The impact of tacit knowledge management on organizational performance: Evidence from Malaysia

This research paper intends to explore and determine if organizations have strategies for tacit knowledge management which is expected to influence their organizational performance both tangibly and intangibly. The tacit knowledge management is derived from the fundamental knowledge creation dimensions namely socialization, externalization, combination and internalization (SECI model). A quantitative empirical research via survey questionnaires was conducted to fulfil the purpose of this research. The feedback from the respondents were statistically analyzed for demographic profile of respondents, goodness of data measured, reliability of the instrument used and hypotheses testing in determining the correlation between organizational performance and tacit knowledge. The outcome of the statistical analysis showed that tacit knowledge management has significant influence on organizational performance. However, among the four dimensions namely socialization, internalization, externalization and combination, only socialization and internalization contribute towards the significant influences of tacit knowledge management on organization performance. This research findings confirm the importance of knowledge creation and management, especially those of tacit knowledge, to both academics and practitioners. This is particularly important for those from top management of any organization, who are seeking to prosper and enhance their organizational performance for a better business function operations and return on investment.