ABSTRACT

Higher Education Institutions are increasingly called upon to demonstrate their real world impact, which, in many instances, remains elusive. We believe this is partly due to the under-counting and under-estimation of the importance of tacit knowledge by researchers and regulators. We propose this as a missing contingency in the research–impact relationship. To better acknowledge and utilize tacit research knowledge in the impact process, we emphasize processes of praxis, reflexivity and dialogical sense-making, which help externalize implicit tacit knowledge, and socialization processes, which facilitate enactment, emulation and feedback to develop inherent tacit knowledge. Examples from management research are used to exemplify these processes. The implications of accepting the importance of tacit knowledge in creating impact call for changes in how researchers, universities, funders, assessors and governments, fund, create and assess real world research impact.

摘要

越来越多的高等教育机构被要求展示其对现实世界的影响，而在许多情况下，这种影响仍然难以捉摸。我们认为这部分是由于研究人员和监管机构对隐性知识重要性的低估和低估。我们认为这是研究-影响关系中缺失的偶然性。为了在影响过程中更好地承认和利用隐性研究知识，我们强调实践、反思和对话意义的过程，这有助于将隐性的隐性知识外化，而社会化过程则有助于制定、模仿和反馈，以发展内在的隐性知识。来自管理研究的例子被用来举例说明这些过程。