The Uncertainty of Knowing: An Analysis of the Nature of Knowledge in a Small Business Context

Abstract

Experiencing and coping with uncertainty is common to most small businesses. The knowledge that is generated and applied as a result is a product of and a response to this condition, and so can be considered as knowing in and through practice. A consideration of knowledge as contingent upon unpredictable internal and external factors leads to the identification of multiple types of knowledge-asknowing. As such, knowledge within small businesses can be characterized as contextualized ‘bundles’ of knowing that are shaped by, and in turn shape, the business and the uncertainty of its internal dynamics and external environment.