Why Nonaka highlights tacit knowledge: a critical review

To better understand Nonaka’s SECI model of knowledge creation and its constraints, we revisit the fundamental points of tacit knowledge in the model and provide a critical review on the role of tacit knowledge in business organization. First, the “tacitness” of knowledge is broken down into two parts: implicitness and real tacitness. We argue that the tacit dimension of knowledge in the context of the model is different from that in Polanyi’s original context; it actually includes considerable “implicitness” idiosyncratic in Japanese context. The separation of implicitness from real tacitness suggests carefully considering the potentialities of “unveiling” the secrets of tacit knowledge in different contexts. Second, considering most cases for the model mainly came from certain Japanese manufacturing companies that more or less relates to assemble lines, it is necessary to be cautious when the model is extended for a broader application.