T r a n s f e r o f t a c i t k n o w l e d g e a m o n g s t a f f a t t h e K e n y a N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y S e r v i c e , N a i r o b i

Abstract

Over the years in employment, staff acquire tremendous amount of tacit knowledge. This intellectual capital acts as a key driver of creativity, innovation and competitive advantage. Management of this knowledge facilitates decision making capabilities, builds learning organizations and stimulates change. There are current changes in the library‟s work force characterized by search for greener pastures, retrenchments, dismissals, aging labour force and death. When employees depart, they take their valuable knowledge, skills and expertise. This results in reduced library efficiency, costly mistakes and unexpected quality problems. When libraries downsize or reorganize, priceless tacit knowledge is lost. Lack of cooperation and collaboration; under-utilization of knowledge, skills and abilities; and lack of knowledge management strategies and policies are factors that prevent creation of new strategies, new services and deter transfer of tacit knowledge in libraries. Today, transfer of tacit knowledge is perceived as the key to retaining competitive advantage hence the need to understand, harness and retain its supremacy. The aim of this study was to investigate transfer of tacit knowledge among library staff at KNLS, establish challenges and propose a framework to enhance the transfer of tacit knowledge. The specific objectives were; to explore knowledge management practices at KNLS; to find out kinds of tacit knowledge among library staff at KNLS; to explore communication channels used in transfer of tacit knowledge; to identify challenges and experiences in transferring tacit knowledge and propose a framework to enhance transfer of tacit knowledge at KNLS. The study was informed by the Theory of Communities of Practice. The study adopted a qualitative approach. The population was stratified into departments and purposive sampling was employed to select various departments and respondents. Key informants in the study were senior members of management. Data was collected through face to face interviews. Data collected has been presented and analysed using qualitative techniques and where necessary, tables, graphs and charts have been used. The key findings of this study were; KNLS library staff had wealth of accumulated tacit knowledge and expertise in the field of librarianship; Knowledge management had not been fully embraced; there was no knowledge management policy; Library staff had both individual and collective tacit knowledge; Channels used in transfer of tacit knowledge were semi-formal; Major challenges that hindered transfer of tacit knowledge were; lack of motivation, lack of knowledge management strategies and policies to guide knowledge management activities and knowledge hoarding. The study recommends that KNLS should formulate a knowledge management policy, carry out a knowledge audit, provide a knowledge sharing culture, motivate staff and transfer of tacit knowledge will take place simultaneously. The study has proposed a model that can be adopted to enhance transfer of tacit knowledge.