Editing Organizational learning (section)

=== Nature of knowledge ===
[[Knowledge]] is not a homogenous resource. Although it is related to data and information, knowledge is different from these constructs. Data are a set of defined, objective facts concerning events, while information is a value-added form of data that adds meaning through contextualization, categorization, calculation, correction, or condensation.<ref>Davenport, T. H.; Prusak, L. (2000). Working knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press (Chapter 1).</ref> Knowledge is the applied version of information, a combination of information within experience, framing, value, contextualization, and insight. Experience is knowledge that is generated through exposure to and application of knowledge. Knowledge originates within and is applied by units of an organization to evaluate and utilize experience and information effectively. Knowledge can become embedded within repositories, routines, processes, practices, tools, and norms, depending on the relationship between information, experience, and knowledge.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Organizational learning research: Past, present and future|journal = Management Learning|date = 2011-09-01|issn = 1350-5076|pages = 439–446|volume = 42|issue = 4|doi = 10.1177/1350507611408217|first = Linda|last = Argote|s2cid = 145490839}}</ref>

Two distinct forms of knowledge, explicit and tacit, are significant in this respect. Explicit knowledge is codified, systematic, formal, and easy to communicate. Tacit knowledge is personal, context-specific, subjective knowledge.<ref>Nonaka, I., H. Takeuchi. 1995. The Knowledge Creating Company. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref>
* [[Explicit knowledge]] is knowledge that is easy to transfer. Unlike tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge is declarative or factual.  It is transferred through written, verbal, or codified media. Examples of this include instructions, definitions, and documents. Among its employees, Toyota spreads explicit knowledge about its assembly line production. Toyota requires each team of workers and each individual worker to document their tasks, providing detailed descriptions on "how each task is to be performed, how long each task should take, the sequence of steps to be followed in performing each task, and the steps to be taken by each worker in checking his or her own work." This uses explicit knowledge since the knowledge is passed along using a code, which is a document of detailed descriptions in Toyota's case.<ref name="ReferenceA3">Sanchez, Ron. "'Tacit Knowledge' versus 'Explicit Knowledge' Approaches to Knowledge Management Practice." IVS/CVS Working Papers 2004-01, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy, Copenhagen Business School.</ref>
* [[Tacit knowledge]] is knowledge that is difficult to transfer. As first described by Michael Polanyi, tacit knowledge is the knowledge of procedures.<ref>Polanyi, M. (1962), Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-critical Philosophy, corrected edition, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.</ref> It is a personal type of knowledge that cannot be shared simply through written or verbal communication. It is learned mostly through experience over time. For example, Toyota transfers tacit knowledge whenever it opens a new assembly factory. To train its new employees for a new factory, Toyota sends a group of its new employees to work at one of its established factories, where experienced employees train them. After this long-term training, they are sent back to the new factory to transfer their production knowledge to the rest of the new employees. This is a transfer of tacit knowledge since this knowledge is too complex to be codified and passed along through a document. This knowledge can only be transferred to new employees through practice and experience.<ref name="ReferenceA3" />