The Nonaka and Takeuchi Knowledge Spiral Model - Active ...

The Knowledge Spiral Model is also known as the SECI model, which stands for socialization, externalization, combination and internalization ... Skiptocontent By:IavjotKaur, Japaniscurrentlythethird-largesteconomyintheworld,aftertheUnitedStatesandChina.ButhowdidJapangainsucheconomicpowerandbecomeaworld-leaderintheautomotiveandelectronicsindustries?Whatisthesecretoftheirsuccess?TheanswerliesinNonakaandTakeuchi’s(1995)KnowledgeSpiralModel.ThefollowingreportwillfirstreviewtheKnowledgeSpiralModelanddiscusswhatwecanlearnfromit.Then,thereportwillsuggestsomepracticalwaysofapplyingthemodelineducation,especiallyinaclassroomwherepeerlearningoftentakesplace. In1995,twobusinessschoolprofessorsIkujiroNonakaandHirotakaTakeuchipublishedTheKnowledge-CreatingCompany:HowJapaneseCompaniesCreatetheDynamicsofInnovationwhichprovidesinsightintohowJapanesecompaniesworkandmostimportantly,whatenablestheJapanesebusinessestocreatenewknowledge.Asthetitleofthebooksuggests,Japanesecompaniesaresuccessfulbecauseoftheirinnovationswhicharecreatedfromnewknowledge.AccordingtoNonakaandTakeuchi(1995),therearetwotypesofknowledge,namelyexplicitknowledgeandtacitknowledge.Asexplicitknowledgeisoftenfoundinmanualsandprocedures,itisformalandsystematicandeasilycommunicated(Nonaka,2007).Ontheotherhand,tacitknowledgeishighlypersonalasitislearntthroughexperienceonly(Nonaka,2007).Thismakestacitknowledgedifficulttoformaliseasoneoftencannotfindthewordstoexpressthetechnicalprinciplesbehindwhattheyknow(Nonaka,2007).Thus,tacitknowledgecanonlybecommunicatedtoothersindirectly,suchasthroughmetaphorsandanalogy(Nonaka,2007). AccordingtoNonakaandTakeuchi(1995),thecreationofnewknowledgeisaspirallingprocessofinteractionsbetweenexplicitandtacitknowledge.However,alotofUScompanieshaveshowntobeheavilyreliantonexplicitknowledgesuchas“benchmarking”and“bestpractices”tohelpfurthertheirbusinesses(Nonaka&Takeuchi,1995).Incontrast,Japanesefirmsoftenfocusmoreontacitknowledgeandonthereal-lifeapplicationofcreatingknowledge(Nonaka&Takeuchi,1995).Nevertheless,NonakaandTakeuchi(1995)arguethatthatthesecretbehindJapanesefirms’successisthattheyhavemasteredhowtoutilizetacitknowledgeandexplicitknowledgetocreateknowledgeinanyorganisation,whetheritisfromtacittotacit,fromexplicittoexplicit,fromtacittoexplicit,orfromexplicittotacit.ThisledtoNonakaandTakeuchi(1995)proposingtheKnowledgeSpiralModel.  TheKnowledgeSpiralModelisalsoknownastheSECImodel,whichstandsforsocialization,externalization,combinationandinternalization(Nonaka&Takeuchi,1995).Firstly,socializationistheprocessofcreatingknowledgefromtacittotacit(Nonaka&Takeuchi,1995).NonakaandTakeuchi(1995)describesocializationasthe“processofsharingexperiencesandtherebycreatingtacitknowledgesuchassharedmentalmodelsandtechnicalskills”(ascitedinSiu,2006,p.497).Tacitknowledgecanbesharedinsocialinteractionsthrough“observation,imitation,practiceandparticipationinformalandinformalcommunities”(Yeh,Huang&Yeh,2011,p.147).Secondly,externalizationreferstothe“processofarticulatingtacitknowledgeintoexplicitconceptsandmetaphors”(Nonaka&Takeuchi,1995,ascitedinSiu,2006,p.497).Yehetal.(2011)describeexternalizationas“thekeytoknowledgecreation”(p.147).Itisonlywhenoneisabletoarticulatetheirtacitknowledgeintoexplicitknowledgethatitcanbesharedthroughoutanorganization(Nonaka,2007).Thirdly,combinationisthetransferenceofexplicittoexplicitknowledgeasitreferstotheprocessofintegratingandsystemizingconceptsintoaknowledgesystemwiththehelpofdifferentmedia,suchasreviewreportsandtrendanalysis(Siu,2006;Yehetal.,2011).Thisallowsthefacilitationofpassingonexplicitknowledge(Siu,2006).Lastly,internalizationreferstothe“processofembodyingexplicitknowledgeintotacitknowledge”,whichpromotestheconceptof“learningbydoing”(Siu,2006,p.497).Ifoneisabletointernalisetheirexplicitknowledge,thentheywillbeabletoconvertitintotacitknowledge(Siu,2006).Therefore,theKnowledgeSpiralModelprovesthatexplicitandtacitknowledgeareinfactnotcompletelyseparateentitiesasthefourprocessescontinuouslyinteractwithoneanother. AsstatedbySiu(2006),NonakaandTakeuchi’sSECImodel“highlightsorganizationallearningasasocialprocess”(p.497).NonakaandTakeuchi(1995)alsoemphasisecreatingnewknowledgeinacyclicalwaytocreateacompetitiveadvantage.Throughorganizationallearning,onecanestablishasetofrecurringsetofactivitieswhichfacilitatetheconversionofonetypeofknowledgetoanother,suchasexplicittotacitknowledgeandviceversa.However,itisimportanttorecognisethatsomeprocessesfavourexplicitknowledgewhilesomefavourtacitknowledge(Siu,2006).Asexternalizationandcombinationrelyonstructuralknowledge,theyfavourexplicitknowledge(Siu,2006).Ontheotherhand,informalknowledgeprocessessuchassocializationandinternalizationfavourtacitknowledgeastheseprocessesareoften“spontaneousandvoluntaryinnature”(Siu,2006,p.497).Thismakesiteasyforcertainorganizations,especiallythosethatrelyheavilyoninformationtechnologywhichislimitedtothetransferofexplicitknowledge,todismisstacitknowledge(Siu,2006).Nevertheless,researchhasproventhattacitknowledgeisjustasvaluable,ifnotmorevaluable,thanexplicitknowledgeinorganizationallearning(Siu,2006).Therefore,NonakaandTakeuchi’s(1995)KnowledgeSpiralModelcanprovidebusinesseswithvaluableinsightintoorganizationallearningandhowtoeffectivelycombineexplicitandtacitknowledgetocreatenewknowledgeforabettercompetitiveedge.            AlthoughtheKnowledgeSpiralModelstemmedfrombusinessmanagement,itcanbeappliedtoeducationaswell,especiallyinpeerlearning.Peerlearningisconsideredtobeoneofthemosteffectivewaysforstudentstolearnasitisatwo-wayreciprocalprocesswherepeershavetheopportunitytolearnfromoneanother.ThefollowingreportwillrecommendsomepracticalexamplesofhowtoapplyNonakaandTakeuchi’sKnowledgeSpiralModel(1995)inbothface-to-faceandonlinepeerlearning.            Firstly,socializationisperformedby“interpersonalcommunicationand/orintrapersonalinsights”(Hvorecky,2012,p.4).Researchhasshownthatsocializationisakeyelementwhenitcomestocollaborativeactivities(Minocha&Roberts,2008).Assocializationisthemostbasicformoflearning,thereareanumberofwaysitcouldoccurinaclassroom.Whetheritisaphysicaloravirtualclassroom,socializationcangivethestudentsachancetogettoknoweachother,especiallyatthebeginningofanewcourse(Hosseini,2011).Thiscanbedonebydevotingthefirstfewsessionstoicebreakereitherinface-to-faceoronlinemeetings(Hosseini,2011).Duringthesemeetings,“thefacilitatorcanaskstudentstotalkaboutthemselves,theirexperiences,preferences,andtargetsforattendingtheclassandtosharetheircurrentmodels,thoughts,andperspectives”(Hosseini,2011,p.266).Infact,studentscanalsobeaskedtowriteabriefautobiographyaboutthemselvesandpostitinthee-classroomwhereeveryonehasaccesstoit(Hosseini,2011).Itwouldbeevenbetterifstudentscanattachaphotographofthemselvesalongwiththeautographyasitallowsotherstudentstoviewtheirphotographswhichcanassistindevelopinginterpersonalrelationships(Hosseini,2011).Givingthestudentsachancetogettoknoweachotheronapersonalandprofessionalleveliskeyinestablishingaclimateofopennessandinterpersonaltrust(Hvorecky,2012).Undersocialization,tacitknowledgecanbeattainedthroughdialogue,whichthestudentscanbeginbyintroducingthemselvesandthenthroughparticipatingindiscussionforumsastheclassprogresses(Kassem,Hammami&Alhousary,2015).            Secondly,externalizationhappenswhen“tacitknowledgeturnstoexplicitformthroughdiscussionandstorytellingamongstudents”(Hosseini,2011,p.267).However,forexternalizationtotakeplace,studentsfirstmustbecomeawareofthetacitknowledgetheypossess(Hosseini,2011).Thiscouldbedonethroughcodifyingandturningtacitknowledgeintopiecesofinformationthatcanbecommunicatedtootherclassmates(Hosseini,2011).Oncetheinformationisreceived,studentsmust“gothroughthedecodificationprocesstounderstandanddigesttheinformation”(Hosseini,2011,p.267).Thus,onecoulddoacrowd-sourcedglossaryactivityeitherinface-to-faceoronlineclassestohelpfacilitateexternalization.Doingacrowd-sourcedglossaryrequires“eachparticipantinanexercisetobuildaglossaryofnewtermsinaparticulararea,e.g.accounting”(BECKSearch,2020).Todothisactivity,studentsshouldfirstfindanewssitewheretheyarelikelytofindjargons,suchasHarvardBusinessReview,andthenwritetheunfamiliartermsonasharedclassgoogledocument(BECKSearch,2020).EachstudentwillthenlookatthetermsotherstudentshaveputdownandtheywillhavetotrytoexplainthetermsintheirownwordsorusingadefinitiontheyfoundontheInternet(BECKSearch,2020).Therefore,throughthisactivity,studentscangetfamiliarwithnewjargonsandcontextualizethenewtheoreticaltermstheyhavejustlearnt(BECKSearch,2020).AspointedoutbyHosseini(2011),“havingsharedterminologyandjargonamongmembershelpsmooththecodificationaswellasdecodificationprocess”(p.267). Thirdly,combinationisactivatedwheninformationissystematizedintoaknowledgesystemanddifferentbodiesofexplicitknowledgeareintegrated(Kassemetal.,2015).Forthisreason,activitiessuchastreasurehuntandVenndiagramworkreallywellforcombination.Treasurehuntisafunandinteractivewayforstudentstoconductonlineresearchinagroup(BECKSearch,2020).Eachmemberinagrouphavetosearchforapieceofinformationonthesametopic,suchas“shareprice”,andthentheyhavetoreportbackthefindingstotheirgroup(BECKSearch,2020).Then,thegroupcancompareandcontrasttheinformationeachgroupmemberhasobtainedandgenerateacasestudyoutofit(BECKSearch,2020).Bydoingso,alltheknowledgethatthestudentshavegainedfromthisprojectcanbediscussed,analysedandsynthesisedintheformofacasestudy(Hosseini,2011).Alternatively,studentscanalsodrawaVenndiagramwhichcanhelpthemto“evaluatethekeysimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenelementsof[a]topic”(BECKSearch,2020).Throughthisactivity,studentscanintegratetheknowledgetheyhaveaboutatopicandtheinformationtheyfoundontheInternetintoaknowledgesystemthatispresentedvisually. Lastly,internalizationoccurswhenstudents’“explicitknowledgeisinternalisedintoindividual’stacitknowledgebasesintheformofmentalmodelsortechnicalknow-how”(Chatti,Klamma,Jarke&Naeve,2007,p.781).Onewayof“learningbydoing”isrole-playing(Chattietal.,2007).Role-playingallowsstudentstoapplytheexplicitknowledgetheyhavelearntfromtheirclasstorealcontextualsituations(Sweeney,2020).Bydoingso,studentscanimprovetheirunderstandingofthecontentbeinglearntordiscussed(Sweeney,2020).However,atthesametime,“internalizationisalsoaprocessofcontinuousindividualandcollectivereflection”(Chattietal.,2007,p.781).Thus,studentscanbeaskedtowritereflectionsafterthecompletionofaproject,orevenafterthecompletionofeachstepintheSECImodel(Sudtho,2018).Studentscanbeguidedbypromptssuchas“WhatIhavelearntisthat…”,“ThechallengesIfacedwere…”,and“Sharingideaswithmygroupmademe…”(Sudtho,2018,p.34).Thissortofreflectiveprocessaimsatprovidingdeeperlearningtostudents“bylookingatsituationsthroughadifferentlensandbyaskingthemcriticalquestionsthatchallenge[their]assumptionsabouttheworldaroundthem”(Sudtho,2018,p.35). Allinall,NonakaandTakeuchi’s(1995)KnowledgeSpiralModelishighlyeffectiveinhelpingbusinessescreatenewknowledge.Nevertheless,thismodelisalsoapplicabletootherfields,suchaseducation.ByapplyingtheSECImodelinpeerlearning,itallowsfora“strongandintegratedsystematizedknowledgecreationpaththatleadstopracticalknowledgecreationprocess”(Hosseini,2011,p.270). References BECKSearch.(2020).CompareandContrast/VennDiagrams.ActivePeersatBECKSearch. https://www.activepeers.com/courses/compare-and-contrast-venn-diagrams/. BECKSearch.(2020).Crowd-SourcedGlossary.ActivePeersatBECKSearch. https://www.activepeers.com/courses/crowd-sourced-glossary/. BECKSearch.(2020).TreasureHunt.ActivePeersatBECKSearch. https://www.activepeers.com/courses/treasure-hunt/. Chatti,M.,Klamma,R.,Jarke,M.,&Naeve,A.(2007).TheWeb2.0DrivenSECIModel BasedLearningProcess.780-782. Hosseini,S.M.(2011)TheApplicationofSECImodelasaFrameworkofKnowledge CreationinVirtualLearning.AsiaPacificEducationReview,12,263-270. Hvorecky,J.(2012).Hvorecky,J.(2012).ApplyingtheSECIModelandBloom’s TaxonomytothePreparationofKnowledgeManagementSpecialists. Kassem,S.,Hammami,S.,&Alhousary,T.(2015).ApplyingSECIModeltoEncourage KnowledgeCreationineLearningEnvironment.InternationalJournalofEconomic Research,12(4),1601-1611. Minocha,S.,&Roberts,D.(2008).LayingtheGroundworkforSocialisationandKnowledge Constructionwithin3Dvirtualworlds.ResearchinLearningTechnology,16(3),181- 196. Nonaka,I.(2007,July-August).TheKnowledge-CreatingCompany.HarvardBusiness Review.https://hbr.org/2007/07/the-knowledge-creating-company. Nonaka,I.,&Takeuchi,H.(1995).TheKnowledge-CreatingCompany:HowJapanese CompaniesCreatetheDynamicsofInnovation.OxfordUniversityPress. Siu,L.H.(2006).TacitKnowledge,NonakaandTakeuchiSECIModelandInformal KnowledgeProcesses.InternationalJournalofOrganizationTheoryandBehaviour, 9(4),490-502. Sudtho,J.(2018).Pre-serviceTeachers’PerceptiontowardstheImplementationoftheSECI ModelforReflectiveKnowledgeManagement.HumanBehaviour,Developmentand Society,19(1),28-39. Sweeney,M.(2020,March31).Roleplay&PeerLearning.ActivePeersatBECKSearch. https://www.activepeers.com/roleplay-peer-learning/. Yeh,Y.,Huang,L.,&Yeh,Y.(2011).KnowledgeManagementinBlendedLearning: EffectsonProfessionalDevelopmentinCreativityInstruction.Computers&Education,56,146-156. Postnavigation PreviousPostPreviousFivewaystoboostengagementwhendeliveringonlinelearning(asdemonstratedbyUlsterUniversityBusinessSchoolandIrishTimesTraining)NextPostNextLeadershipModelsforBecomingaBetterLeader ActivityList▼Activitiesbyduration▼30minutesorlessVariable-lengthActivitiesbydeliverance▼OnlineIn-personActivitiesbythedesiredoutcome▼ConfidencebuildingTeambuildingImprovecommunicationHowwecanhelpyouHowwe’vehelpedclientsContactUsBlogUlsterUniversity–EngagingOnlineActivePeerLearning