Purpose: To understand the role played by tacit knowledge in marketing decision making in SMEs and to extrapolate the ramifications, in terms of practice and theory generation Design/methodology/approach: In order to provide support for the existence of tacit expertise, research was framed around three key questions and in depth interview data drawn from SME senior managers. Although limited in number, interviewees represent a range of different types of SME business. Findings: In SMEs, tacit knowledge presents a reservoir of expertise that reflects the recondite characteristics of marketing decision making. Strategies in marketing were found to be about locally situated networks, intersubjective knowledge and intuitive based judgements that led to important company advantages in the market place. Practical implications: Based on an analysis of the findings and despite the abstruse nature of tacit knowledge, this paper tentatively suggests ways for marketers to unravel it. The suggestion is that tacit and locally significant experience and expertise in marketing is a basis for theory and practice, with potential for dissemination Originality/value: Tacit knowledge is a notable, yet widely overlooked area of SME marketing. Highlighted here are both managerial and learning challenges in terms of better conceptualising our understanding of marketing and SME activity regarding this largely unarticulated base of practice.

中文翻译：

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阐明不明确的问题：中小企业经理和默契专业知识在营销中的作用

目的：在实践和理论生成方面，了解隐性知识在中小企业的营销决策中所扮演的角色，并推论其后果设计/方法/方法：为了对隐性专业知识的存在提供支持，围绕三个关键问题以及来自中小型企业高级管理人员的深入访谈数据。尽管人数有限，但受访者代表了一系列不同类型的SME业务。调查结果：在中小型企业中，隐性知识代表了专业知识的储备，反映了市场营销决策的隐秘特征。发现营销策略是关于本地网络，主体间知识和基于直觉的判断，这些因素导致了公司在市场上的重要优势。实际影响：在对调查结果进行分析的基础上，尽管隐性知识的本质是深奥的，但本文还是尝试性地为营销人员提出了揭示隐性知识的方法。建议是，隐性和本地的大量营销经验和专业知识是理论和实践的基础，具有传播的潜力原创性/价值：隐性知识是中小企业营销中一个值得注意的但被广泛忽视的领域。在更好地概念化我们对市场和中小企业活动的理解方面，这里强调了管理和学习方面的挑战，这主要是针对未明确阐述的实践基础。建议是，隐性和本地的大量营销经验和专业知识是理论和实践的基础，具有传播的潜力原创性/价值：隐性知识是中小企业营销中一个值得注意的但被广泛忽视的领域。在更好地概念化我们对市场和中小企业活动的理解方面，这里强调了管理和学习方面的挑战，这主要是针对未明确阐述的实践基础。建议是，隐性和本地的大量营销经验和专业知识是理论和实践的基础，具有传播的潜力原创性/价值：隐性知识是中小企业营销中一个值得注意的但被广泛忽视的领域。在更好地概念化我们对市场和中小企业活动的理解方面，这里强调的是管理和学习方面的挑战，这主要是针对未明确阐述的实践基础。