**2.4 Tacit knowledge transfer**

Key empirical studies have highlighted the relevance knowledge sharing and highlighted some major barriers to knowledge sharing [38]. Knowledge sharing is an activity through which; information, skills, expertise and experience is exchanged among people in an organization and it is a valuable and tangible asset for creating sustainability, performance and competitive advantage. From what is currently known, knowledge sharing activities occur generally with the support of knowledge systems designed by the board and knowledge managers [13]. Technology is one of the tools that support knowledge sharing, though other factors exist, and have been examined such as organizational culture, trust, leadership and management philosophy, incentives and internal control systems according to Sanchez and Mahoney [27]. In this study, the researchers intend to explore possible knowledge sharing opportunities and associated barriers, particularly with the board level.

Experts suggest that identifying tacit knowledge and protecting it from depleting is a challenging task for organizations. Although, knowledge sharing is now a common practice, there are major challenge in the field of management, particularly where some employees including board of directors may resist sharing their tacit knowledge. In other words people decline to share their long standing experiences, expertise and important ideas with the rest of the organization. Lee et al. [14, 15], this lowers the general efficiency, productivity and performance. In the context of sustainability this study re-emphasize the reasons why public organizations must encourage knowledge sharing at the board level to promote sustainability procurement.

Unlike tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge is available to everyone, therefore when an organization is committed to knowledge sharing, adequate procedures must be designed to document every important operational step that will help others improve and prevent existing knowledge from depleting, and from the perspective of corporate governance, it require knowledge sharing to pursue sustainability in today's public administration.

Knowledge sharing occurs when exclusive knowledge is properly described in the information provided, and the audience are aware that the knowledge is available and accessible without difficulties [39]. Moreover, knowledge sharing can be beneficial when the body of knowledge is precisely defined and differentiated in contexts and domain of sustainability. This study is of the view that knowledge sharing can support sustainability when there is easy access to appropriate and relevant materials. Within the organization, board of directors are key components of the knowledge sharing system and are responsible for creating new knowledge to lead the organization.

According to a sample of recent findings, tacit knowledge is difficult to identify but could be influenced by developing informal social networks Willem and Buelens [28], thus daily interactions in a defined work environment. Existing knowledge platforms encourage individuals to demonstrate problem solving capability. The exchange of views and opinions lead to organizational learning. Knowledge sharing provides solutions to the challenges confronting others and in the end lowers cost and enhances efficiency. Creating thinking is also promoted using structured and unstructured experiments. Embedded knowledge is shared through routine processes and scenario planning. Arora [40], emphasized on management training and deliberate integration of people and activities to foster knowledge sharing.

### **2.5 Barriers to knowledge sharing**

In this section, the study elaborate precisely on the barriers to knowledge from different perspectives as documented in literature. According to the founding fathers of the concept of knowledge management there has always been some key factors which have been highlighted and that include; (a) people or individual attributes, (b) organizational culture or ethics (c) emergence of technology and (d) internal organizational challenges [41], discovered that impediments to knowledge transfer begins at the individual level and then the cultural and philosophy as well as the corporate level. Loss of power, insecurity, disclosure and motivation are responsible for individual level challenges to knowledge sharing [42]. The assertion further narrate that people occupying positions and having a certain level of influence may not be willing to share their experience for the fear of losing their privileges. Also, someone possessing a certain unique talent may not pass on this knowledge to others for the purposes of job security and status in the organization. As rightly mentioned in Lindsey [43], knowledge is power and individuals may exercise fear to share their knowledge due to lose of supremacy. Additionally, individuals are motivated by their unique expertise which promote their value, couple with people feeling uncertain about their rank particularly for the fear of being

### *Importance of Organizational Tacit Knowledge: Barriers to Knowledge Sharing DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101997*

replaced with young energetic and talented subordinate. In a similar comparison, it was opined that, people who lack continence and ability to estimate the impact of the knowledge may be consumed by inferiority complex. In such situations, they may either not share or avail themselves to learn. Wendling et al. [44], posit that lack or incentives may also compel certain individuals from airing their opinions irrespective of whether the platform is created for knowledge sharing or not. In a complex organizational environment inter personal conflicts, excessive bureaucracy and the consciousness of ranks within the organizational hierarchy contribute to lack of knowledge sharing. In a recent studies [45, 46], observed organizational culture contained in the leadership philosophy demonstrates managerial commitment to knowledge sharing. If the core values of an organization supports internal socials networks and encourage organizational learning, individuals would be motivated to offer constructive contributions which will break the barriers to knowledge sharing. Although [46] outline similar organizational level challenges including trust between superiors and subordinates. As people are rewarded and encouraged to transfer their experiences to others, non- availability of technology infrastructure, technology orientation or training and management overlooking the potential benefit of social media are some of the technological factors affecting knowledge sharing. In summary, although literature highlighted several factors, it appears the most dominant issues are associated with the individual, as the discussion is often centered on tacit knowledge being held by the individual. **Figure 1** is a theoretical framework capturing the barriers and factors affecting knowledge sharing with the directions of hypotheses to support future empirical investigation.
