Building Tacit Knowledge Programs for B-Schools

Abstract

Organizations deal with both explicit (precise) knowledge—formal, systematic knowledge—and tacit (implicit) knowledge—insight, personal experience, and professional expertise. For tacit knowledge to work in a business school (B-school), a culture must be created for people to seek and share information, to be an enabler of both individual and organizational learning. B-schools must recognize themselves as knowledge creating organizations with a capability for action based on intellectual capital. This paper investigates a process for understanding comprehensive tacit knowledge programs and building tacit knowledge programs for B-schools. The theoretical goals are to (1) provide an overview of tacit knowledge, (2) determine how a B-school can expand its processes of identifying, capturing, and leveraging the knowledge it contains, (3) design an effectual tacit knowledge procedure for B-schools, (4) provide a blueprint for implementation of tacit knowledge programs, (5) look at possible challenges and critiques of tacit knowledge programs, and (6) recommend implementation plans.