IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/igg/jkm000/v4y2008i2p75-91.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Dimensions of Tacit & Explicit Knowledge: A Description and Measure

Author

Listed:
  • Michael A. Chilton

    (Kansas State University, USA)

  • James M. Bloodgood

    (Kansas State University, USA)

Abstract

Knowledge workers are often employed to extract knowledge from domain experts in order to codify knowledge held by these experts. The extent to which workers rely on tacit or explicit knowledge may produce inefficiencies and reduce productivity if the information is not shared among those who need it or if it encapsulates strategic goals and is inadvertently shared with those who might undermine the firm’s competitive advantage. This article discusses the nature of tacit vs. explicit knowledge in terms of the dimensions thought to contribute to its degree of tacitness. We present the results of an exploratory study in which we develop an instrument designed to elicit perceptions regarding the nature of knowledge used by workers and their degree of reliance on tacit knowledge. It is an indirect form of measurement that eliminates the need to render the knowledge entirely explicit prior to measurement. As an additional benefit, it allows us to classify the knowledge along a continuum, ranging from entirely tacit to entirely explicit or somewhere in between. Use of this instrument by managers will help them identify pockets of tacit knowledge within the firm that could either be made explicit so that other workers can benefit from it or that could be prevented from becoming explicit should its strategic value require protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Chilton & James M. Bloodgood, 2008. "The Dimensions of Tacit & Explicit Knowledge: A Description and Measure," International Journal of Knowledge Management (IJKM), IGI Global, vol. 4(2), pages 75-91, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:igg:jkm000:v:4:y:2008:i:2:p:75-91
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/jkm.2008040106
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. A. Alexander & Dominique Philippe Martin & C. Manolchev & K. Miller, 2020. "University–industry collaboration: using meta-rules to overcome barriers to knowledge transfer," Post-Print halshs-01935697, HAL.
    2. Rayees Farooq & Sandeep Vij, 2019. "Does Market Orientation Mediate between Knowledge Management Orientation and Business Performance?," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(04), pages 1-35, December.
    3. A. Alexander & D. P. Martin & C. Manolchev & K. Miller, 2020. "University–industry collaboration: using meta-rules to overcome barriers to knowledge transfer," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 371-392, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:igg:jkm000:v:4:y:2008:i:2:p:75-91. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journal Editor (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.igi-global.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.