From Tacit to Explicit: The Loss of Knowledge in the Process of Elicitation and Encapsulation

The focus of this paper is on the process for making tacit knowledge explicit, called “externalization”, in the two meanings of “elicitation” and “encapsulation”.\r\nTechnology of course can support the process of knowledge gathering, elicitation and encapsulation but it results obvious that some knowledge will be lost during all these phases. Our challenge consists in suggesting how determine which knowledge an organization should make explicit and which it should leave tacit: a balance that can affect competitive performance.