Intro

I am going to talk about the different types of knowledge. Before that, remember we talked about
knowledge assets and discussed explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge, and procedural and declarative
knowledge. Now, if you look at this table, it shows the different types, which could be classified either as
explicit knowledge or tacit knowledge under the category of what you call declarative knowledge or
procedural knowledge.

Illustrations of the Different Types of Knowledge

Now we have also decided to talk about the context-specific and technology-specific use of different
kinds of knowledge, which is related to declarative as well as procedural. If you look at declarative
explicit and tacit notes, explicit is, say, a book—a book which talks about a particular topic in general,
like when we are going to buy a company stock. What are the things that you are going to look into?
Price-to-earnings ratio, dividends, and these kinds of things. So it is explicit, available in a book, and
declarative in form.

Now if you look at the tacit form of knowledge, it suggests that when you are going to buy a stock,
though you have declarative information in explicit form explaining what to consider, the decision to
buy the stock depends more on personal knowledge and experience. You are not only going to look into
the factors described in the text but also use your experience, your insight, and other considerations
when making the decision. This knowledge also has two contexts: technology-related and context-
related.

Suppose in a particular context, it says that when we are going to take a decision, there is a team that is
not working well, so a decision to replace certain members of the team needs to be taken by you,
related to a particular project. Now, if you look at the technical aspects, there is a manual discussing
how to configure a computer to achieve specific performance.

When I am talking about declarative explicit technical knowledge, it describes how to do particular
things, where manuals are available, and then you may use these manuals to perform certain tasks. But
if something goes wrong, are you going to rely only on explicit knowledge to find a fault, or will you use
your knowledge and experience to determine what went wrong with the computer system and how to
correct it?

Now look at the next form of knowledge, which is procedural. It also has both explicit and tacit forms. In
its explicit form, it clearly states the process through which you should go to buy a stock of a company.
This gives you the basic knowledge but does not determine when you are going to buy this stock.

In a particular context, for example, you may see that a senior manager asks to replace certain team
members because the team is not working well. Based on the context, you decide to make that change.
Now, if you look at the tacit part, it suggests that based on your knowledge and experience, you are
going to see how to motivate people in the organization. Books may contain information on motivating
employees, but as a manager, you are going to use your knowledge and wisdom to determine what
needs to be done to motivate people in a particular situation.

In terms of procedural knowledge again, looking at the technical aspect, there is a manual or guide
describing the process to configure the system or change a particular part if it is not working. When it
comes to tacit knowledge, based on experience or knowledge, you may know the steps required to
repair it and use that knowledge without necessarily following the entire procedure. This approach
saves time and resources and shows the importance of tacit knowledge.

Conversion Processes

Now we will discuss how to convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. If you look at this figure, it
suggests that there are different ways to convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, and not only
tacit to explicit but also explicit to tacit and tacit to tacit. There are two types of knowledge: tacit
knowledge and explicit knowledge, and we need to convert between them.

If you look at tacit-to-tacit conversion, there are two ways to do it: socialization and internalization.
Socialization means interacting on a personal level through dialogue, collaboration, and relationship-
building, where knowledge is transferred from one individual to another while remaining in tacit form.

In tacit-to-explicit conversion, externalization is used. This means determining how tacit knowledge
could be documented so it can be transformed into explicit form. You can also use a combination of
these three processes—externalization, socialization, and internalization—to move from tacit to explicit.

Socialization Process

Socialization involves sharing experiences at the individual or group level, and learning takes place
through observation, imitation, and practice. That is how knowledge from one person is transferred to
another.

Externalization Process

Externalization is the process of articulating tacit knowledge into explicit form. Certain concepts or
observations are documented in theory, models, or hypotheses. Based on your knowledge and
experience, you develop concepts, note them down, and create a model to explain relationships among
phenomena. This way, tacit knowledge transforms into explicit form, as you try to examine relationships
among concepts or develop theoretical models to explain behavior.

Externalization can take place through team or group reflections or dialogues.

Internalization Process

Internalization involves looking at documents, manuals, and guidelines, learning from them, and gaining
knowledge. This is called learning by doing. The experience gained from doing certain tasks is known as
internalization, as you gain knowledge through reading, observation, and practice in tacit or explicit
form.

Documents and other resources help you internalize knowledge by guiding you through tasks, and in the
process, you learn. Internalization can also involve systemizing concepts into a knowledge system,
where existing knowledge is reconfigured.

Suppose, for example, that based on externalization, you come up with theoretical models. Then, based
on experience, you test these models to determine their accuracy. If necessary, you make changes in
these models based on experience, intuition, knowledge, and skill, using internalization, externalization,
and other processes to reconfigure available knowledge. This process is known as knowledge
conversion.

Now, if you look at these graphs, they illustrate how we move from tacit to explicit, explicit to explicit,
and from explicit to tacit in order to acquire knowledge. This shows the four processes we use:
externalization, combination, internalization, and socialization, which create either tacit or explicit forms
of knowledge.

Capturing, Organizing, and Accessing Knowledge

Now, how this is done, how we capture, organize, and access knowledge that is available. If you look at
traditional systems or the older ways of doing things, you need certain forms. It could be auditory,
geographical, or written, and that is how knowledge used to be captured. So, the old ways to capture
knowledge involved it being available in written form, auditory form, or graphical representation in a
graph so that you can see. That is how capturing, organization, and access were done so that you can
make use of it.

For example, there is written information, or a lecture available in auditory form, or a book which is
written by somebody. So, this book is a documented form of explicit knowledge which is organized and
structured, so you have access to it and you can make use of that to do certain things. So, that was the
old method, and this organizing was done through content access classification systems.

For example, libraries. Our libraries are the best examples of how knowledge is organized and accessed
by us. Library systems have a classification system, and it is very structured. Suppose you are looking for
a book in a particular area; you have to go to the classification system to find out where the book is
available. That is what we call a classification system, where content and access can be identified. Based
on that, you can check the content and other things.

You need to access it physically, which means that if you want a book, you have to go to the library. It
was available in physical form because it was not available virtually. So, if you wanted something, you
had to go to the library, the company, the lab, or the school. And the older way to capture, organize, and
access knowledge was basically for explicit or documented forms of knowledge. Tacit knowledge was
not going through this process.

New Ways of Capturing Knowledge

Now, if you look at the new ways, knowledge is being captured in digital form, in cyberspace. Most
knowledge is available in digital form; that is why even libraries are being digitized so that you can have
access from anywhere. This knowledge is being organized using software systems based on engineering
principles and equations so that it is available anywhere, anytime. That is 24 by 7 by 365.

This means that you are using IT systems or software to organize and access knowledge in real time
whenever you want. You don’t need to physically go anywhere to have this kind of knowledge; if you
have a computer system, you can access it. There are also different tools that can be used to access tacit
knowledge, which is not concerned with explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is derived from easily
accessible information that you apply in a particular context to perform effectively.

This leverage is much more exponential; multiple times, you can make use of it because there is no
restriction, as a library may be open at certain times, but in cyberspace, you can access information
anytime on a real-time basis. That is how procedural knowledge has been captured and organized; you
have access to it. It provides better leverage in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, performance, and
productivity.

Knowledge Work Activities

What are the different kinds of knowledge activities that are there? We start with the first thing, which
is how to acquire knowledge. The most important thing is acquiring knowledge because unless we
acquire or create knowledge, nothing is going to happen. So, at this stage, you have to see how to create
knowledge. Who is going to create knowledge? It is the people. People in organizations or elsewhere
create knowledge, which could be used by others. Knowledge is also created by people; it could be in
laboratories, in innovation centers, in R&D labs of institutions and organizations, and they try to
innovate and create new knowledge. So, unless they create and innovate something new—whether it is
related to products, processes, or systems—you are not going to have new knowledge.

Once this new knowledge is created or acquired by you, then you are going to analyze it. Why do you
need to analyze it? You need to know whether this knowledge that you have created or acquired is
going to be viable and useful or not. So, if you think that this knowledge is good, which could be useful
for the organization or the individual, then try to organize it. Try to provide a system to see how this
knowledge can be used.

Then you go for codifying the knowledge. Codifying is the next stage where you try to see that this
knowledge is available in some documented form, explicit form, so that anybody can use that
knowledge. Organizing means you are going to classify what kind of knowledge it is, and then you are
going to put it somewhere using an explicit form. It could be visual, auditory, in a book format, or in
digital form so that the knowledge is available.

Once the knowledge is codified, the next stage is to make use of it by having access and retrieval. That is
where you need to communicate. When I am talking about communication, it means making sure
people know this knowledge is available and could be used. So, if the knowledge is available in a codified
form and is well organized, then it is easy to communicate to the people, or people can get information
about that from the retrieval system.

What is most important is utilization. Even if the knowledge is available in the archive of the
organization or the knowledge management system of the organization, are they going to make use of it
to be more productive, effective, or not? It is very, very important. Utilization of that knowledge, which
is available in some explicit form, in a highly organized, structured, and codified way, requires a system
so that you can have access to it, make use of it, and see what the result is when you make use of that
information and knowledge in order to be productive. You have to see whether you have met the goals
and objectives for which you wanted to make use of that knowledge.

So, you are going to compare the result with other things. If the result exceeds these processes, then
you can say yes, it is a good system; it is very, very effective and viable, which can be used by you for
being more productive and efficient.

Knowledge Management Systems in Practice

Now, what are the different kinds of knowledge management systems that are used in practices? You
know that mostly organizations are knowledge teams. Knowledge teams are responsible for creating,
acquiring, and simulating knowledge in the organization or elsewhere. This team may consist of people
from different categories; there could be people from HR, people from the R&D team, people from IT
systems, because different kinds of people are required at different levels. For repairs, you need R&D;
for coding and putting them into the archive, you need IT systems, and you need the help of IT people.

That is why knowledge people are multidisciplinary, where you have people from different functional
areas. People from these functional areas form groups, and this is what we call a knowledge team. This
knowledge team is basically responsible for acquiring or creating knowledge, storing it, disseminating it,
and finally ensuring that people are going to use that knowledge which is available in the knowledge
management system of the organization.

What is the knowledge base? That is basically the contents, what is available in the knowledge database.
The knowledge database may include experts, processes, best practices related to production,
processes, systems, and other things so that people can make use of it. The knowledge database is
basically a depository of knowledge available in different forms.

Then you have knowledge centers. Knowledge centers are basically what we call the hub where
knowledge resides. It is basically the archive where the knowledge is. For example, Google is a
knowledge hub, because from there, you can get a lot of information, and it has a system through which
you can retrieve information depending upon the context in which you want to make use of it.

Another important thing is running the organization. When you make use of this knowledge in order to
create and innovate something new which helps you to be more efficient, more productive, and more
innovative on a continuous basis, then you become a learning organization. A learning organization is
defined as a continuous process to improve and innovate yourself. This could relate to individuals,
teams, or the organization, and it helps in the growth and development of the organization.

Communities of Practice

What are communities of practice? These are practices that a group follows in doing certain things. It
could be related to processes. Suppose a team is given a project, and they successfully complete the
project and become very efficient. These practices that a particular group has followed in executing a
certain project—what processes they have followed—if these processes are captured and documented
in explicit form, then it could be available to others. That is what we call communities of practice. This
means the execution of work, the information, knowledge, and processes through which the work is
being done by the group is very important. Capturing those practices which people are adopting in order
to perform well and be effective is also important.

The Role of Technology in Knowledge Management

Another important thing required for knowledge management is technology, because in a digital world,
if you really want to have a knowledge management system, you need an IT infrastructure or technology
infrastructure. You need internet, software, hardware systems, and document management systems.
Technology is important because it is an enabler; it is a carrier to store and retrieve information. It helps
you to build up the archive and to set up processes through which you can retrieve information, and
that is where technology is very important.
Finally, the initiatives taken by corporate managers are also crucial. The question is, how important do
corporate or top managers consider these initiatives in the organization? Do top managers really believe
that knowledge management systems are useful? If they think it is a good system that will help them be
more efficient, productive, and innovative in the future, then they are likely to develop or implement a
system in the organization.

Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Management

Many organizations have also begun appointing Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs) who are responsible
for developing and implementing knowledge management systems. Intellectual capital is also a
component, defined as the sum of different kinds of capital: structural capital, relational capital,
organizational capital, and human capital. Intellectual capital is not only about human capital, which
focuses on people’s knowledge and skill base, but also about organizational capital, such as trademarks,
trade secrets, and patents.

Knowledge resides at different levels in the organization.

1. Customer Knowledge: The most vital knowledge actually is with the customers because they
use the goods and services produced by the organization. Based on customer feedback and
information, organizations can be more innovative and proactive in their products and
processes. So, customer knowledge is crucial.

2. Knowledge in Products: This involves the knowledge embedded in products themselves, often
adding value to them. For example, when we talk about smartphones, the knowledge added to
the product through smart features makes it more valuable.

3. Knowledge in People: Tacit knowledge resides in people’s minds, which is significant because if
people leave, this knowledge goes with them. This is why organizations aim to capture this tacit
knowledge and transform it into explicit forms to retain it.

4. Knowledge in Processes: Knowledge in processes defines how work is performed. Processes

may sometimes be well-defined, while in other cases, they are not. Well-defined processes help
individuals perform tasks effectively, while in undefined processes, decision-making often
depends on personal knowledge, experience, skill, and intuition.

5. Organizational Memory: This includes knowledge in reports, graphs, databases, archives, and
files, representing the organization’s memory. Organizational memory helps understand past
practices and decisions to guide current and future actions.

6. Knowledge in Relationships: Relationships in an organization are vital because they facilitate

the transfer of tacit knowledge. People are more likely to share knowledge when they have
strong interpersonal relationships. This relational knowledge is necessary for capturing tacit
knowledge in a way that makes it accessible to others.

7. Intellectual Capital: A knowledge asset is defined as intellectual capital, which comprises human
capital (knowledge and skill base of people), structural capital (systems and processes of the
organization), and relational capital (how people interact and relate). Intellectual capital is
essential as it combines structural, relational, organizational, and human capital into an asset
that supports knowledge management.