Semantic Web-Based Information Systems: State-of-the-Art ...

The Human Semant c Web
Figure 14. Similarities and differences between the concepts Agent and Party represented
as metadata in the semantic comparative window
to them, the Cartesian split between subject and object, the knower and the known,
has given birth to a Western view of an organization as a mechanism for information
processing. While this view has proven to be effective in explaining how an
organization functions, it does not really explain the concepts of innovation and
knowledge creation. In the Nonaka-Takeuchi theory of knowledge creation, the
cornerstone is the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. The dominant
form of knowledge in the West is explicit knowledge, which can be transmitted easily
across individuals, both formally and systematically. In contrast, the Japanese view
knowledge as primarily tacit, something that is not easily visible and expressible
but which is deeply rooted in an individual's actions and experiences.
According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), the key to knowledge creation lies in
the following four (SECI) modes of knowledge conversion, which occur when tacit
and explicit knowledge interact with each other:
• Socialization:.The process of sharing experiences (tacit knowledge), thereby
creating new tacit knowledge.
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