Tacit Knowledge and Knowledge Conversion: Controversy and Advancement in Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory

• 成果类型: Review
• 署名作者: Nonaka, Ikujiro; von Krogh, Georg
• 署名单位: Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; ETH Zurich
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1080.0412
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 635-652
• 关键词: ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE; organizational knowledge creation; knowledge-based view of the firm; ORGANIZATION THEORY; SOCIAL PRACTICE; INNOVATION

摘要

Nonaka's paper [1994. A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organ. Sci. 5(1) 14-37] contributed to the concepts of tacit knowledge and knowledge conversion in organization science. We present work that shaped the development of organizational knowledge creation theory and identify two premises upon which more than 15 years of extensive academic work has been conducted: ( 1) tacit and explicit knowledge can be conceptually distinguished along a continuum; ( 2) knowledge conversion explains, theoretically and empirically, the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Recently, scholars have raised several issues regarding the understanding of tacit knowledge as well as the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge in the theory. The purpose of this article is to introduce and comment on the debate about organizational knowledge creation theory. We aim to help scholars make sense of this debate by synthesizing six fundamental questions on organizational knowledge creation theory. Next, we seek to elaborate and advance the theory by responding to questions and incorporating new research. Finally, we discuss implications of our endeavor for organization science.