Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Claire Gubbins et al
3.2 Individual Influencers on Efforts to Capture and Externalise Tacit ‘Know-How’
While decisions to seek tacit knowledge and willingness to share tacit knowledge are largely based on
individual personal attributes and motivators, <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> capturing tacit knowledge is complex in
that it is based on mental processes and individual cognitive competences. This process is necessary
for ei<strong>the</strong>r/or capture <strong>of</strong> tacit knowledge in an external (explicit) or internal (tacit) form and thus a
necessary component <strong>of</strong> effective management <strong>of</strong> tacit knowledge. Four key influencers on
individuals’ efforts to capture ano<strong>the</strong>r’s knowledge were among <strong>the</strong> most frequently discussed or cited
by respondents. These influencers were common attributes required by both knowledge seekers and
<strong>the</strong> knowledge source due to <strong>the</strong> collaborative nature <strong>of</strong> tacit knowledge capture processes.
The first related to <strong>the</strong> recipients’ absorptive capacity. In this case site engineers typically possessed
backgrounds in mechanics or electrics but as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir role were frequently involved in machine
maintenance that required knowledge <strong>of</strong> both mechanics or electrics. This required that <strong>the</strong>y obtain
<strong>the</strong> component knowledge which <strong>the</strong>y lacked from training, manuals or o<strong>the</strong>r engineers. Respondents
spoke <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> difficulties <strong>of</strong> understanding ano<strong>the</strong>r persons’ knowledge, explanations and ‘know-how’ to
fix a machine when <strong>the</strong> problem combined both electrics and mechanics. Respondents disagreed
about whe<strong>the</strong>r those with deeper contextual knowledge were better able to explain or more difficult to
understand when <strong>the</strong> recipient had a different knowledge base. One respondent also felt that those
whom were educated through <strong>the</strong> college system had a “different way <strong>of</strong> thinking” (Engineer 4) than
those whom developed <strong>the</strong>ir skill through <strong>the</strong> apprenticeship system and that this made is difficult to
understand each o<strong>the</strong>r.
“I think <strong>the</strong> guy that’s able to explain it better has more knowledge, he has a deeper
knowledge <strong>of</strong> it than <strong>the</strong> guy who is not able to explain it well” (Engineer 6)
“I could probably explain to someone over <strong>the</strong> phone or bring <strong>the</strong>m down and show <strong>the</strong>m
but I don’t think <strong>the</strong>y’d know specifically- <strong>the</strong>y’d need to know a little bit more about <strong>the</strong>
inside <strong>of</strong> a computer. Computers is what I do…so it would be hard to explain to
somebody who wouldn’t understand <strong>the</strong> computer end <strong>of</strong> it” (Engineer 1)
This <strong>the</strong>me also emerged in terms <strong>of</strong> having a common language through which understanding with
minimal explanation is enabled.
“a lot <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gang now are here 8,9 or 10 years so we know <strong>the</strong> scene here, we know we
can say one word to a person and <strong>the</strong>y’ll know exactly what we’re talking about so it’s
almost no need to go [to a system to help <strong>the</strong>m understand it]” (Engineer 5)
A second influencer on capture related to individuals communication skills in efforts to capture
ano<strong>the</strong>r’s knowledge. Respondents described those from whom <strong>the</strong>y were able to capture knowledge
as possessing <strong>the</strong> ability to explain, can make <strong>the</strong> knowledge easy to understand, easy to follow and
explain at a speed appropriate to <strong>the</strong> recipient. There was a belief that some people are easier to
understand than o<strong>the</strong>rs and are better at explaining things, possibly in ‘layman’s terms’.
Respondents also spoke about how requesters <strong>of</strong> knowledge need to be able to ask <strong>the</strong> source to
slow down, request step-by-step knowledge, be willing to ask questions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> source to ensure <strong>the</strong>y
understand, force <strong>the</strong> source to explain and be in a position to take notes to help <strong>the</strong>m recall <strong>the</strong>
knowledge or decipher it fur<strong>the</strong>r. One respondent spoke about an acknowledged in-house machine
expert and how you had to engage with him to try and understand and capture his knowledge.
“[Engineer X] is really good at electronics but he’s running at twice <strong>the</strong> speed <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rest
<strong>of</strong> use, so we have to slow him down to say ‘how do you do that? How do you get to that
step from that step ….that I understand?’” (Engineer 5)
A number <strong>of</strong> respondents discussed factors pertaining to self-efficacy in engaging in tacit knowledge
sharing and capture processes. They discussed how <strong>the</strong>y felt about explaining <strong>the</strong>ir ‘know-how’ to
o<strong>the</strong>rs and <strong>the</strong>se discussions illuminated some possible explanations for knowledge sources
experiencing difficulties in or failing to impart <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge. Essentially, respondents possessed
high confidence in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir expertise in electronics or mechanics but were less confident about
<strong>the</strong>ir abilities to ei<strong>the</strong>r/or verbalise or write down <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge. This was expressed as personal
beliefs about lacking skills to explain or write and was apparent in some respondent’s efforts to write
down some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir knowledge but <strong>the</strong>n have o<strong>the</strong>rs check it for clarity.
“some things are very hard to write up. I suppose its people that are good at writing, it’s
like telling a story- I wouldn’t be very good at that, it takes me forever to explain how
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