The Technological Innovation and the Creation of the Organizational Knowledge

Abstract

The 1st/6th Aviation Group is an air unit of the Brazilian Air Force which currently undergoes a process of technological innovation, with the deployment of new equipment on its aircraft. The implementation of this equipment will allow the unit to fulfill a kind of mission never held by their crew before. As a result, the squadron found itself facing the challenge of seeking knowledge it did not possess. This study was designed to collect data that provided evidence on how the deployment of new equipment affected the dynamics of knowledge creation in the air unit. The theoretical foundation of the research relies on the theory of Nonaka and Taekuchi (1997), which refers to four kinds of conversion between tacit and explicit knowledge. Through documentary research and an interview with a military chosen for his experience and involvement in the process of deploying such equipment, the research concluded that the process of acquiring new knowledge went through those four types of knowledge conversion at different levels. This survey sought to solely assess aspects related to the mode of organizational knowledge creation, without considering the appropriateness of such knowledge to the specificities of equipment operation.