| The utilization of tacit knowledge in organizations is critical for maintaining a competitive advantage. This study tests the hypothesis that an organization's leadership and culture is a significant predictor of Tacit Knowledge Utilization (TKU) within organizations and addresses a methodology for characterizing the utilization of tacit knowledge. Data were collected from an original online survey administered to 192 knowledge workers across several organizations and industries.;The study found through Cronbach's coefficient alpha and confirmatory factor analysis, that an organization's leadership and cultural traits were reliable and valid constructs in the sample of knowledge workers. In addition, TKU, defined by Koskinen as a three-dimension construct of organizational experience, communication systems, and motivational systems, also proved to be reliable and valid construct. Results support the study's hypotheses that organizational leadership and culture along with related traits are statistically significant predictors of TKU. Further, to increase TKU, organizational leadership should apply best practices to encourage the traits of shared vision, shared values, environment of openness, creative freedom, and employee empowerment within their organizations. This served as a foundation for the subsequent analysis of organizational leadership's and culture's impact on TKU, results of which indicated that organizational leadership and culture can function as a predictor of TKU. This study confirmed Koskinen's theory that for each unit organizational leadership and culture improves, TKU also improves by approximately one half unit. |
