**2.1 Knowledge management**

Knowledge is one of the main sources of competitive advantage. The ability to acquire and manage knowledge allows companies to achieve leadership positions in their reference markets [12]. Seen from a "knowledge-based" perspective, companies can be interpreted as relational systems composed of numerous actors—in charge of various activities—that operate in a system of exchange of knowledge and experiences [12]. Knowledge cannot be acquired passively: it needs an active and conscious construction, and it is based on a reconstruction of the system of continuous exchange, which connects the background of the individual or the company, the skills acquired previously and the surrounding environment [13]. KM, therefore, is the ability to acquire, explore, absorb and codify the information that leads to knowledge. The most credited literature [7, 14–16] have focused on the study of the different aspects of the knowledge transfer, starting from the difference of "knowledge". Obviously, in this study we have tried to provide a homogeneous concept of knowledge in itself [16]. Nevertheless, some authors distinguish two levels of knowledge [17]:

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edge as follows:

lems [16].

*The Management, Sharing and Transfer of Knowledge in the Oil Districts - The Case Study…*

[17]. The experience is composed of at least four components:

1.**Experience:** indicates the implicit knowledge that is tacit, the individual's own

a.*Credential knowledge*: it is the knowledge one would need to obtain an

b.*Cultural knowledge*: it is the knowledge of the company and how it works.

c.*Practice-based knowledge*: knowledge of company-specific routines and

d.*Knowledge based on personal experience*: it is the knowledge that the manager may have acquired outside the company, in the previous work job [17].

a.*Credential knowledge*: it is that of which an individual needs in order to be recognized and guaranteed an adequate level of knowledge and a certain

b.*Specialized knowledge*: it is the deep understanding of a particular scientific area. This knowledge is very personal and is a unique blend of public knowledge (which all industry specialists possess) and knowledge based

Moreover, the knowledge can be tacit and explicit [14] and individual and

1.**Tacit:** it is the complex of intuitions, skills, abilities and experiences that people store in their minds when they experience problem solving [14]. Obviously, this knowledge is the most difficult to represent and—if it is not translated into some forms—it is the easiest to disperse. Tacit knowledge is one of the most important drivers of innovation and change [14]. It can be transferred and communicated only through cultural mechanisms, informal exchanges, etc. It

2.**Explicit:** it is formalized and codified and involves everything that is represented in a documentary form [14]; it is expressed in a formal language, with grammatical rules, mathematical expressions and technological and manual definitions and is transferred through the use of technological tools [14].

Instead, Spender classifies the difference between individual and social knowl-

a.**Individual:** individual's knowledge is inherently transferable and moves with the person, giving rise to Paretian contracts and the consequent agency prob-

b.**Social:** it is a knowledge publicly available or collective and incorporated in the

firm's routine, in the norms and in the culture [16].

The differences between tacit and explicit knowledge are:

is strictly personal, contained in the mind of every individual.

2.**Expertise:** competence is a more explicit knowledge, more related to work than to personal characteristics [17]. The competence includes two main types

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86298*

engineering degree.

how to apply them.

degree of technicality.

on experience [17].

of knowledge:

social [16].

*The Management, Sharing and Transfer of Knowledge in the Oil Districts - The Case Study… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86298*

	- a.*Credential knowledge*: it is the knowledge one would need to obtain an engineering degree.
	- b.*Cultural knowledge*: it is the knowledge of the company and how it works.
	- c.*Practice-based knowledge*: knowledge of company-specific routines and how to apply them.
	- d.*Knowledge based on personal experience*: it is the knowledge that the manager may have acquired outside the company, in the previous work job [17].
	- a.*Credential knowledge*: it is that of which an individual needs in order to be recognized and guaranteed an adequate level of knowledge and a certain degree of technicality.
	- b.*Specialized knowledge*: it is the deep understanding of a particular scientific area. This knowledge is very personal and is a unique blend of public knowledge (which all industry specialists possess) and knowledge based on experience [17].

Moreover, the knowledge can be tacit and explicit [14] and individual and social [16].

The differences between tacit and explicit knowledge are:


Instead, Spender classifies the difference between individual and social knowledge as follows:


*Current Issues in Knowledge Management*

information, the forms of their intercompany collaboration and their cultural relationships are crucial, since these play an important role in determining the relevant knowledge transfer processes. Some models of development and transfer of knowledge are recognized as defining elements of the "industrial district [3]" (ID). The ID is an economic phenomenon in which the constituent societies engage in the joint production of an asset, optimizing the use of resources and profits [4, 5]. This synergistic production in a district supply chain seems to be more characteristic of the manufacturing sector, where production can follow a linear path along the chain, with a rare overlap of activity [6]. In district realities, the knowledge existing within the district is an intangible asset shared by all its companies: to be exploited by everyone, knowledge must be shared and transferred both within individual companies and between the several district companies [7]. Therefore, the ID can be analyzed as a cognitive system, in terms of internal creation, exchange and management of knowledge. In this way it is possible to evaluate the productivity of the district, both in economic-financial terms and as a generator of intangible and distinctive assets [8]. Companies operating in the district have the advantage of using the knowledge of the other companies involved. The main theories of literature, both national and international, generally sustain that the knowledge transfer requires a sense of equality and equity between companies, in order to create a joint competitive advantage thanks to the sharing of knowledge [9, 10]. However, the empirical evidence shows that the district value chain is often characterized by hierarchical relationships and asymmetry between the parties [11]. Starting both from the analysis of the main characteristics of the cultural and relational environment of KM and from the study of ID—particularly of oil district—this chapter is aimed to investigate the process of knowledge transfer as an activity closely linked to action of human resources who work closely in the

**2. Theories on knowledge management and industrial district**

on the subject can be clustered as shown below.

**2.1 Knowledge management**

two levels of knowledge [17]:

In national and international literature, there are several and structured theories both on knowledge management and on the structure and working of industrial districts. Of course, it is impossible to classify them all. However, the main theories

Knowledge is one of the main sources of competitive advantage. The ability to acquire and manage knowledge allows companies to achieve leadership positions in their reference markets [12]. Seen from a "knowledge-based" perspective, companies can be interpreted as relational systems composed of numerous actors—in charge of various activities—that operate in a system of exchange of knowledge and experiences [12]. Knowledge cannot be acquired passively: it needs an active and conscious construction, and it is based on a reconstruction of the system of continuous exchange, which connects the background of the individual or the company, the skills acquired previously and the surrounding environment [13]. KM, therefore, is the ability to acquire, explore, absorb and codify the information that leads to knowledge. The most credited literature [7, 14–16] have focused on the study of the different aspects of the knowledge transfer, starting from the difference of "knowledge". Obviously, in this study we have tried to provide a homogeneous concept of knowledge in itself [16]. Nevertheless, some authors distinguish

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district [11].


**Figure 1.** *The knowledge type's matrix.*

From the match of these four types of knowledge in a double input matrix, in **Figure 1**, it is possible to identify the characteristics and levels of standardization of the various natures considered.

The characteristics of the knowledge, which emerge from the matrix, are:

