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Knowledge Management Models 67

original participants. Although socialization is a very effective means of knowledge
creation and sharing, it is one of the more limited means. Furthermore, it is diffi cult
and time-consuming to disseminate all knowledge using only the socialization mode.
Davenport and Prusak (1998, 70) point out that “ tacit, complex knowledge, devel-
oped and internalized by the knower over a long period of time, is almost impossible
to reproduce in a document or a database. Such knowledge incorporates so much
accrued and embedded learning that its rules may be impossible to separate from how
an individual acts. ”
This means that the process of acquiring tacit knowledge is not strictly tied to the
use of language but to experience and to the ability to transmit and to share it. This
must not be confused with the idea of a simple transfer of information because there
is no knowledge creation if we abstract the transfer of information and experiences
away from the associated emotions and specifi c contexts in which they are embedded.
Socialization consists of sharing experiences through observation, imitation, and
practice.
For example, Honda organizes “ brainstorming camps ” during which there are
detailed discussions to solve diffi cult problems in development projects. These infor-
mal meetings are usually held outside the workplace, off-site, where everyone is
encouraged to contribute to the discussion and no one is allowed to refer to the status
and qualifi cation of employees involved. The only behavior not allowed during these
discussions is simple criticism not followed by constructive suggestions. Brainstorming
meetings are used by Honda not only to develop new products, but also to improve
its managerial systems and its commercial strategies. Brainstorming can represent
occasions for creative dialogue. And brainstorming provides a moment of shared
experience, followed by sharing tacit knowledge. During brainstorming, people create
harmony among themselves, they feel engaged as part of a whole, and they feel
themselves allied by the same goal. Many other organizations organize similar “ Knowl-
edge Days ” or “ Knowledge Caf é s ” to encourage this type of tacit-to-tacit knowledge
sharing.
Externalization (tacit-to-explicit) is a process that gives a visible form to tacit knowl-
edge and converts it to explicit knowledge. It can be defi ned as “ a quintessential
knowledge creation process in that tacit knowledge becomes explicit, taking the shapes
of metaphors, analogies, concepts, hypotheses, or models ” ( Nonaka and Takeuchi
1995 , 4). In this mode, individuals are able to articulate the knowledge and know-how
and, in some cases, the know-why and the care-why. Knowledge that was previously
tacit can somehow be written down, recorded, drawn, or made tangible or concrete
in some manner. An intermediary is often needed at this stage, because it is always