Journeys to the Edge: Exploring the Dimensions of Tacit Knowledge Sharing in Communities of Practice David Telford PGDip, BSc. Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Edinburgh Napier University Degree of Doctor of Business Administration November 2017 EDINBURGH NAPIER UNIVERSITY Contents 1. Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Chapter overview .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Purpose of the study ............................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Aim and objectives of the research ....................................................................................... 4 1.4 The Higher Education (HE) Information Technology (IT) context ......................................... 5 1.5 The researcher ...................................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Structure of the thesis ........................................................................................................... 8 2. Chapter 2 – Literature review ......................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.2 Social Learning Theory (SLT) ............................................................................................... 10 2.3 CoPs as vehicles for social learning & the sharing of tacit knowledge ............................... 12 2.4 The value and storage of practice and tacit knowledge ..................................................... 15 2.5 Defining Communities of Practice (CoP) ............................................................................. 17 2.6 Perceived differences between CoPs and teams ................................................................ 19 Table 1: Comparative table of CoPs and other structures adapted from Wenger and Snyder, (2000) ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Table 2: Comparing teams using instrumental logic and CoPs with Habermasian ‘life-world’ characteristics (Adapted from O’Donnell et al., 2003) ....................................................... 21 2.7 The role of Community of Practice ..................................................................................... 22 2.8 The CoP Domain: ................................................................................................................. 23 2.9 The Community: .................................................................................................................. 24 2.10 The Practice: ........................................................................................................................ 24 2.10.1 Membership ........................................................................................................................ 25 2-2 2.10.2 Key CoP roles ....................................................................................................................... 26 2.10.3 The role of the coordinator or facilitator ............................................................................ 27 2.10.4 The role of the broker ......................................................................................................... 27 2.10.5 The role of the leader .......................................................................................................... 28 2.10.6 Membership and participation in CoPs ............................................................................... 30 2.10.7 The benefit to the individual of CoP membership .............................................................. 31 2.10.8 CoP Lifecycles ...................................................................................................................... 32 2.10.9 The benefits of CoPs to organisations ................................................................................. 33 2.10.10 Good CoP, bad CoP ............................................................................................................. 35 2.11 Knowledge sharing & tacit knowledge ................................................................................ 36 2.12 The value of tacit knowledge .............................................................................................. 37 2.13 Ba and the Socialization, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation (SECI) Model 39 2.14 The tacit debate and the challenge to the SECI process ..................................................... 41 2.15 Emotional Intelligence (EI), learning and tacit sharing ....................................................... 43 2.16 Emotional intelligence characteristics ................................................................................ 44 2.17 Knowledge Management & Emotional Intelligence ........................................................... 45 2.18 Conclusion: Research themes and questions ..................................................................... 46 3. Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 49 3.1 Research Methodology ....................................................................................................... 49 3.1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 49 3.1.2 Identification of the research philosophy ........................................................................... 49 3.1.3 Ontology .............................................................................................................................. 51 3.1.4 Epistemology ....................................................................................................................... 52 3.1.5 Axiology ............................................................................................................................... 52 3.2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 53 2-3 3.2.1 Phenomenology .................................................................................................................. 57 3.3 The pilot study .................................................................................................................... 58 3.4 Process of conducting the main study ................................................................................ 60 3.4.1 Sampling process ................................................................................................................ 61 3.5 Ethical Considerations ......................................................................................................... 63 3.6 Individual Interviews ........................................................................................................... 64 3.6.1 Transcribing the data .......................................................................................................... 65 3.6.2 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 65 3.7 Causal Mapping ................................................................................................................... 69 3.7.1 Process of Causal Mapping ................................................................................................. 70 3.7.2 Process of Conducting Causal Mapping in the Study .......................................................... 70 Figure 3: Causal Map- Indicating the complexity of the positive and negative influences on tacit knowledge sharing .............................................................................................................. 72 3.8 Criteria for Evaluating Qualitative Research ....................................................................... 73 3.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 74 4. Chapter 4: Findings ......................................................................................................................... 75 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 75 4.2 Introducing the participants ............................................................................................... 75 4.2.1 Participant 1 ............................................................................................................................... 75 4.2.2 Participant 2 ............................................................................................................................... 76 4.2.3 Participant 3 ............................................................................................................................... 78 Exploring the CoP and areas of interest; ............................................................................................ 78 4.2.4 Participant 4 ..............................................................................................................................