978-1-4673-5013-6/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE Tacit knowledge acquisition in virtual teams Darryl Diptee Information Science Department Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, California, USA darryl.diptee@navy.mil Jason Diptee Science Department Florida Career College Jacksonville, Florida, USA jdiptee@gmail.com Abstract—Each year more organizations shift from costly brick-and-mortar assets to low-cost cyber equivalents which enable geographically spread teamwork via Social Networking Applications (SNAs). While explicit knowledge exchange is densely represented in the literature, there seems to be a lack of sufficient research on the dynamics of tacit knowledge among virtual team members in SNAs. This research paper outlines the results of an international Global Chemical Warfare Team Collaboration (GCWTC) experiment which suggests that tacit knowledge does not flow between people as traditionally prescribed, but is rather only partly inoculated followed by spontaneous self- generation as a factor of trust levels, time exposure and personal communication and comprehension traits. This research triangulates upon a new and exciting theoretical model with which to understand tacit knowledge acquisition. An invitation is extended to utilize the results of this mixed methods study as a foundation to build and test hypotheses for future quantitative research Keywords—Tacit Knowledge Acquisition Model ; Knowledge Exchange; Virtual Teams; Trust; TKAM I. INTRODUCTION Tacit knowledge refers to knowledge that is so deeply rooted in the mind that it cannot be articulated or written down, leaving its owner without the know-how of sharing it [1]. As organizations continuously shift their physical presence to the cyber realm, there lies a risk that these new organizational structures [11] may negatively affect the transfer of tacit knowledge within the organization [18]. The primary asset of most organizations is the intellectual capital that is intangibly confined [10] as the collective tacit knowledge of its employees. This research endeavors to better understand the dynamics of tacit knowledge in social networking applications (SNAs) by addressing the following research question: how do the dynamics of tacit knowledge change with the use of social networking applications and their enabling information technologies? Knowledge is known to have a stickiness factor [23] which relates how well it fastens to the mind of an individual. Explicit or codified knowledge tends to fade faster than tacit knowledge which typically requires at least some human contact for optimal knowledge transfer; this phenomenon may be attributed to the deeply rooted aspects of tacit knowledge. As stated by [2], there are three main factors that affect general knowledge transfer: 1) the ability or readiness of the receiver to gain new knowledge, which relates to the maturity level, capacity to understand and/or willingness of a person to learn, 2) the experience of the knowledge giver, which conveys the communication skills of the teacher and the techniques used to transfer knowledge, and 3) the nature of the knowledge itself, be it traditional norms, scientific concepts etc. Non-verbal communication accounts for approximately 80% of all information exchanges [17]. This inability to articulate or tangibly capture deeply rooted knowledge has led to estimates that as much of 90% of all organizational knowledge are tacit [9]. Recognizing that tacit knowledge represents such a large and valuable portion of the human and intellectual capital within organizations helped raise awareness of the importance of knowledge management [9]. [22] states that tacit knowledge may be accessible via conscious awareness, but is not typically taught directly to the learner. While information may be transmitted in bits and pieces, knowledge is personalized [5] and may only be mentally digested in large, whole chunks. In particular, tacit knowledge is based in the personal experience and understanding of its owner [2], an attribute which will be further addressed in the discussion section of this research. The inability to quickly share tacit knowledge encapsulated within the employees of an organization may initially seem to be a problem, but that trait actually lends to the competitive advantage of an organization [12] as there is a natural resistance for tacit knowledge to leak to the competition. Currently the literature on tacit knowledge generally prescribes to the paradigm that it can be gained via personal experience and transferred between individuals as in the case of an expert and her novice apprentice [6]. This qualitative study suggests a new and exciting theoretical model with which to interpret and understand the intricacies of tacit knowledge acquisition. Though the results of this scientific effort goes against the grain of well established theory on tacit knowledge, the generalized model put forward in this paper should be interpreted as warm invitation for open and courteous discussion to alternative explanations in the arena of tacit knowledge dynamics. Research sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR)