Question

What is the difference between tacit and explicit knowledge? From your own experience, describe an example of each. How might an organization manage tacit knowledge?

Answer 1

Tacit Knowledge is the form of the knowledge which is very difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing etc.
Example of tacit knowledge is facial recognition.Like we recognise a person face among a thousand.Yet we cannot tell how we have recognised that face.so most of the this cannot be put into words.You have seen that face but you will not conscious about your knowledge of the individual features about the eyes,nose etc.

Explicit Knowledge is the form of the knowledge that we can easily transfer to others.
Examples:A teacher can easily transfers the knowledge from the textbook to students.

Difference between the tacit and explicit knowledge are below:

1.Codifiability and transferring knowledge:Explicit knowledge can be codified and easily transferred without the knowing subject, tacit knowledge is intuitive and unarticulated knowledge that cannot be communicated, It cannot be transferred.

2.Main methods for the acquisition and accumulation: Explicit knowledge can be generated through logical deduction and acquired through practical experience but tacit knowledge can only be acquired through practical experience in the relevant context.

3.Potential of aggregation and modes of appropriation: Explicit knowledge can be aggregated at a single location, stored in objective forms and appropriated without the participation of the knowing subject. Tacit knowledge in contrast, is personal contextual. It is distributive, and cannot easily be aggregated. The realization of its full potential requires the close involvement and cooperation of the knowing subject.

The interplay of tacit knowledge is a critical factor in organizational learning. It is the role of managers to contribute to this interplay of tacit knowledge, and to act as “knowledge brokers” within the organization. The primary task of managers is the conversion of tacit, human capital into explicit, structural capital. Communities of practice have been identified as the site where this alchemy can occur.