Facilitating Knowledge Transfer based on a Resource Based View of Tacit Knowledge Stock: A Skills Assessment Perspective

Resource Based View posits the use of internal resources for competitive advantage which is often evaluated using four questions on value, rarity, imitability and organisation, also known as the VRIO framework. We focus on the organisational resource of tacit knowledge – characterized by knowledge that is difficult to transfer. Knowledge transfer begins with the identification of knowledge stock. Using the Design Science Research Methodology, we develop and evaluate a skills assessment method to measure tacit knowledge stock of an organisation based on the Skills Framework of the Information Age (SFIA). The method is evaluated in an Australian bank during its digital innovation initiative. We found that knowledge transfer is most effective when the person or party that is transferring knowledge has prior understanding of the receivers’ knowledge stock. This finding has significant implications to practice in the area of knowledge management.