The Role of Opinions and Ideas as Types of Tacit Knowledge

Abstract

Purpose: The paper identifies the difficulties associated with managing tacit knowledge in its entirety among distributed individuals and proposes its categorization into types/kinds as a solution for its effective externalization and measurement. The categorization process implies the identification of those types or kinds of tacit knowledge which could be externalized and measured easier than others. The paper posits that such categorization is a step in the right direction for better tacit-to-explicit transformation.Design: The paper is designed based on literary evidences supporting that some parts or instances of tacit knowledge could be more easily externalized/transformed into explicit form than other forms. This research through the analysis of opinions and ideas focuses on building up the relationship between tacit knowledge and these two constructs. The paper will introduce a comparative analysis between opinions and ideas and tacit knowledge.Findings: The relationships and correspondences between opinions/ideas and tacit knowledge are developed and a Reflection-articulation-interpretation model which demonstrates these relationships and the externalization to explicit knowledge.Practical implications: The introduced relationships between Tacit Knowledge Instances, Opinions and Ideas as well as the externalization model form the basis for proper tacit knowledge externalization based on its categorization. The authors believe that if tacit knowledge is categorized into types, this will have positive effects on improved tacit knowledge externalization.Originality: The proposed Model and the framework are not only original but, to the authors knowledge, are a unique attempt addressing tacit knowledge categorization and how opinion/ideas are externalized.