Knowledge Creation: Revisiting the 'Ba' Humbug: People and 'Latent' Knowledge in Organizational Learning

Abstract

Knowledge management theory has struggled with the concept of knowledge creation. Since the seminal article of Nonaka in 1991, an industry has grown up seeking to capture the knowledge in the heads and hearts of individuals so as to leverage them for organizational learning and growth. But the SECI process of socialization, externalization, combination and internalization outlined by Nonaka and his colleagues has dealt essentially with knowledge transfer rather than creation. This paper looks at attempts to fill the gap in the process - from Nonaka's own addition of the need for ba to Snowden's suggestion of that we consider Cynefin as a space for knowledge creation. Drawing upon a much older theoretical framework, the Johari Window developed in group dynamics, this paper suggests an alternative concept - latent knowledge - and introduces a different model for the process of knowledge creation.

Keywords: knowledge management, explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge, latent knowledge, organizational learning, Johari Window, group learning, group dynamics

JEL Classification: L19, L20, M1, M10, M12, M54, O33, O34