Experience vs expertise: The role of implicit understandings of knowledge in determining the nature of knowledge transfer in two companies

This article builds on data from case studies of two companies in two different industries to show how local and tacit notions of what is knowledge determine what types of intra‐organizational mechanisms for knowledge transfer are preferred in a given company setting. The article proposes that these tacit and informal views about knowledge constitute a knowledge culture which may in turn be used to assist managers in making informed choices with respect to knowledge management tools. A number of other conceptual and practical management implications are derived from this comparative case study.