| Course | DBA-8080 Teaching Adults Archetypes, Tools, and Tactics - Andragogy Lab |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Module 3 written assignment: knowledge sharing |
| Length | About 544 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Doctor of Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for DBA 8080 Module 3
What the Credit File Does Not Say: Sharing Retiring Lenders' Judgment at a Community Bank
Student Name
Doctor of Business Administration, Thomas Edison State University
DBA-8080: Teaching Adults: Archetypes, Tools, and Tactics - Andragogy Lab
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
What the Credit File Does Not Say: Sharing Retiring Lenders' Judgment at a Community Bank
The Scenario
Four of our seven commercial lenders will retire within two years. Together they have more than 120 years of experience lending to small businesses in our market. Our credit policy, underwriting templates and product guides are written down. What is not written down is their judgment: how they read a business owner's account of a bad year, which local industries recover after a downturn and when a strong financial statement hides a weak business. Our loss rate on small business loans is low partly because of that judgment.
Tacit and Explicit Knowledge
Nonaka (1994) distinguished explicit knowledge, which can be stated in words and numbers, from tacit knowledge, which is rooted in action and experience and hard to formalize. He described four modes of conversion: socialization, tacit to tacit through shared experience; externalization, tacit to explicit through dialogue and metaphor; combination, explicit to explicit; and internalization, explicit to tacit through practice. Our training has relied almost entirely on combination: policy manuals and templates. The lenders' judgment will pass only through socialization and externalization.
Barriers to Transfer
Szulanski (1996) traced why good practices fail to travel inside companies and found the chief obstacles were not reluctance but receivers who lacked the background to absorb the practice, uncertainty about why it worked and strained ties between the giver and the receiver. All three apply. Junior lenders may not yet have the experience to recognize what a senior lender notices, the senior lenders often cannot explain why a deal felt wrong and two of them have worked mostly alone. Wang and Noe (2010) reviewed knowledge sharing research and identified organizational context, interpersonal factors and individual motivation as influences; time pressure and the absence of recognition for sharing are common obstacles.
Design
Three practices address the conversion modes and barriers.
Wenger et al. (2002) describe communities of practice as groups who share a concern and deepen their knowledge by interacting regularly, and they argue that such communities need cultivation rather than control. The lending circle is meant to become one, with the four senior lenders as its first core members and a junior lender as coordinator so it continues after they leave.
To address time and recognition, the bank will count mentoring hours in senior lenders' goals and reduce their new deal targets by 15 percent during the program.
| Practice | Conversion mode | Barrier addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Paired deal reviews: each junior lender sits in on a senior lender's borrower meetings and credit discussions for six months | Socialization | Absorptive capacity; relationship |
| Case library: each senior lender records ten past deals, including two that went wrong, in a structured interview of about an hour each | Externalization | Causal ambiguity |
| Monthly lending circle: lenders and credit analysts discuss one current deal, with a senior lender asked to explain what they notice | Socialization and externalization; later internalization | Relationship; recognition |
Conclusion
The most valuable knowledge the retiring lenders hold is tacit, and manuals cannot carry it. Paired reviews, a case library and a lending circle combine socialization and externalization and respond to the barriers research identifies. The test will be whether junior lenders, two years from now, can explain why they declined a deal that looked strong on paper.
References
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science, 5(1), 14-37. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.5.1.14
Szulanski, G. (1996). Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(S2), 27-43. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250171105
Wang, S., & Noe, R. A. (2010). Knowledge sharing: A review and directions for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 20(2), 115-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.10.001
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. M. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Harvard Business School Press.
DBA 8080 Module 3 instructions, in plain terms
For Module 3 of DBA-8080, Knowledge Sharing, the written assignment applies theory to a question or scenario about how knowledge moves among adults at work, one of four such assignments worth 45 percent together. Expect to identify a body of knowledge in an organization, decide whether it is tacit or explicit, apply a model such as Nonaka's knowledge conversion or communities of practice, name the barriers to sharing and design practices that address them. The course frames this as part of teaching adults, so treat experienced practitioners as teachers and design how they will teach. Readings for the module, linked journal articles, supply the theory. Name who will do the teaching and when they will find the time.
How this DBA 8080 Module 3 example is built
The paper starts with a scenario where knowledge is about to walk out the door: four retiring lenders whose judgment keeps loan losses low. It separates what the bank has written down from the judgment it has not, then applies Nonaka's four conversion modes to show that training has relied on only one. Szulanski's three barriers and Wang and Noe's review are matched to features of the bank. A table links three practices, paired deal reviews, a case library and a lending circle, to the conversion mode each uses and the barrier it addresses. Communities of practice research shapes the lending circle, and a final test is proposed. Reduced deal targets for senior lenders answer the time barrier directly.
DBA 8080 Module 3 rubric: what earns full marks
Mentors grade this written assignment on understanding of knowledge sharing theory, accurate application to the scenario, analysis of barriers, a practical design and scholarly writing in APA style. Distinguishing tacit from explicit knowledge, and showing why it matters for the chosen scenario, is central. Credit goes to designs that link each practice to a mode of conversion and a barrier rather than listing mentoring, wikis and meetings. Attention to time and recognition, the conditions that decide whether experienced people actually share, shows realism. A measurable test of success at the end shows evaluative thinking. Credit also goes to practices that will outlast the experts who start them.
DBA 8080 Module 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Students lose marks by recommending a knowledge database for knowledge that is tacit, by describing Nonaka's model without applying it or by ignoring why experts do not share. Others pick a scenario with no real stakes. Choose knowledge that matters and is at risk, decide which parts are tacit and design for those. Name the barriers using research and address each one, including time and recognition. Give the design a test of success. A free first draft of your own DBA-8080 Module 3 written assignment can be built around the knowledge your organization needs to keep. Say how you will know the knowledge transferred, such as junior lenders explaining a declined deal in their own words.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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DBA 8080 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free DBA 8080 Module 3 sample paper?
The written assignment above designs knowledge sharing for a community bank's retiring commercial lenders using Nonaka's model and communities of practice.
What is the difference between tacit and explicit knowledge?
Explicit knowledge can be written in words and numbers, while tacit knowledge is rooted in experience and action and is hard to state.
What are Nonaka's four modes of knowledge conversion?
Socialization, externalization, combination and internalization, often called the SECI model.
What is a community of practice?
A group of people who share a concern or practice and deepen their knowledge by interacting regularly.
Why is best practice hard to transfer inside a firm?
Szulanski found the main barriers were the recipient's absorptive capacity, causal ambiguity and difficult relationships between source and recipient.