Hierarchy and Tacit Knowledge in the Swedish Armed Forces: An Organisational Approach

This paper describes in what ways hierarchical organizations influence the utilization and dissemination of knowledge. Particular attention will be paid to the role that tacit knowledge has. The reporting system of incidents is one element in a larger institutional process, often termed 'lessons learned' (LL). This process helps to suggest solutions to identify shortcomings and facilitates in making positive experiences durable. In organizational learning, there is a need to get hold of valuable experience, in order to improve. A serious weakness in several organizations seems to be that numerous experiences are poorly reported. A common and well known reporting procedure is 'after action reviews/reports' (AAR), used e. g. by the US Army and Marine Corps. It is essential that an effective reporting system presumes trust between informants/staff and the organization they work for. However, institutional belief and practice tends to reduce the effectiveness LL might have. Our paper discusses some difficulties in the reporting system and makes some elements of the problem more understandable. Some alternatives to standard operating practice will be outlined here that could help remedy some of these problems. The 'just culture' literature will be used to point out the direction institutional redesign should take regarding responsibility and accountability. This paper could also help guide future research in this area, by identifying critical assumptions, defining why certain problems need to be refined and by looking at why current research techniques are not sufficient.