Should transfer of tacit knowledge be made mandatory?

Arguably now, even more than before, it is becoming important for universities to leverage their academics’ tacit knowledge so that it is shared and available for reuse in future. This paper specifically explores whether tacit knowledge transfer should be made mandatory and a key performance indicator in the annual performance reviews of academic staff. This study was conducted by collecting primary data through interviews of academics in four Australian universities. The findings reveal that academics are not in favour of making tacit knowledge mandatory and also indicated an aversion towards the inclusion of tacit knowledge transfer as a key performance indicator especially because it can be difficult to measure. Based on the findings, it is recommended universities focus on buttressing encouragement and motivation, developing mentoring programs, providing recognition and collaboration opportunities to entice academics to share tacit knowledge without necessarily making it a key performance indicator. Adopting the recommendations should enable tacit knowledge to be shared freely in an unimpeded environment.