How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Knowledge is recognized as an important weapon for sustaining competitive advantage and many companies are beginning to manage organizational knowledge Researchers have investigated knowledge management factors such as enablers, processes, and performance However, most current empirical research has explored the relationships between these factors in isolation To fill this gap, this paper develops a research model that interconnects knowledge management factors The model includes seven enablers: collaboration, trust, learning, centralization, formalization, T-shaped skills, and information technology support The emphasis is on knowledge creation processes such as socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization To establish credibility between knowledge creation and performance, organizational creativity is incorporated into the model Surveys collected from 58 firms were analyzed to test the model The results confirmed the impact of trust on knowledge creation The information technology support had a positive impact on knowledge combination only Organizational creativity was found to be critical for improving performance; neglecting ideas can undermine a business The results may be used as a stepping stone for further empirical research and can help formulate robust strategies that involve trade-offs between knowledge management enablers

Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes, and Organizational Performance: An Integrative View and Empirical Examination

Purpose – This article seeks to clarify the role of knowledge management in innovation as an aid to addressing this complexity. The article seeks to identify the drivers for application of knowledge management in innovation. It also details the nature of the role of knowledge management in innovation as well as its value proposition.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used was literature research and some personal experiences and interpretations.Findings – In the fast changing business world of today, innovation has become the mainstay of organizations. The nature of global economic growth has been changed by the speed of innovation, which has been made possible by rapidly evolving technology, shorter product lifecycles and a higher rate of new product development. The complexity of innovation has been increased by growth in the amount of knowledge available to organizations.Originality/value – Innovation is extremely dependent on the availability of knowledge and therefore the complexity create...

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The role of knowledge management in innovation

A decade of agile methodologies

An empirical investigation of KM styles and their effect on corporate performance

The essence of new product development is the creation, utilization and exploitation of new knowledge. Business sustainability is embedded in the firm’s ability to manage its new product development (NPD) processes. This paper explores the complex relationship between organizational context, NPD and knowledge management. A design‐based framework is proposed and utilized in the investigation of two NPD units in telecommunication and software development organizations. Directions for future research are identified and briefly discussed.

Knowledge management and new product development: a study of two companies

The goal of boosting creativity and productivity in knowledge‐based teams is shared by managers in technology‐oriented companies and industries. In this paper, we assess the nature of team performance and creativity in the context of computer‐supported technology. A field study of a Seagate Software project team provided the basis for the examination of four sub‐ teams’ overall functioning and creativity. Factors considered included technology support, team member relationships, decision making, performance and meeting deadlines, attention to quality, and innovation and creativity. Results varied, revealing less reliance on computer‐aided support and more on social support. Creativity was recognized and supported, but at times hampered.

Knowledge work teams and groupware technology: learning from Seagate’s experience

The integration of change over time is one of the ongoing challenges in a firm's life. Organizations seem to develop unique mechanisms that help them facilitate the integration of changes throughout and across organizational units. Information technologies based on electronic data processing are having a widespread impact on information flow within and between firms, on the structural configurations of the firm, and on management's ability to integrate change. This article proposes sociotechnical systems as a framework for examining the organizational implications of new information technology systems and as a tool for guiding the integration of change. The implications of the implementation of a local area network and its concomitant impact in a software development firm are examined over a 4-year period. The sociotechnical systems approach suggests that the same new information technology is likely to have different implications in various companies in terms of system integration, work design, and organ...

Information Technology and the Integration of Change: Sociotechnical System Approach

To effectively compete a firm needs to take advantage of their intellectual capital. However, intellectual capital alone is not sufficient to capitalize on the intellectual assets of the firm. An intelligence system is also necessary. We propose an intelligence system, consisting of four evolving components: a corporate data base of transaction processing and management information systems, a decision-making environment of decision support and expert systems, a corporate-wide ability to examine the information resources, and a knowledge center to support individual and group decision making. We meld this view of an intelligence system into a sociotechnical system framework as means to explain and juxtaposition knowledge work.

Intelligence systems: a sociotechnical systems perspective

The core of the new product development [NPD] process centers on knowledge creation, utilization and the management of knowledge This manuscript uses a software firm case to establish a framework to aid managers in deciding on an effective work design configuration for managing a NPD project A framework is presented which identified five dimensions that affect performance in an NPD work environment including: the business environment; the social subsystem; the technological subsystem; the management system; and, the knowledge management system that provides the context within which NPD efforts are designed and developed Our case study provided an initial support to the argument that within the context of knowledge-based firm, NPD can be designed as a set of dimensions, each of which fulfills a necessary requirement for achieving NPD sustainability The requirements for achieving sustainability include formal and informal arenas for exchange of ideas; continuity of support and improvement efforts maintained over a long period of time; team composition reflected in the totality of the business functional areas of expertise; goals, scope and purpose defined and refined on an ongoing basis, and; effective processes for implementing continuous improvements

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James A. Sena

Papers

Knowledge management and new product development: a study of two companies

Knowledge work teams and groupware technology: learning from Seagate’s experience

Information Technology and the Integration of Change: Sociotechnical System Approach

Intelligence systems: a sociotechnical systems perspective

Knowledge management and new product development: learning from a software development firm