The SECI Model in Knowledge Management Practices

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to review the socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) model of knowledge management (KM), and to explore the trends of its use, challenges, and best practices in the model’s application in KM practice in the period from 1995 to 2018. Using the methodology known as the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA), we sought to do the following: establish whether the SECI model was more widely accepted than other KM models; examine specific demographic details of research studies on the SECI model; investigate the weaknesses of the model in practice; and generate a compendium of the use of the model in respect of the period we reviewed. Four databases were explored to search for open access, peer-reviewed, empirical journal articles. The study found that the SECI model continued to be widely accepted and used in spite of criticism levelled at it. Weaknesses that we noted in our review included the limitations of certain modes of the model in some areas of application and the non-linearity of the model in other areas. The study found evidence of exponential growth in the SECI model’s usage in the period reviewed. Also noted was the wide application of the model in knowledge creation studies in Africa. The study suggested that organisations could employ the model for their knowledge creation activities, but with the support of factors that enabled knowledge sharing. The model’s socialisation mode stood out as a mode of high impact, implying that the management teams of organisations needed to pay a lot of attention to it for effective organisational KM. This study generated a compendium for the practical application of the SECI model.