Mismanagement of tacit knowledge: the importance of tacit knowledge, the danger of information technology, and what to do about it

Businesses are increasingly finding themselves in a world characterized by globalization, turbulence and complexity, paralleled with an exponential advancement in information technology (IT). Although empirical evidence indicates a lack of support for the positive economic impact of IT, we have seen that companies increasingly invest ill the new technology. As this technology is limited to the transfer of explicit knowledge, this may relegate tacit knowledge to the background, in spite of the strategic importance of tacit knowledge, hence, leading to the mismanagement of knowledge. The problem stated in this article is as follows: How does investment in, and the use of IT influence tacit knowledge and what impact does this have on the ability of firms' to create sustainable competitive advantages? The purpose of the article is to improve our understanding of the role of tacit knowledge and to reflect on and give guidance on how to handle the relationship between tacit knowledge and IT. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.