Developing a framework for managing tacit knowledge in research using knowledge management models

Abstract

This research investigates whether and how selected models from Knowledge Management (KM) can be used to devise a framework for building coherent and rigorous methodologies for research in the creative and practice-led disciplines (CPD). This research has arisen from methodological problems of research in art and design in the UK concerning how, and the extent to which, non-propositional and tacit kinds of knowledge (e.g. experiential, procedural) can be included and communicated within research. The proposed research builds on previous studies by the authors into the role and relationship of different kinds of knowledge in research (Niedderer, 2007a, 2007b), and into how knowledge management (KM) and creative disciplines provide complementary insights on how knowledge can be managed and transferred (Imani, 2007). The research investigates whether and how the SECI model (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka, 2000) can be used to develop a framework for managing different kinds of knowledge in research. Our research goes beyond existing approaches by offering a generic and flexible framework which researchers can use to better understand and build their own research methodologies and to integrate individual methods with regard to managing different kinds of knowledge.