Americans Scott Cook, a philosopher, and organization theorist Dvora Yanow presented
evidence of tacit knowledge used by organizations that manufactured ‘the finest flutes in the
world.’ Their study focused on observations of highly skilled fl ute makers working for three
companies located in and around Boston.2 Cook and Yanow observed and recorded what
the fl ute makers did and talked about as they performed their jobs, noting that their production process was sequential. Each person contributed something unique to each instrument
as it passed through their hands—drilling holes, connecting springs and keys, gluing keypads
onto the keys, adjusting keys and keypads, and so on