This document outlines a methodology for studying tacit knowledge sharing between public sector employees using social media. It discusses limitations of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. A pragmatic approach is proposed using a mixed methods case study of a specific organization. This will involve an online survey, interviews, potential focus groups and documentation analysis to better understand how social media influences tacit knowledge sharing. The goal is to develop an inductive approach within time and resource constraints that provides contextual insights into this difficult to measure phenomenon.

1. TACIT KNOWLEDGE
SHARING:
the determination of a methodological approach to explore the intangible.
Iris Buunk - PhD Student
Centre for Social Informatics - School of Computing ● Institute for Informatics and Digital Innovation
Edinburgh Napier University
Buunk, I., Hall, H., Smith, C. F.
@irisbuunk

2. INTRODUCTION
FOCUS
OF THIS PAPER:
a pragmatic methodology for a
doctoral study in the domain of
knowledge management and
tacit knowledge sharing.

3. IT’S ALL ABOUT METHODS
FOCUS
OF THIS PAPER:
a pragmatic methodology for a
doctoral study in the domain of
knowledge management and tacit
knowledge sharing.

4. SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
How social media facilitate tacit knowledge sharing practices
between employees within organisations belonging to the public sector.
END OF THE STUDY
September 2017
ACTUAL PHASE
methodology design
& empirical work.

5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
How do social media facilitate the sharing of tacit
knowledge between employees?
To what extent do social media bring new capabilities
in the sharing of tacit knowledge?
Which situated factors may provide the appropriate
context for using social media to enhance tacit
knowledge sharing practices?

7. Which method is the most
suitable to study the
intangible nature of tacit
knowledge?
THE CHALLENGE

8. METHOD
IDENTIFICATION + ANALYSIS
to define the most appropriate approaches for an empirical study of
tacit knowledge sharing.
RELEVANT LITERATURE
IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

9. ANALYSIS
There has been
a need for robust methodological approaches
to study tacit knowledge sharing for some time.
Problem is:
Methodological approaches initially intended to study
explicit knowledge applied to investigate tacit
knowledge.

10. OPTIONS FOR EXPLORING THE INTANGIBLE
EXPLICIT knowledge is more easily observed
than TACIT knowledge.
It is also quantifiable, and therefore
measureable.
This creates
BIAS
towards exploring
the NATURE OF
KNOWLEDGE.
Credits: http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1216a

11. THE POSITIVIST APPROACH
Adoption of quantitative methods - particularly in
attempts to model tacit knowledge sharing.
Based around large-scale surveys, some of which
make extensive use of the Likert scale.
(e.g. Borges, 2013; Lin, 2007; Tsai 2014)

12. THE POSITIVIST APPROACH: CRITICISMS
Methods designed to study explicit knowledge tend to
OVERLOOK
multidimensional nature of tacit knowledge
knowledge is socially constructed
FOCUS
on assets generated from tacit knowledge
RISK
requirements of research validity might not be met.

13. THE QUALITATIVE APPROACH

14. THE QUALITATIVE APPROACH
KM researchers who take an interpretivist stance assert that
knowledge cannot be studied objectively.
They deploy qualitative techniques such as interviews, focus
groups and surveys, in case study settings.
These studies usually do not generate models, but instead
provide nuanced understandings of particular aspects of
knowledge management.
(e.g. Murray & Peyrefitte, 2007; Neve, 2003; Whyte & Classen, 2012)

15. THE QUALITATIVE APPROACH: CRITICISMS
LIMITED POPULATION SAMPLING
findings that cannot be generalised.

16. THE QUALITATIVE APPROACH: COUNTER-ARGUMENT
‘The power of good example'
As the theorist Flyvberg (2001) states :
Deep analysis through the generation of a single case study is
valuable because it can contribute to the 'collective process of
knowledge accumulation'.
THIS HOLDS THE POTENTIAL TO
BROADEN THE UNDERSTANDING OF A PHENOMENON

17. MIXED METHOD
of studies that consider public sector
knowledge management
choose this approach.
ONLY
7%

18. MIXED METHOD: CRITICISMS
Lack of compatibility
different ontological roots of qualitative and quantitative methods
Researchers sometimes assume a guarantee of
robustness through triangulation.
(Hidden hope to be recognised as ‘scientific’ in front of an external audience.)

19. THE COMPROMISE OF
A PRAGMATIC APPROACH
Credits: Park Güell. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spain.Catalonia.Barcelona.Vista.Sagrada.Familia.jpg

20. THE COMPROMISE OF A PRAGMATIC APPROACH
FULL-TIME DOCTORAL STUDENTS:
the time limit imposed on the period of study
THE SELECTED POPULATION
(in this case, employees in public sector organisations
using a shared online platform)
IN AN APPROPRIATE CONTEXT
(the organisation itself)

21. A PRAGMATIC APPROACH
APPROACH: QUALITATIVE
• Dominant practice in KM research
• Interpretivist perspective
• Reflects philosophical stance of knowledge
• Contextualisation of respondents profiles
METHOD: MIXED
• For triangulation purposes

22. A PRAGMATIC APPROACH
RESEARCH SITE: CASE STUDY
• Dominant practice in KM research
• Depth of analysis in specific community
DATA COLLECTION: 4 ACTIVITIES
1. Cross-organisational online survey (completed)
2. Semi-structured interviews (November 2016)
3. Focus groups (?)
4. Content analysis of documentation (?)

23. OUTCOME

24. OUTCOME
APPROACH ADOPTED
IN PRACTICE
A research approach that deploys mixed
methods for an inductive case study to
extend knowledge of the influence of online
tools on tacit knowledge sharing.

25. THANK YOU
for your attention!


26. @irisbuunk
uk.linkedin.com/in/irisbuunk/en
www.theknowledgeexplorer.org
www.iidi.napier.ac.uk/i.buunk
CONTACT
Text version of the paper:
Buunk, I., Hall, H., Smith, C. (2017). Tacit knowledge sharing and social media:
the determination of a methodological approach to explore the intangible.
Information Research.