How have Japanese companies become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries, among others? What is the secret of their success? Two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, are the first to tie the success of Japanese companies to their ability to create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. In The Knowledge-Creating Company, Nonaka and Takeuchi provide an inside look at how Japanese companies go about creating this new knowledge organizationally. The authors point out that there are two types of knowledge: explicit knowledge, contained in manuals and procedures, and tacit knowledge, learned only by experience, and communicated only indirectly, through metaphor and analogy. U.S. managers focus on explicit knowledge. The Japanese, on the other hand, focus on tacit knowledge. And this, the authors argue, is the key to their success--the Japanese have learned how to transform tacit into explicit knowledge. To explain how this is done--and illuminate Japanese business practices as they do so--the authors range from Greek philosophy to Zen Buddhism, from classical economists to modern management gurus, illustrating the theory of organizational knowledge creation with case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, Nissan, 3M, GE, and even the U.S. Marines. For instance, using Matsushita's development of the Home Bakery (the world's first fully automated bread-baking machine for home use), they show how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge: when the designers couldn't perfect the dough kneading mechanism, a software programmer apprenticed herself withthe master baker at Osaka International Hotel, gained a tacit understanding of kneading, and then conveyed this information to the engineers. In addition, the authors show that, to create knowledge, the best management style is neither top-down nor bottom-up, but rather what they call "middle-up-down," in which the middle managers form a bridge between the ideals of top management and the chaotic realities of the frontline. As we make the turn into the 21st century, a new society is emerging. Peter Drucker calls it the "knowledge society," one that is drastically different from the "industrial society," and one in which acquiring and applying knowledge will become key competitive factors. Nonaka and Takeuchi go a step further, arguing that creating knowledge will become the key to sustaining a competitive advantage in the future. Because the competitive environment and customer preferences changes constantly, knowledge perishes quickly. With The Knowledge-Creating Company, managers have at their fingertips years of insight from Japanese firms that reveal how to create knowledge continuously, and how to exploit it to make successful new products, services, and systems.

The knowledge-creating company

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

This paper presents an empirical analysis of unemployment patterns in the OECD countries from the 1960s to the 1990s. Our results indicate the following. First, broad movements in unemployment across the OECD can be explained by shifts in labour market institutions. Second, interactions between average values of these institutions and shocks make no significant additional contribution to our understanding of OECD unemployment changes.

Unemployment in the OECD Since the 1960s. What Do We Know

Recent literature concerning regional development has placed significant emphasis on local institutional structures and their capacity to ‘hold down’ the global. Conversely, work on inter-firm networks – such as the global commodity chain approach – has highlighted the significance of the organizational structures of global firms’ production systems and their relation to industrial upgrading. In this paper, drawing upon a global production networks perspective, we conceptualize the connections between ‘globalizing’ processes, as embodied in the production networks of transnational corporations, and regional development in specific territorial formations. We delimit the ‘strategic coupling’ of the global production networks of firms and regional economies which ultimately drives regional development through the processes of value creation, enhancement and capture. In doing so, we stress the multi-scalarity of the forces and processes underlying regional development, and thus do not privilege one particular geographical scale. By way of illustration, we introduce an example drawn from recent research into global production networks in East Asia and Europe. The example profiles the investments of car manufacturer BMW in Eastern Bavaria, Germany and Rayong, Thailand, and considers their implications for regional development.

Globalizing regional development: aglobal production networks perspective

This book opens a fresh chapter in the debate on local enterprise clusters and their strategies for upgrading in the global economy. The authors employ a novel conceptual framework in their research on industrial clusters in Europe, Latin America and Asia and provide new perspectives and insights for researchers and policymakers alike.

Governance in global value chains

Country of origin effects and hrm in multinational companies

This paper uses a comparative institutionalist approach combined with a power/interests perspective to examine the processes whereby diversity policy is ‘internationalised’ by US multinational companies. It argues that the process of policy transfer to UK subsidiaries is complicated by incomplete and contested ‘institutionalisation’ of diversity within the US itself, and by differing conceptions of diversity between the US and the UK. The ability of actors within the UK subsidiaries to mobilise and deploy specific power resources allows them to resist the full implementation of corporate diversity policy, leading to a range of compromise accommodations. It is argued that the findings have more general implications for analysing the transfer of HR practices between national business systems.

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Institutional theory and the cross-national transfer of employment policy: the case of ‘workforce diversity’ in US multinationals

This paper discusses the 'nationality effect' in the management of HRM by multinational companies (MNCs). After reviewing relevant literature in the institutionalist tradition and on 'national business systems', it assesses the elements of national environments that are most likely to influence MNC behaviour. It explores the tensions arising between the requirements of 'globalized' operations and the characteristics MNCs have adopted from their home environment. It is suggested that MNCs respond to such tensions by adopting various adaptation strategies, the most important of which may be termed 'Anglo-Saxonization': a convergence of MNC behaviour around a model typical of highly internationalized British or US MNCs. The argument is illustrated by findings from two German case studies, one of a large manufacturer, the other of a major bank; evidence is found of the Anglo-Saxonization of international HRM in these companies, but it appears to be taking place in a distinctively German manner.

Multinationals, national business systems and HRM: the enduring influence of national identity or a process of 'Anglo-Saxonization'

List of Contributors. Preface. Introduction: Towards European Industrial Relations?. 1. Great Britain: From Partial Collectivism to Neo--liberalism to Where?: Paul Edwards (University of Warwick), Mark Hall (University of Warwick), Richard Hyman (University of Warwick), Paul Marginson (University of Leeds), Keith Sisson (University of Warwick), Jeremy Waddington (University of Warwick), and David Winchester (University of Warwick). 2. Ireland: Corporation Revived: Ferdinand von Prondzynski (University of Hull). 3. Sweden: Restoring the Model?: Anders Kjellberg (University of Lund). 4. Norway: The Revival of Centralised Concertation: Jon Erik Dolvik and Torgeir Aarvaag Stokke (Both Institute for Applied Social Science, Oslo). 5. Denmark: A Less Regulated Model: Steen Scheuer (Copenhagen Business School). 6. Finland: Continuity and Modest Moves Towards Company--Level Corporatism: Kari Lilja (Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration). 7. Germany: Facing New Challenges: Otto Jacobi (Laboratorium Europa), Berndt Keller (University of Konstanz), and Walther Muller--Jentsch (Ruhr University of Bochum). 8. Austria: Still the Country of Corporatism: Franz Traxler (University of Vienna). 9. Switzerland: Still as Smooth as Clockwork?: Robert Flunder and Beat Hotz--Hart (Both University of Zurich). 10. The Netherlands: The Return of Responsive Corporatism: Jelle Visser (University of Amsterdam and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne). 11. Belgium: The Great Transformation: Jacques Vilrokx and Jim Van Leemput (Both Vrije Universiteit Brussel). 12. Luxembourg: A Small Success Story: Gary Tunsch (Ministry of Labour and National Conciliation Office, Luxembourg). 13. France: The Limits of Reform: Janine Goetschy (Universite de Paris--Nanterre). 14. Portugal: Industrial Relations under Democracy: Jose Barreto (University of Lisbon) and Reinhard Naumann (freelance researcher). 15. Spain: Regulating Employment and Social Fragmentation: Miguel Martinez Lucio (University of Leeds). 16. Italy: The Dual Character of Industrial Relations: Ida Regalia (University of Turin) and Marino Regini (University of Milan). 17. Greece: The Maturing of the System: Nicos Kritsantonis. Index.

Changing industrial relations in Europe

Contributors Series Editors' Foreword Preface Introduction 1. Great Britain: Still Muddling Through?: Paul Edwards, Mark Hall, Richard Hyman, Paul Marginson, Keith Sisson, Jeremy Waddington, David Winchester 2. Ireland: Between Centralism and the Market: Ferdinand von Prondzynski 3. Sweden: Can the Model Survive?: Anders Kjellberg 4. Norway: The 'Norwegian Model' in Transition: Jon Erik Dolvik and Dag Stokland 5. Denmark: Return to Decentralization: Steen Scheuer 6. Finland: No Longer the Nordic Exception: Kari Kilja 7. Germany: Co-determining the Future: Otti Jacobi, Berndt Keller, Walther Muller-Jentsch 8. Austria: Still the Country of Corporatism: Franz Traxler 9. Switzerland: Still as Smooth as Clockwork?: Beat Hotz-Hart 10. The Netherlands: The End of an Era and the End of a System: Jelle Visser 11. Belgium: A New Stability in Industrial Relations?: Jacques Vilrokx and Jim Van Leemput 12. Luxembourg: An Island of Stability: Gary Tunsch 13. France: The System of Industrial Relations at a Turning Point?: Janine Goetschy and Patrick Rozenblatt 14. Portugal: Industrial Relations Under Democracy: Jose Barreto 15. Spain: Constructing Institutions and Actors in a Context of Change: Miguel Martinez Lucio with Modesto Escobar, Joaquin Lopez Novo and Victor Perez Diaz 16. Italy: Between Political Exchange and Micro-Corporatism: Anthony Ferner, Richard Hyman and Michael Terry 17. Greece: From State Authoritarianism to Modernization: Nicos D Kritsantonis.

Anthony Ferner

Papers

Country of origin effects and hrm in multinational companies

Institutional theory and the cross-national transfer of employment policy: the case of ‘workforce diversity’ in US multinationals

Multinationals, national business systems and HRM: the enduring influence of national identity or a process of 'Anglo-Saxonization'

Changing industrial relations in Europe

Industrial Relations in the New Europe