Abstract
Many researchers have explored the knowledge management theory. However, to the author's knowledge few were interested in the tacit knowledge construct, whether it is gained inside or outside the organization. This chapter has a challenge to analyze in-depth the embedded knowledge gained from the customer, especially as it sheds light on the role of customer experiential knowledge by defining the customer experiential knowledge. It follows an emphasis on the customer experience and its close relationships with innovation management. Hence, a thorough theoretical background is presented progressively in order to define a new organizational competence labeled CEKMC. The first part presents an overview of the knowledge status, fundamental knowledge views, the evolutionary theory to the tacit knowledge construct. The second part stresses the definition of customer tacit knowledge related to customer experience. Finally, the conclusion defines a new organizational competence relative to this knowledge while discussing its contribution, especially to the experiential innovation type.
TopIntroduction
As researches which are interested in the tacit knowledge are scarce, it is of paramount importance to revisit the tacit knowledge. This will be done as follows: a theoretical analysis will be presented through an extensive literature review, concerning the knowledge management in general as well as the tacit knowledge in particular. The first part treats the knowledge status and the related fundamental knowledge views as mainly the Resource Based view (RBV) and its extension the Knowledge based view. This first section concludes by regarding the evolutionary theory of knowledge creation of Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), while clarifying the tacit/explicit types of knowledge. The second part will be devoted to the construct of tacit knowledge (TK), while highlighting the importance of the customer tacit knowledge related to customer experience. In this case, the objective is to present the tacit knowledge related definitions and roots, by defining especially the customer experiential knowledge (Jaziri-Bouagina, 2017). The third and last section underlines the relationship of tacit knowledge with the innovation management. In this case, it is the objective to ascertain that tacit knowledge is a key input of innovation. In particular, to show that the customer experiential knowledge nourishes the innovation. On this issue, the proposed chapter concludes by the proposal of a new organizational competence relative to the customer experiential knowledge, while discussing its contribution to the experiential innovation in the case of well-being tourism.
Key Terms in this Chapter
CEKMC: Customer experiential knowledge management competence; the degree to which an organization demonstrates competence to generate and to integrate the knowledge-based customer experience in order to obtain a successful experience innovation.
Tacit Knowledge: It is a deeply embedded and subjective knowledge. It exists both on the individual and the organizational level and its acquisition depends widely on its level of hardness. Example of tacit domain: intuitions, action, values, cognition, emotions.
Knowledge-Based View (KBV): Integrated under the resource-based view, KBV stresses the strategic role of knowledge into the organization that should be processed in order to reach a competitive advantage.
Customer Tacit Knowledge: It is in-depth embedded knowledge that is related to the customer entity.
Resource-Based View (RBV): It is an organizational perspective/view that structures the company through a set of physical and intangible resources.
Customer Experiential Knowledge: It is a customer tacit knowledge based on his/her lived experience of consumption.