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Abstract
Purpose - Seeks to argue for a phenomenology of embodied implicit and narrative knowing in organizations and to show the significance of experiential dimensions of implicit and narrative knowing and their mutual interrelations in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach - For this the advanced phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty will be used as a framework for clarifying the relational status of tacit, implicit and narrative knowing and their embedment.
Findings - Implicit and narrative processes of knowing are inherently linked. Moreover, both forms of knowing in organizations and its implications can be integrated in a Con- + -Text.
Practical implications - Some limitations and practical implications will be discussed critically. In conclusion some perspectives of further phenomenological research on embodied implicit and narrative knowing in organizations are presented.
Originality/value - This approach contributes to a processual, non-reductionist and relational understanding of knowing and offers critical and practical perspectives for creative and transformative processes in organizations, bridging the gap between theory and practice. It provides innovative perspectives with regard to the interrelation of embodied and narrative knowing in organizations.
Keywords Narratives, Phenomenology
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
There is widespread agreement in the discourses on and practices of knowledge management that implicit and narrative knowledge are important phenomena. Implicit knowledge is seen as fundamental to all human knowing (Polanyi, 1958) and for knowledge management in particular (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Baumard, 1999). It has been argued that a large portion of the knowledge required for executing organizational activities and processes is implicit (Lubit, 2001; Spender, 1996). Correspondingly also narratives and storytelling have been considered as an essential part of organizational life and its everyday communication (Boje, 1995; Gabriel, 1995; Czarniawska, 1998). Accordingly the narrative side of organizations has emerged as a prominent topic in the knowledge discourse and more practically in knowledge management (Patriotta, 2003, 2004; Snowden, 2000). In particular stories have been investigated in the knowledge management literature as one of the ways in which knowledge might be transferred, shared and processed in organizational settings (Wensley, 1998; Denning, 2000; Ball and Ragsdell, 2003).
However the understanding and interpretation of both processes vary, in terms of how they are constituted, levels at which they manifest, as well as status of explication and possibilities of usage. Moreover, the relation between...