TRANSFERRING AND SHARING TACIT KNOWLEDGE AND ITS ROLE IN MANAGING THE HAJJ CROWDS

This study aimed mainly to identify the reality of the practices of workers in the crowd management system during the Hajj season toward transferring and sharing the tacit knowledge that they have, and to provide a proposed model to activate the process of transferring and sharing tacit knowledge between them based on the practices of leaders and decision-makers in the crowds management during the Hajj season. The survey descriptive approach was used by asking the opinions and suggestions of a group of experts working in the crowd management system during the Hajj season using a standardized interview that include fifteen open questions, and its outputs were used in building the questionnaire tool, and then applying the questionnaire to the study sample consisting of 320 individuals from supervisory and operational leaders (civil and military leaders) who participate in crowd management, Hajj season 1440 AH corresponding to 2019. The study, in its results on the reality of the practice of transferring the tacit knowledge between workers in crowd management during the Hajj season, and on its role in improving performance, concluded that direct participation in field tasks and responsibilities, workshops, conferences and seminars are important, and these have a central and important role in transferring and sharing tacit knowledge, and concluded that the biggest challenge facing workers in the crowd management system during the Hajj season is to understand and implement the approved plan and alternative contingency plans in an effective manner, and this does not affect transferring the tacit knowledge of crowd management only, but even it may highly affect issues that related to, and arising from, crowd management. The importance of officials conducting periodic meetings with participants in the field before, during and after the Hajj season came as a top priority for the respondents, and they also agreed that transferring and sharing the tacit knowledge increases the effectiveness of the work and reduces time and effort, and they suggested that the participation process be done by reviewing videos and photographs of previous years, discussing the observations that took place in it, and they considered that it is necessary to build a model to activate the process of transferring and sharing tacit knowledge between workers based on the practices of military and civilian leaders participating in crowd management during the Hajj season, provided that this model is designed with the participation of those have scientific and practical capabilities and have accumulated experience, and that the model should be approved from a higher authority in the Hajj, and should taking into account the absorptive capacity and numbers of workers. The study recommended the need to pay attention to direct participation in field tasks and responsibilities between workers in crowd management during the Hajj season, and to ensure their understanding and implementation of the approved plan and alternative emergency plans also, in a way achieves the implementation of these plans effectively, and to provide workers with all the information they need in relation to their work in Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah (the Holy Places), in a way that makes it easier for them to determine the tacit knowledge that they need, then obtaining it, and investing databases and expert systems in transferring and sharing tacit knowledge between workers in the crowd management system during the Hajj season, and to create a common work environment through teams of work and twinning knowledge between the agencies participating in the Hajj in a manner that serves their seasonal work, and to open direct channels between the supervisory leaders and the operational leaders in the field, in a manner that contribute to the sharing of the tacit knowledge between them effectively and rapidly. The study also proposed a model for activating the process of transferring and sharing the tacit knowledge between workers in crowd management during the Hajj season.