According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), there are four stages in Knowledge management process, which are socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization.
The first stage is called socialization. Tacit knowledge between individuals in this stage is transferred through observation, practice and imitation.
The second stage is called externalization, which is triggered by collective reflection or dialogue. Also, this stage depends on analogy for the purpose of translating tacit knowledge into the form of processes and documents.
The third stage is called combination. Combination is the process of reconfiguring explicit knowledge by way of adding, combining, sorting and categorizing procedures.
The final stage is called internalization, which translates explicit knowledge into individual tacit knowledge.