Acquisition Of Explicit Knowledge Research Articles

Relational mechanisms, formal contracts, and local knowledge acquisition by international subsidiaries

AbstractThis research focuses on relational and contractual mechanisms and examines their impact on foreign subsidiaries' acquisition of tacit and explicit knowledge from local suppliers. Using survey data from 168 foreign subsidiaries operating in China, this study finds broad support for the proposed analytical framework. When the foreign subsidiary and supplier share common goals, the foreign subsidiary acquires greater levels of both explicit and tacit knowledge; trust between the two parties promotes the acquisition of greater levels of tacit than explicit knowledge. However, access to the local supplier network through the focal supplier enables the foreign subsidiary to acquire greater levels of explicit but not tacit knowledge. Formal contracts play a complementary role in knowledge acquisition: contracts enhance the acquisition of explicit knowledge and further strengthen the effects of relational mechanisms on tacit and explicit knowledge acquisition. Overall, these findings provide important implications for foreign subsidiaries regarding how to acquire local knowledge in host countries through both formal and informal mechanisms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Adjustment to a complex visuo-motor transformation at early and late working age

Age-related changes of adjustment to visuo-motor transformations were studied for a complex transformation modelled after those encountered in laparoscopic surgery. Movement times of aimed movements were initially almost identical for the two age groups and diverged in the course of practice. In test phases without visual feedback, no age-related variation of the adaptive shifts and after effects of amplitude and curvature of hand movements were observed, but only of their direction. Directional adaptive shifts were bimodally distributed, with one mode near to perfect adaptation (‘adapters’) and the other one near to absence of adaptation (‘non-adapters’). Among the young participants, adapters were more frequent than among the old participants. These findings extend previous results on age-related changes of adjustment to simple transformations to complex transformations. They are consistent with the claim that age-related changes of adjustment to visuo-motor rotations come about primarily by impairments of strategic corrections. A link is established between basic-research findings and transformations encountered outside the laboratory: what suffers at higher working age is explicit knowledge of visuo-motor rotations and the strategic corrections based on it. This suggests the provision of opportunities for explicit-knowledge acquisition for those of a higher age.

Use of Knowledge Management Systems and the Impact on the Acquisition of Explicit Knowledge

ABSTRACT: In an era where knowledge is increasingly seen as an organization's most valuable asset, many firms have implemented knowledge-management systems (KMS) in an effort to capture, store, and disseminate knowledge across the firm. Concerns have been raised, however, about the potential dependency of users on KMS and the related potential for decreases in knowledge acquisition and expertise development (Cole 1998; Alavi and Leidner 2001b; O'Leary 2002a). The purpose of this study, which is exploratory in nature, is to investigate whether using KMS embedded with explicit knowledge impacts novice decision makers' judgment performance and knowledge acquisition differently than using traditional reference materials (e.g., manuals, textbooks) to research and solve a problem. An experimental methodology is used to study the relative performance and explicit knowledge acquisition of 188 participants partitioned into two groups using either a KMS or traditional reference materials in problem solving. The study finds that KMS users outperform users of traditional reference materials when they have access to their respective systems/materials, but the users of traditional reference materials outperform KMS users when respective systems/materials are removed. While all users improve interpretive problem solving and encoding of definitions and rules, there are significant differences in knowledge acquisition between the two groups.

Use of Knowledge Management Systems and the Impact on the Acquisition of Explicit Knowledge

In an era where knowledge is increasingly seen as an organization's most valuable asset, many firms have implemented knowledge management systems (KMS) in an effort to capture, store and disseminate knowledge across the firm. Concerns have been raised, however, about the potential dependency of users on KMS and the related potential for decreases in knowledge acquisition and expertise development (Cole 1998; Alavi and Leidner 2001b; O'Leary 2002a). The purpose of this study, which is exploratory in nature, is to investigate whether using KMS embedded with explicit knowledge impacts novice decision makers' judgment performance and knowledge acquisition differently than using traditional reference materials (e.g. manuals, textbooks) to research and solve a problem. An experimental methodology is used to study the relative performance and explicit knowledge acquisition of 188 participants partitioned into two groups using either a KMS or traditional reference materials in problem solving. The study finds that KMS users outperform users of traditional reference materials when they have access to their respective systems/materials, but the users of traditional reference materials outperform KMS users when respective systems/materials are removed. While all users improve interpretive problem solving and encoding of definitions and rules, there are significant differences in knowledge acquisition between the two groups.

Secondary-task effects on classification learning

Probabilistic classification learning can be supported by implicit knowledge of cue-response associations. We investigated whether forming these associations depends on attention by assessing the effect of performing a secondary task on learning in the probabilistic classification task (PCT). Experiment I showed that concurrent task performance significantly interfered with performance of the PCT. Experiment 2 showed that this interference did not prevent learning from occurring. On the other hand, the secondary task did disrupt acquisition of explicit knowledge about cue-outcome associations. These results show that concurrent task performance can have different effects on implicit and explicit knowledge acquired within the same task and also underscore the importance of considering effects on learning and performance separately.

Eliciting and shaping tacit knowing for meta-innovation: A challenge for management education in the 21st century transitional university

Purpose: This paper describes the implementation of and lessons learnt with an action research project on management teaching and learning in a 21st century transitional university. The project focuses on the problem of how to elicit and shape students' tacit knowing for meta-innovation and is part of a drive to find a new identity for the newly merged comprehensive University of Johannesburg (UJ). Design/methodology/approach: The project under discussion focuses on an undergraduate module, Developing and Managing Innovation, presented by UJ since 2003 as part of the B.Com Intrapreneurial Management degree. This degree has been developed in the light of the recent requirements placed upon managers by the innovation era. Creating new knowledge is not simply a matter of processing objective information but rather of tapping tacit and often highly subjective insights, intuitions and hunches. To find ways to elicit and shape tacit knowing for meta-innovation, an extensive literature study was conducted and a model identified for this purpose. An action research spiral was constructed to validate the teaching and learning interventions. Findings: The paper presents a teaching and learning framework to build theory that is in accord with the African Ubuntu spirit. The framework supports students within powerful learning environments to develop meta-cognition skills by focusing not only on the acquisition of explicit knowledge, but also on ways to elicit and shape tacit knowing. Implications: A community of practice is the bedrock of powerful learning environments in which action and learning, improvisation and experimentation, tacit and explicit knowledge feed on each other to stretch the students' capacity for meta-innovation. This enables them to continually deploy their talents, knowledge, resourcefulness and creativity to best effect as managers and to transform their life and that of their business and of others. Originality/value: The innovative curriculum and instructional design model generated in this project will assist UJ and other universities in transition to become engaged 21st century universities of excellence that can meet the societal, cultural and economic needs and interests of the national transformative agenda, aimed at shared growth and wealth in Africa.

Contingency awareness in human aversive conditioning involves the middle frontal gyrus

In contrast to the wealth of data describing the neural mechanisms underlying classical conditioning, we know remarkably little about the mechanisms involved in acquisition of explicit contingency awareness. Subjects variably acquire contingency awareness in classical conditioning paradigms, in which they are able to describe the temporal relationship between a conditioned cue and its outcome. Previous studies have implicated the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in the acquisition of explicit knowledge, although their specific roles remain unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to track the trial-by-trial acquisition of explicit knowledge in a concurrent trace and delay conditioning paradigm. We show that activity in bilateral middle frontal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus correlates with the accuracy of explicit contingency awareness on each trial. In contrast, amygdala activation correlates with conditioned responses indexed by skin conductance responses (SCRs). These results demonstrate that brain regions known to be involved in other aspects of learning and memory also play a specific role, reflecting on each trial the acquisition and representation of contingency awareness.

The prefrontal cortex and conscious monitoring of action: An experimental study

To investigate the role of the prefrontal cortex in conscious monitoring, we used an experimental paradigm generating a conflict between the action planned and the sensory-motor feedback. We analyzed the acquisition of explicit knowledge of the strategy for resolving the conflict and its influence on motor adaptation. Twenty patients with frontal lobe lesions and 18 controls had to trace a sagittal line with a stylus on a graphics tablet. A mirror on which the traced line, processed by a computer, was projected hid the hand. A mask limited visual feedback to the last third of the trajectory. Without informing the subjects, the line traced was modified by introducing a bias of 24° to the right. To succeed in the task, subjects had to modify their motor program and to deviate their trajectory in the opposite direction. Conscious elaboration of the strategy was evaluated by the number of trials needed to explicitly report the required deviation. Three groups of patients were distinguished: (1) with normal explicit strategy; (2) with delayed explicit strategy, and (3) without explicit strategy at the last trial. They significantly differed by the severity of the dysexecutive syndrome, particularly of environmental adherence. Motor adaptation was evaluated by the area between the line traced and the ideal line to compensate for the deviation. In patients with normal elaboration of the strategy, motor control was similar to that of controls, but it was severely disturbed in the other two groups. These results suggest the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in conscious motor monitoring.

Human brain activation accompanying explicitly directed movement sequence learning.

We examined brain activation patterns occurring during the production and encoding of a motor sequence. Participants performed a variant of the serial reaction-time task under two conditions. The first condition was designed to foster the engagement of explicit mechanisms of knowledge acquisition. The second condition was intended to encourage the engagement of implicit learning mechanisms that would be more typical of the standard serial reaction-time task. In the first condition, the acquisition of explicit knowledge about an 8-element ordered sequence led to a significant and rapid decline in reaction time. By contrast, the second condition, the task in which a sequence was presented unbeknownst to participants, did not yield changes in reaction time. Several brain regions, including prefrontal cortex, superior and inferior parietal lobules, and cerebellum, exhibited explicit learning-related activation. The prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobules increased their levels of activation between the beginning and end of the experiment, while primary motor, primary sensory, and cerebellar cortex decreased their levels of activation from the beginning to the end of the experiment. We propose a model in which two processes, a learning-related increase and a habituation process might interact to produce the activation patterns observed during movement sequence acquisition. In short, the prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobule together direct and recruit superior parietal lobule and cerebellum to encode and perform the sequence. The increased activation in prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobule may represent the activity of a working memory circuit that functions in the acquisition and recall of sequence information.

Chunking processes in the learning of event sequences: electrophysiological indicators.

The present study investigated whether effects of implicit learning (IL) are due to well-learned and explicitly represented parts of the stimulus material ("chunks"). To this purpose, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an oddball-version of a serial reaction time (RT) task: At unpredictable positions within a 16-item letter sequence, single deviant items replaced an item of the repeatedly presented standard sequence. After acquisition, the "process dissociation procedure" (Jacoby, 1991) was adopted to identify explicitly learned sequence parts for each participant. Acquisition of sequence knowledge was reflected in faster RTs for standard items than for deviant items and in enhanced N2b and P3b components for deviant items. While the ERP effects were obtained for explicitly represented sequence parts only, RT effects were independent of subsequent reproduction performance. These results indicated that (1) ERPs are a valid measure of explicit knowledge, (2) implicit and explicit knowledge coexist in serial RT tasks, and (3) chunking processes play a major role in the acquisition of explicit knowledge about event sequences.

Educating the designerly thinker

This paper presents a hypothesis about design education that is framed within and derived from cognitive theories of learning. The relevance of design thinking and cognitive approaches to the development of pedagogical approaches in design education is presented and discussed. A conceptual model for design education that emphasizes the acquisition of explicit knowledge of design is proposed. The acquisition of knowledge is achieved through the explication of cognitive structures and strategies of design thinking. The explication process is constructed by exploiting a representational formalism, and a computational medium which supports both the learning process as well as the potential re-use of this knowledge. Finally, an argument is presented that the measure of learning, generally equated with the evaluation of the product of designing, can instead be based upon evaluating learning increments of acquired knowledge.

Classification Accuracy: Machine Learning vs. Explicit Knowledge Acquisition

This empirical study provides evidence that machine learning models can provide better classification accuracy than explicit knowledge acquisition techniques. The findings suggest that the main contribution of machine learning to expert systems is not just cost reduction, but rather the provision of tools for the development of better expert systems.

Classification accuracy: Machine learning vs. explicit knowledge acquisition

This empirical study provides evidence that machine learning models can provide better classification accuracy than explicit knowledge acquisition techniques. The findings suggest that the main contribution of machine learning to expert systems is not just cost reduction, but rather the provision of tools for the development of better expert systems.

Rules and instances in foreign language learning: Interactions of explicit and implicit knowledge

Abstract This paper reports a study of implicit and explicit learning of second language (L2) grammatical forms, the “soft”-mutations of Welsh. “Random” learners saw randomly ordered instances. “Rule” learners first learned the rules. “Rule&Instances” learners saw the rules applied to instances. Initial learning, generalisations to new words and constructions, implicit fast performance in a well-formedness RT decision task, and explicit knowledge of the rules were recorded. Analyses of over 71,000 language trials demonstrate: (1) “Random” learners quickly achieve competence on original learning material, but show little implicit learning, performing poorly on well-formedness (or “grammaticality”) judgements, and have poor acquisition of explicit knowledge of the underlying rule-structure. (2) “Rule” learners take many trials to learn the rules but this facilitates their understanding of the natural language. However, they often know rules explicitly, yet fail to apply them in practice. Explicit and implicit knowledge are doubly dissociated. (3) Initially, “Rule&Instances” learners learn slowest. However, they alone abstract a working knowledge of soft-mutations. When exposed to new constructions, they generalise and are able both to explicitly formulate the new rules and succeed on implicit well-formedness judgements.