Title: Tacit knowledge, organisational memory: expectations and experiences in developing a knowledge warehouse

Authors: Amit Mitra, Laura Campoy

Addresses: Department of Information Systems, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, Swindon SN6 8LA, UK. ' Operations and Information Management Group, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK

Abstract: Ubiquity, speed, depth and capability to make an impression on the audience are some of the endearing properties that have made the internet a favourite tool to garner competitive advantage. At the same time burgeoning new research in knowledge management has altered traditional understanding of, firstly, conversion of tacit into explicit knowledge, and secondly, limited advantages that this might bring about. The capacity to harness organisational competence by way of some sort of collective memory has remained an unfulfilled goal. The present paper suggests the use of organisational memory as a viable means to develop competitive advantage. The paper then evaluates theoretical findings in the light of the first author|s supervisory experiences in developing a knowledge warehouse within the media industry. Existing nondisclosure and confidentiality conditions would mean that a pseudonym of Kaisons would be used to refer to the media company in which evidence for the paper was collected.

Keywords: tacit knowledge; explicit knowledge; organisational memory; competitive advantage; knowledge warehousing; collective memory; knowledge repository; knowledge management strategy; codification; personalisation; internet; media industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2008.018998

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2008 Vol.3 No.6, pp.686 - 697

Published online: 27 Jun 2008 *

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