The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation was written by Ikujiro Nonaka, one of the founders of the SECI- model, a major basis of knowledge management.
In order to create new knowledge within an organisation, an advocate culture needs to be implemented first. One aspect is “Ba”- a space in which relationships can be initiated and cultivated to build trust and mutual understanding and, at the end, to create knowledge. Without not only having the opportunity to but also being encouraged to spend time in such a space without the pressure of showing direct results, knowledge sharing and creation will never take place within an organization. Knowledge is bound to humans, and humans need trust to communicate and exchange.