Where does all the ‘know how’ go? The role of tacit knowledge in research impact

Vincent-Wayne Mitchell,William S Harvey,Geoffrey Wood

doi:10.1080/07294360.2021.1937066

Vincent-Wayne Mitchell, William S Harvey + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1937066

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Abstract

ABSTRACT Higher Education Institutions are increasingly called upon to demonstrate their real world impact, which, in many instances, remains elusive. We believe this is partly due to the under-counting and under-estimation of the importance of tacit knowledge by researchers and regulators. We propose this as a missing contingency in the research–impact relationship. To better acknowledge and utilize tacit research knowledge in the impact process, we emphasize processes of praxis, reflexivity and dialogical sense-making, which help externalize implicit tacit knowledge, and socialization processes, which facilitate enactment, emulation and feedback to develop inherent tacit knowledge. Examples from management research are used to exemplify these processes. The implications of accepting the importance of tacit knowledge in creating impact call for changes in how researchers, universities, funders, assessors and governments, fund, create and assess real world research impact.

Highlights

Many governments formally assess, or are considering assessing, how university research impacts on society (e.g., US, UK, Australia, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands) (Reed et al, 2020)
To answer our question of where does all the know how go, we suggest that in the current system of evaluating research impact it remains largely latent, under-valued, underexplored and under-exploited in the research–impact relationship
We provide a new theory-driven critique which highlights the limits of research impact frameworks that ignore tacit knowledge

Summary

Introduction

Many governments formally assess, or are considering assessing, how university research impacts on society (e.g., US, UK, Australia, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands) (Reed et al, 2020). KEYWORDS Research impact; processes; explicit knowledge; tacit knowledge; measurement Our contention is that impact and impact assessments are too focused on knowledge transfer viewpoints which favour explicit knowledge, and underplay or ignore the central role of tacit knowledge in creating the know-how which practitioners need to use the research.

Results

Conclusion