BUILDING ON INDIVIDUAL TACIT KNOWLEDGE THROUGH TACIT MANAGEMENT OF INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS IN A REGIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN LATVIA

Abstract

The broader problem addressed by the present paper is the insufficient attention paid to and ineffective use of the tacit knowledge surfaced during informal conversations in the organisation. This tacit and transformative potential, in the present paper, is looked at from the point of view of informal conversation management. We argue that the ability to capitalize on this potential depends on the attitude organisation members, and management in particular, have to informal conversations, which reflects on how such conversations are managed - a move from explicitly managed conversations to their tacit management proved necessary to be able to create a more favourable platform for building on tacit knowledge and by this contributing to sustainable changes. Such conversations and their management was the object of a research within the action research paradigm, and they are reflected upon through the dimension of the three centres of tacit knowing introduced by Polanyi, which was adapted for the present research.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.2.2212