3. Dynamic Knowledge Co-creation and Collaboration through Serious Games

This study builds on Nonaka and Takeuchi’s theory of dynamic knowledge co-creation that supports the examination of the role of knowledge co-creation as an institutional mechanism that enables learning and collaboration within collaborative governance settings. This theory builds upon the knowledge theories of Polyani (1966), who first came up with the idea of tacit and explicit knowledge, describing these respectively as more practical versus more intellectual knowing. Organizational knowledge creation theory aimed at complementing the more static view of ‘knowledge assets’ in the knowledge-based view (e.g. Grant 1996, De Carolis and Deeds 1999) and the theory of dynamic capabilities (e.e. Teece et al. 1997, Helfat 1997), by explaining how tacit and explicit forms of knowledge interact to create new knowledge. In theory, tacit and explicit knowledge are not separate but ‘mutually complementary’ in that they dynamically interact with each other through creative activities and interactions between diverse individuals and groups (Nonaka 1994, Nonaka et al. 1996, Alavi and Leidner 2001, Nonaka 2009). Organizational knowledge creation is aimed therefore at expanding boundaries by including diverse experts and practitioners with different knowledge and interests, representing diverse social practices, and coming from diverse functions, organizations, groups and networks.
Various streams of knowledge management research have emerged over the past decades, particularly in the management literature, with early research focusing primarily on understanding differences among data, information, knowledge and the effects of these differences on knowledge management (Machlup 1980, Vance 1997, Nonaka and Konno 1998, Olsson et al. 2006, Nonaka 2009). Classifications were developed to analyze knowledge types and their interrelations (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, Spender 1996). Two common dimensions were identified in these classifications that make distinctions between individual and collective knowledge (Spender 1996), as well as tacit and explicit knowledge (Polanyi 1962, 1965, Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995). A significant component of knowledge comes in tacit form, which is a highly personal form of knowledge that is difficult to formalize and share with others, e.g. subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches (Polanyi 1983). Where tacit knowledge is rooted in actions and experiences while being influenced by personal ideals, values and emotions, explicit knowledge can be much more readily transferred in formal and systematic ways (Roux et al. 2006).  
To address questions regarding the fundamental conditions required for the co-creation of knowledge, where this knowledge co-creation takes place and whether it is possible to manage knowledge like other resources, Nonaka and Konno (1998) introduced the Japanese concept of ‘Ba’ that involves a platform for human interactions and evolves around the concept of collective knowledge creation. This platform is also described as a ‘space for emerging relationships’ shared by two or more individuals or organizations, and can take different kind of forms (Nonaka and Nishigushi 2001, Nonaka et al. 2000). When studying serious game simulations as boundary objects and their capacity to facilitate a space for increased collaborations and knowledge co-creation, the concept of Ba provides a useful approach for looking at new ways of organizing and facilitating such processes. The earlier-mentioned learning mechanisms described by Akkerman et al. (2011) – identification, coordination, reflection and transformation – may be supported or enhanced through such spaces, when individuals and groups involved are required to transcend their own limited perspectives and interests (Nonaka et al. 1995, Nonaka 2009). 
The interplay between tacit and explicit knowledge through a ‘Ba’, such as serious game simulations, may lead to processes of knowledge conversion, expansion, and innovation. The creation of new knowledge here takes place through a cyclical process of interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge, conceptualized by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) as a knowledge creation cycle that involves four conversion steps (see Figure 2):
* • Socialization: from tacit to tacit knowledge, which involves the sharing and transferring of tacit knowledge between individuals and groups through physical proximity and direct interactions. The knowledge co-creation process begins from a space where individuals share feelings, emotions, experiences, and mental models. These face-to-face experiences are key to conversing and transferring tacit knowledge.  
* • Externalization: from tacit to explicit knowledge, which requires tacit knowledge to be articulated and translated into comprehensible forms that can be understood by others. This requires a space for peer-to-peer dialogue where individuals and groups engage in the creation of shared knowledge.
* • Combination: from explicit to more complex sets of explicit knowledge, which requires communication and diffusion processes and the systematization of knowledge. In practice, this relies on: (a) capturing and integration of new explicit knowledge, (b) dissemination of explicit knowledge among groups and networks, and (c) editing or processing of explicit knowledge to make it more user-friendly.  
* • Internalization: from explicit to tacit knowledge, which relies in practice on: (i) actualizing explicit knowledge in practice, (ii) embodying explicit knowledge through simulations or experiments to trigger learning-by-doing, (iii) active participation of all players.