Organizational Knowledge Creation by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi
The cartesian split gave birth to the organization as a mechanism for information processing. The problem is that when organizations innovate, they actually create new knowledge, from the inside out. This article looks at both epistemology (theory of knowledge) and ontology (levels of knowledge-creating entities). It also looks at four modes: socialization, externalization, combination and internatization.
Knowlede is about beliefs and commitment as well as about action and meaning. It’s context specific and relational. Knowledge is about “a dynamic human process of justifying personal belief toward the truth” (heavy eh? ;)).
An organization cannot create knowledge without individuals. We need to look at both tacit (personal, context-specific) knowledge and explicit (codified) knowledge. Knowledge conversion happens between those two, with Westeners emphasizing explicit and Japanese the tacit knowledge. Through social conversion, Nonaka (1990) argued tacit and explicit knowledge expand in terms of quality and quantity.
Socialization si about moving from tacit to tacit knowledge, often without language, through observation, imitation and practice fo rexample.
Externalization is from tacit to explicit knowledge, triggered by dialogue and collective reflection. Analogy helps here to bridge the gap between an image and a logical model.
Combination of explicit and explicit knowledge, also creates new knowledge. The MBA course is a good example here.
Internalization moves from explicit to tacit knowledge, in relation to learning-by-doing for example. Documentation enriches tacit knowledge, as it internalizes the experiences made.
Knowledge creation is continuous, and the conversion between the different systems needs to happen constantly. The process is a spiral, starting at the individual level and going up until it includes parties outside the company.
Enabling conditions for all of this are:
\- Having the intention to build you knowledge
\- Giving the autonomy to the individual for new ideas
\- Stimulate interaction in a fluctuating and creative chaos
\- Create redundant knowledge that might later be important
\- Your internal diversity must match the diversity of your environment