distance (Gailbraith 1990)
Limitations of ICTs (Roberts 2000)
Lack of a shared/superordinate social identity (Kane, Argote, & Levine 2005)
Language
Areas of expertise
Internal conflicts (eg. professional territoriality, Union-management relations )
Generational differences
Incentives
The use of visual representations to transfer knowledge (knowledge visualization)
Problems with sharing beliefs, assumptions, heuristics and cultural norms.
Previous exposure or experience with something.
Faulty information and Misconceptions
Organizational culture non-conducive to knowledge sharing (the "Knowledge is
power" culture)
Motivational issues
Lack of trust
Knowledge Transfer Process






Identifying the knowledge holders within the
organization
Motivating them to share
Designing a sharing mechanism to facilitate the
transfer
Executing the transfer plan
Measuring to ensure the transfer
Applying the knowledge transferred
Knowledge Transfer Practices








Mentoring
Guided experience
Simulation
Guided experimentation
Work shadowing
Paired work
Communities of practice
Narrative transfer
Modes of Knowledge Creation
Tacit Knowledge
Explicit Knowledge
To
Tacit
Knowledge
Socialization
Externalization
Internalization
Combination
From
Explicit
Knowledge
Work-based learning
Theory
Practice
Reflection
Spiral of Organizational
Knowledge Creation
Externalization
Combination
Explicit
Knowledge
Tacit
Knowledge
Socialization
Internalization
Individual
Group
Organization
Knowledge Level
Inter-organization
Individual Level Work-Based
Learning
L
E
A
R
N
I
N
G
KNOWLEDGE
Explicit
Tacit
Theory
Conceptuali Experiment
zation
ation
Practice
Reflection
Experience
Collective Level Work-Based
Learning
L
E
A Theory
R
N
I
N Practice
G
KNOWLEDGE
Explicit
Tacit
Applied
Science
Action
Learning
Action
Science
Community
of Practice
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
(Schein, 1985)
Artifacts
 Espoused Values
 Underlying Assumptions
