<p>Background: Though small enterprises are regarded as engine for the modern economy, they are not pioneers when it comes to implementing new advances like tacit knowledge transfer procedures. Tacit knowledge is often referred as skill, know-how and expertise which are embedded in each individual in an organization. The critical skills and competences of employees are intangible assets and firms’ intellectual resources. In this context, the tacit dimension of knowledge is potentially important to be transferred among individuals, either in tacit or explicit form, to build the core capabilities of small enterprises.</p><p>Problem Discussion: The existent Knowledge Management (KM) research has been mainly focused on big companies, providing little information for small enterprises. Authors believe the lack of attention that those small enterprises are putting on the strategic management of their knowledge is worrying. Tacit knowledge is one of the less explored areas within KM due to the difficulty to codify, formulate or express it. Despite this fact, it is perceived as “some kind of Holy Grail that will enable magnificent things to happen as soon as the codes of tacit knowledge have been deciphered”.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the transference of tacit knowledge among individuals within small segment of small enterprises.</p><p>Method: To gather the information pertaining to tacit knowledge transfer in the small segment of small enterprises, authors have performed a qualitative and explanatory research by conducting several interviews with two small companies.</p><p>Result: Tacit to tacit knowledge transfer has been identified as more relevant than tacit to explicit conversion in the small segment of small enterprises. Therefore the main drivers of the transference of tacit knowledge are learning at personal level and common culture. Time, cost and distance have been recognized as major problems for small enterprises when transferring tacit knowledge.</p>

Background: Though small enterprises are regarded as engine for the modern economy, they are not pioneers when it comes to implementing new advances like tacit knowledge transfer procedures. Tacit knowledge is often referred as skill, know-how and expertise which are embedded in each individual in an organization. The critical skills and competences of employees are intangible assets and firms’ intellectual resources. In this context, the tacit dimension of knowledge is potentially important to be transferred among individuals, either in tacit or explicit form, to build the core capabilities of small enterprises. Problem Discussion: The existent Knowledge Management (KM) research has been mainly focused on big companies, providing little information for small enterprises. Authors believe the lack of attention that those small enterprises are putting on the strategic management of their knowledge is worrying. Tacit knowledge is one of the less explored areas within KM due to the difficulty to codify, formulate or express it. Despite this fact, it is perceived as “some kind of Holy Grail that will enable magnificent things to happen as soon as the codes of tacit knowledge have been deciphered”. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the transference of tacit knowledge among individuals within small segment of small enterprises. Method: To gather the information pertaining to tacit knowledge transfer in the small segment of small enterprises, authors have performed a qualitative and explanatory research by conducting several interviews with two small companies. Result: Tacit to tacit knowledge transfer has been identified as more relevant than tacit to explicit conversion in the small segment of small enterprises. Therefore the main drivers of the transference of tacit knowledge are learning at personal level and common culture. Time, cost and distance have been recognized as major problems for small enterprises when transferring tacit knowledge.

Sammanfattning Behovet av kapital är väldigt stort för ett företag vid uppstarten av verksamheten. Svårigheten att få externt kapital uppstår oftast vid denna fas, då kan nämligen en affärsängel bidra med kapital och vara till stor hjälp för företaget. Affärsängel är en privatperson eller en samling av privatpersoner som investerar finansiellt kapital. Dessa änglar tillför också affärsmässig kunskap till onoterade företag, där de finner tillväxtpotential. För att ett företag skall kunna använda riskkapital som en finansieringskälla på bästa sätt, måste de först uppfatta vad en affärsängel har för egenskaper samt hur de agerar. Syftet med denna uppsats, är att studera hur aktiva affärsänglar resonerar rörande sina investeringar i livscykelns–hypotes. Vidare att studera hur informations-asymmetrin mellan den aktiva affärsängeln och entreprenörer påverkas före och under investeringsprocessen. Vi har utfört en kvalitativ undersökning genom intervjuer med fyra olika affärsänglar i Sverige, för att få en uppfattning om en affärsängels investeringsstrategier samt relationen mellan en affärsängel och entreprenören. Affärsänglar som har valts, är erfarna av denna typ av investering. Detta val på grund av att vi skall få en bred och djupare förståelse om hur affärsänglar går till väga, samt vilka värderingar som affärsänglarna fokuserar på vid sina investeringsbeslut. Den valda teorin som är hämtad från tidigare studier, artiklar och relevanta böcker, vilka är relaterade till investeringens livscykelteori samt informationsasymmetrins teorier, hur dessa påverkar en affärsängels investerings beslut samt strategier i deras dagliga arbete. Med dessa teorier i beaktande har vi samlat in empiriskt material från affärsänglar, vilket redovisas i det empiriska kapitlet. Analysen har skapats i ljuset av empirin och de teoretiska referensramarna, detta för att skapa en trovärdig och realistisk syn på hur en affärsängel agerar under sina investeringsbeslut. I slutsatsen beskrivs de mest väsentliga faktorerna som ligger till grund för affärsänglarnas investeringar. / Abstract The need for capital is very large for a company at the startup of operations. The difficulty to obtain external capital usually occurs at this stage, since it would permit an angel to provide capital and be very helpful for the company. Angel is an individual or a collection of individuals who invest financial capital. These angels also bring business knowledge to unlisted companies where they see growth potential. For a company to use equity as a financing source in the best way, they must first understand what an angel investor has the properties and how they act. The purpose of this thesis is to study how active business angel’s argue regarding their investments in the life cycle hypothesis. Furthermore, to study how information asymmetry between the active business angel and the contractors is affected before and during the investment process. We conduct a qualitative survey through interviews with four business angels in Sweden, to get an idea of a business angel investment strategies and the relationship between an angel and entrepreneur. The business angels that have been selected are experienced in this type of investment. This choice is due to us to have a broad and deep understanding of how business angels go about it, and the values that business angels are focusing on in their investment decisions. The chosen theory is taken from previous studies, articles and relevant books, which are related to the investment's life cycle theory and information asymmetry theories, how they affect a business angel’s investment decisions and strategies in their daily work. With these theories in mind, we've gathered empirical data from business angels, which are reported in the empirical chapter. The analysis has been created in light of empirical and theoretical frameworks in order to create a credible and realistic view of how an angel investor acting in their investment decisions. In conclusion described the most significant factors underlying business investment angels.

In the world we live in transfer of technology is of a great importance. The primary ‎means of technology transfer is by imitating and making copies. However, there are ‎cases where copying is impossible or prohibited. In those cases, technology transfer ‎involves contracting. Those agreements may contain both transfer of codified and tacit ‎knowledge. Technology transfer agreements, containing tacit knowledge, have special ‎characteristics due to the presence of the know-how, and to the need to transfer it. ‎ In this paper, I explore the special measures of technology transfer agreements ‎containing tacit knowledge. I explain why general contract law does not address ‎properly those challenges. I elaborate on the current solutions to these problems, ‎adopted both by the parties and by legislatures, as well as their difficulties. Eventually, I ‎propose possible solutions, either to the legislature or to the judiciary, in order to ‎address those issues in a better way.‎

In the world we live in transfer of technology is of a great importance. The primary ‎means of technology transfer is by imitating and making copies. However, there are ‎cases where copying is impossible or prohibited. In those cases, technology transfer ‎involves contracting. Those agreements may contain both transfer of codified and tacit ‎knowledge. Technology transfer agreements, containing tacit knowledge, have special ‎characteristics due to the presence of the know-how, and to the need to transfer it. ‎ In this paper, I explore the special measures of technology transfer agreements ‎containing tacit knowledge. I explain why general contract law does not address ‎properly those challenges. I elaborate on the current solutions to these problems, ‎adopted both by the parties and by legislatures, as well as their difficulties. Eventually, I ‎propose possible solutions, either to the legislature or to the judiciary, in order to ‎address those issues in a better way.‎

The goal of this research project is to tell the story of acquisition expertise development within the DOD using the evolution of the Defense Acquisition University as its backdrop. It is a story about the persistent frame that claims expertise leads to acquisition success. It is about 40 plus years of competing perspectives of how best to acquire that expertise and their shaping effects. It is about technology choices amidst cultural and political conflict. It is about how budget, users, infrastructure, existing and emerging technologies, identity and geography all interrelate as elements within the technology of expertise development. Finally, it is about how at various times in the evolution of the Defense Acquisition University the technologies of tacit knowledge transfer have been elevated or diminished. / Ph. D.

Driven by the insight that knowledge is power and, therefore, it is the core element for a company to be successful I examined which strategies enhance knowledge-sharing practices and processes among the HEI’s co-workers in order to create new competitive niches. This is especially important in times of ongoing change at an international level as HEIs seem to be increasingly in competition among one another for funds and students' intake. I based my study on the theoretical framework of Nonaka & Takeuchi’s SECI model of knowledge creation (1995) where, according to the authors, the knowledge-sharing takes place in four modes: socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. The main focus of my thesis is the socialization dimension, hence, the face-to-face communication between co-workers and their shared experiences and skills: the ‘tacit to tacit’ knowledge-sharing; the interaction between the different co-workers in the socialization process. Since all knowledge derives from tacit knowledge originally, tacit knowledge is, according to Nonaka/Takeuchi (1995), a person's own personal knowledge and his/her experience and skills; whereas explicit knowledge, on the other hand, is the formal and codified knowledge open to everybody via documents in a systematic language. The study of both literature and empirical data has shown that a special attention must be given to the resource-based view on strategy as it emphasizes the importance of the socialization mode by connecting the respective co-workers with one another in order to create something new. It is such a strategy that focuses on the best deployment of the knowledge resources in order for the institution to take advantage of their co-workers’ embedded, natural, context-specific, difficult to express and attached to the knower’s tacit knowledge. As a result, the key properties of a knowledge-enabling environment (in this thesis called ‘ba’) have been analyzed where tacit knowledge receives its attention by creating space and time for the tacit, hidden, embedded knowledge to emerge. Further field studies in different realities would now be helpful to further extract common patterns for the creation of a sense-making framework of strategy where the tacit dimension of each co-worker is seen to be a unique and remarkable asset for HEIs in order to gain a position of competitive advantage in the market place.

This research (January 2009 to January 2012) described the impact of Work Based Learning (WBL) programmes on three large organisations involved in HE/employer engagement partnerships to up-skill experienced employees in NE England. A case study approach gathered rich qualitative data from public and private organisations, and their university partner which provided long-term, whole-day university-based master-class WBL programmes for University-accredited qualifications with the support of Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Strategic Development Funding. The public organisation delivered its own certificate-level sessions; and a Foundation Degree was delivered by the University and the organisation’s Directors. Modified action research observations of classes preceded a questionnaire profiling candidates, their motivations, and perspectives about WBL. Stakeholders’ semi-structured interviews (Wengraf, 2001) answered: “how, why and with what consequences does the Mode 2 learning of the individual impact the Mode 2 learning of the organisation”, premised on WBL using Mode 2 “how to” knowledge (Gibbons et al, 1994). Data, mainly collected from May to November 2010, was analysed using a modified grounded theory approach (Corbin and Strauss, 2008) with fractal concept analysis (Wasserman, Clair and Wilson, 2009). Rich descriptions of the impacts of WBL from the perspectives of those involved in HE/employer engagement partnerships resulted in models for developing new partnerships and incorporating employer engagement within a university. Original contributions to WBL knowledge included the Courtyard Model based upon findings including types of knowledge/concepts/values that emerged from the research which may potentially lead to new pedagogies. Impacts of WBL included networking that carried the organisation’s strategic vision into its culture to enhance its sustainability and possible growth. Candidates attributed valuing reputation, knowledge and people to universities as organisations. The Courtyard Model summarised the relationship between the impacts of WBL on the development of candidates and organisations in terms of reputation, knowledge, people, networks, culture and sustainability.

The supervision offered at universities today is to some degree being questioned, while the situation of doctoral students is undergoing changes. The supervision students get nowadays is very different from what was available when today’s supervisors were doctoral students. The present study relies on thirty-one in-depth interviews with experienced research supervisors from all faculties at the one university. The Swedish governing documents regarding supervision have mostly been phrased in very general terms on the assumption that certain disciplines have several traits in common. Other documents describe the requirements for supervisors more sweepingly; everybody is expected to work according to the same lines. There is no question that supervision could be anything but good and no attempt at defining the task is made. Previous studies show that supervisors are unaware of what is really expected of them. The aim of this thesis is partly to investigate whether there are any communal traits in the accounts, at individual or group level, and partly to demonstrate how research supervisors’ views on research supervision can vary. The objective is also to highlight qualitative differences in the descriptions by the supervisors as to how and why they supervise. Results show that it is not easy to articulate knowledge about ones own actions. The supervisors under study have not previously reflected too much on the question of supervising. They have neither received nor requested feedback and do not expect to get honest verdicts from their students. They profess themselves to have developed a mode of supervision on their own, without assistance or any form of training. The thesis is based on a theory of variation, tacit knowledge and reflection and that supervisors will be shaped by connections to certain Communities of practice. It draws on the silent or unarticulated knowledge of what supervision is about, how and why supervision is carried out in a specific way, at group level or individually. At group level some similarities to other investigations can be found. Traditions regarding the form of the thesis are usually compliant with faculty norms. At the individual level, however, the study presents new findings in pointing out the existence of three different styles of supervision: researcher, leader and official. These can not be traced back to any specific disciplines. The three styles differ from each other mainly in their attitude to the doctoral students and in their outlook on the question of power and responsibility. The most important conclusion is to draw attention to the significance of having an individual perspective. In order to be able to improve the art of supervision, getting interaction and feedback from doctoral students and the organisation is not sufficient. A prerequisite for development is to gain an awareness of ones own actions. In order to become conscious about ones doings it is necessary to give and take feedback about oneself, achieved through self-reflection. / <p>AKADEMISK AVHANDLING som med tillstånd av utbildningsvetenskapliga fakulteten vid Göteborgs universitet för vinnande av doktorsexamen framläggs till offentlig granskning fredagen den 20 april 2007, klockan 13.00 i sal M202 Sandgärdet, Högskolan i Borås. Fakultetsopponent: Professor Leif Lindberg, Växjö universitet</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to highlight how tacit and silenced knowledge appear in various contexts in the nuclear power industry.  Attention is paid primarily to the dilemma that the instructor is faced in the teaching of courses and programs of theoretical and practical nature. Organization and leadership are considered to be important parameters in the education context as well.   The method used is called “the dialogue seminar method”. The empirical material has its foundation in the examples that originates from the dialogue seminar sessions in the masters programme, as well as from previous dialogue seminar series at KSU. From a linguistic perspective, some parts of the text have gone the whole hog out in order to create a greater depth in what is written. Some call it poetry.   The thesis considers that tacit knowledge takes a long time to achieve, but it can be lost quickly.  It also describes various dilemmas associated with knowledge and learning, from both the instructor and the student's perspective. The thesis demonstrates the importance of the three knowledges, namely propositional, procedural and personal knowledge. These three types of knowledges can not be separated. For example, if procedural knowledge is reduced to a minimum, it will affect the other two as well.   Since the aim is to highlight training in the nuclear power industry, the primary goal has not been to achieve any specific results. But what emerges is the importance of an organization or leadership which does not restrict the individual, but affirms thirst for knowledge and desire to do good work. Furthermore, it is needed to create opportunities for “on the job training” and in the continuation of self-development. The thesis also shows the importance of welcoming new employees in a good way as well as how knowledge from a colleague who will retire or quit is conveyed to another employee.   In the nuclear power industry, "operational excellence" refers as something to strive for. But what it means or how it affects instructor’s practice is not defined yet. Excellence can be seen as something that comes from within oneself and cannot come from outside and in. / Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att lyfta upp tyst och tystad kunskap och hur den ter sig i olika sammanhang i kärnkraftsbranschen. I första hand ägnas uppsatsen åt de dilemman som instruktören står inför vid genomförande av kurser och utbildningar av teoretisk och praktisk karaktär. Även organisation och ledarskap beaktas som viktiga parametrar i sammanhanget utbildning. Uppsatsen syftar inte till att ge några entydiga svar och gör inte heller anspråk på att komma med lösningar. I de resonemang som förs kommer emellertid svar och lösningar att beröras. Den metod som använts kallas för dialogseminariemetoden och den har tillämpats fullt ut genom de exempel som används. Det empiriska materialet bottnar i de exemplen som har sitt ursprung från de dialogseminarietillfällen som föregått uppsatsskrivandet i masterutbildningen samt från tidigare dialogseminarieserier. Sett ur ett språkligt perspektiv har svängarna tagits ut en del med syfte att skapa ett större djup i det som skrivs. En del kallar det för poesi. Då uppsatsen i första hand betraktar tyst kunskap kommer det fram att den tar lång tid att erövra, men kan förloras snabbt. Uppsatsen beskriver olika dilemman som hänger ihop med kunskap och kunskapsinhämtning både ur instruktörens samt kursdeltagarens perspektiv. Uppsatsen visar vikten av att de trekunskapstyperna påstående-, färdighets- och förtrogenhetskunskap inte glider ifrån varandra. Om till exempel förtrogenhetskunskapen reduceras till ett minimum kommer det att påverka de andra två kunskapstyperna också.  Då syftet är ett belysa utbildning i kärnkraftsbranschen har målet inte varit primärt att nå några resultat. Men det som framkommer är vikten av att en organisation eller ledarskap inte begränsar individen utan bejakar kunskapstörst och viljan att göra ett bra arbete. Därtill kommer att skapa förutsättningar för verkspraktik och fortsatt egen utveckling. Uppsatsen visar också på vikten av att ta emot nyanställda på ett bra sätt såväl som hur kunskap förmedlas från en kollega som kommer att gå i pension. I branschen nämns "Operational excellence" som något att sträva efter. Men vad det innebär eller hur det påverkar instruktörernas praxis går inte att läsa ut än. Excellence kan ses som något som kommer inifrån en själv och kan inte komma utifrån och in.