The European Business Review - July-August 2019

56 The European Business Review July - August 2019

in the organisation as a whole. Most importantly, organisational

knowledge is owned and disseminated by the organisation.

To analyse knowledge in organisations, there are two impor-

tant taxonomies of organisational knowledge that need to be

discussed. The following section addresses these two impor-

tant taxonomies in depth to set the record straight on the

importance of knowledge management within companies.

Tacit and Explicit Knowledge

Why would executives care whether knowl-

edge is tacit or explicit? The simple answer

is that tacit knowledge is not shared and

sometimes bottled up in individuals

causing a bottleneck in the organisa-

tion. If knowledge can be categorised

as tacit and explicit knowledge then

how can executives manage knowl-

edge to enhance productivity?

Since tacit knowledge is knowledge

that exists in the minds of organisa-

tional members which is gained from

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cult to formalise and transfer unless directed

to do so, executives need to pinpoint and

encourage this type of knowledge to be drawn out

or be shared. On the other hand, more controllable, explicit

knowledge is knowledge that is highly formalised and codi-

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formal and systematic language, and manifested in rules

and procedures providing the necessary tools and processes

for executives to manage. It can also be captured in expert

systems and tapped by many people throughout the organ-

isation via intranet. Executives know that explicit knowledge

is more formal and has the potential to be shared more easily.

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more useful compared to tacit knowledge. Executives can

have organisational development experts to use focus groups

to draw out follower’s tacit knowledge.

Private and Public Knowledge

Since executives are constantly dealing with the public, espe-

cially if they are a publicly traded company, the private and

public knowledge is something they pay a great deal of

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mentioning. For example, a scholar by the name of Matusik,

argues that knowledge in organisations can be categorised as

either private or public knowledge and can be advantageous to

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be guarded and should not be shared with the competition.

Any leak of such information may expose the organisation

and increase the operational risk. Contrary to private knowl-

edge, public knowledge differs and it is not unique

to any organisation. Public knowledge may be

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when posted on social media and other

means of communication.

It is important for executives to

consider the ownership of knowl-

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contributor to the knowledge of

organisations as a whole. Moreover,

knowledge emerges in two additional

forms, including the knowledge that is

only accessible by one company and the

knowledge that is accessible to all compa-

nies. The best approach to knowledge is

for executives to know which knowledge is to

remain private and which is to go public. A mistake

in this area may be vital to the organisations and executives

must choose wisely.

The Importance of Knowledge Management

Executives now are spending more time concerned about

operational risk than ever before. Operational risk is an

operational approach to represent knowledge management

but in this case, it seeks to apply organisational knowledge

in order to satisfy and exceed customer’s expectations.

Similar to customer relationship management, knowledge

management is an enabler for identifying and satisfying

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that motivates the development of relationships with

customers. Scholars have proven that executives can use

knowledge management to improve customer satisfaction

through acquiring additional knowledge from customers,

developing better relationships with them, and providing a

higher quality of services and/or products for them.

Similar to customer relationship management, knowledge management is an

enabler for identifying and satisfying customer’s needs and manifests itself as a

significant driver that motivates the development of relationships with customers.

Management