Tacit Knowledge in Organizations

Philippe Baumard has observed that strategic success seems to lie more in top managers′ ability to use tacit knowledge than in their gaining or updating explicit knowledge′ - William H Starbuck, New York University

This important new book effectively illustrates how, in conditions of ambiguity, managers over-manage′, i.e. rely too much on explicit plans and interpretations. Here, Philippe Baumard develops an alternative analysis and with it a new approach to management′ - Frank Blackler, Lancaster University

This landmark book delves below the surface of organizations in order to understand the complex processes of top managers′ decision making.

Philippe Baumard argues that the conventional, rational model of decision making ignores the tacit and intuitive processes that are often crucial in successful business outcomes. He demonstrates through his four central business cases how it is in times of uncertainty, rapid change and turbulence that the fate of companies is often determined, and it is at these times that managers′ tacit knowledge and their ability to navigate ambiguous and complex situations is most critical.