Understanding the complexity of tacit knowledge has become increasingly important for the enhancement of organisational flow. The human factor and the ability to make competitive advantage is especially important. In this context, a book such as Tacit Knowledge in Organizational Learning concerned with tacit knowledge flows, can make a valuable contribution. Although offering a fairly comprehensive coverage of the topic, the book, however, also has its limitations.
Tacit Knowledge in Organizational Learning consists of five (untitled in the table of contents) sections and 15 chapters. The section titles and their descriptions appear on pp. xvi‐xviii where the author describes the organization of the book. Section 1 deals with background issues, section 2 with the methodological foundations, section 3 with methodology, section 4 with results, and section 5 with the discussion, and conclusion.
Following the introduction, chapter 2 deals with knowledge management, chapter 3 defines tacit knowledge (especially detailed and useful), while chapters 4 and 5 deal with testing tacit knowledge, and various sizes of organizations (large, small and medium) organizations. Chapter 6 concerns knowledge flows and chapter 7 social network analysis. Methodology used in the field is addressed in chapter 8, while chapter 9 reflects on some initial results. Chapter 10 moves on to results with formal concept analysis, while chapters 11 to 13 deal with various sizes of companies as case studies. For these three chapters title augmentation would be useful to clearly inform the reader of the scope of the chapter at a glance. Chapters 14 and 15 respectively cover the discussion, conclusion, and recommendations. My personal perception, is that more meaningful titles, would add value to the discussion.
A number of appendices are also included. Appendix A with an extensive list of definitions of tacit knowledge stretching over 34 pages seems especially useful.
Appendix B concerns tacit knowledge maps created through a qualitative analysis of tacit knowledge definitions. The print is, however, extremely small. The same applies to Appendix C with charts of an organisational structure. Appendix D concerns social network analysis sociograms on overhead transparencies, and Appendix E extra social network analysis supporting data. The questionnaire used for the research is presented in Appendix F. The print is, however, almost too small to read and seriously affects the value of the questionnaire. A two and a half page glossary of terms used in the book is included as Appendix G. The limited scope of this list does, however, not do justice to the value of the content. Neither does the very limited four‐page index concluding the book.
Although Tacit Knowledge in Organizational Learning can certainly help deepen understanding of the complexity of tacit knowledge, its shortcomings should be noted. The book is recommended for academics and researchers and the serious practitioner in the field.
