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

This handbook looks to provide academics and students with a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. Innovation spans a number of fields within the social sciences and humanities: Management, Economics, Geography, Sociology, Politics, Psychology, and History. Consequently, the rapidly increasing body of literature on innovation is characterized by a multitude of perspectives based on, or cutting across, existing disciplines and specializations. Scholars of innovation can come from such diverse starting points that much of this literature can be missed, and so constructive dialogues missed. The editors of The Oxford Handbook of Innovation have carefully selected and designed twenty-one contributions from leading academic experts within their particular field, each focusing on a specific aspect of innovation. These have been organized into four main sections, the first of which looks at the creation of innovations, with particular focus on firms and networks. Section Two provides an account of the wider systematic setting influencing innovation and the role of institutions and organizations in this context. Section Three explores some of the diversity in the working of innovation over time and across different sectors of the economy, and Section Four focuses on the consequences of innovation with respect to economic growth, international competitiveness, and employment. An introductory overview, concluding remarks, and guide to further reading for each chapter, make this handbook a key introduction and vital reference work for researchers, academics, and advanced students of innovation. Contributors to this volume - Jan Fagerberg, University of Oslo William Lazonick, INSEAD Walter W. Powell, Stanford University Keith Pavitt, SPRU Alice Lam, Brunel University Keith Smith, INTECH Charles Edquist, Linkoping David Mowery, University of California, Berkeley Mary O'Sullivan, INSEAD Ove Granstrand, Chalmers Bjorn Asheim, University of Lund Rajneesh Narula, Copenhagen Business School Antonello Zanfei, Urbino Kristine Bruland, University of Oslo Franco Malerba, University of Bocconi Nick Von Tunzelmann, SPRU Ian Miles, University of Manchester Bronwyn Hall, University of California, Berkeley Bart Verspagen , ECIS Francisco Louca, ISEG Manuel M. Godinho, ISEG Richard R. Nelson, Mario Pianta, Urbino Bengt-Ake Lundvall, Aalborg

The Oxford Handbook of Innovation

Different Types of Environmental Regulations and Heterogeneous Influence on “Green” Productivity: Evidence from China

The effects of three types of environmental regulation on eco-efficiency: A cross-region analysis in China

How do environmental regulation and environmental decentralization affect green total factor energy efficiency: Evidence from China

In diametrical opposition to standard predictions, the theory of lead markets conjectures potential competitiveness gains from environmental regulation. Evidence for the actual impact direction and its determinants has however so far been inconclusive. Examining different regulation characteristics and distinguishing between their long-term and short-term effects brings the two seemingly contradictory concepts in line. Based on Executive Opinion Surveys that are annually conducted by the WEF and the IMD, country-level competitiveness effects are evaluated and the determinants are estimated in a panel regression. The estimation results call for a flexible regulation design that allows for different ways of achieving compliance. The fact that regulatory pressure is found to be strongly associated with a more positive perception of long-term impacts lends support to the induced-innovation-hypothesis. While controlling for potential effects from affluence, market size and trade openness, the impact on long-term competitiveness seems also to be affected by environmental quality institutions.

What shapes the impact of environmental regulation on competitiveness? Evidence from Executive Opinion Surveys

Literature on the rebound phenomenon has grown significantly over the last decade. However, the field is characterized by diverse and ambiguous definitions and by substantial discrepancies in empirical estimates and policy proposals. As a result, cumulative knowledge production is difficult. To address these issues, this article develops a novel typology. Based on a critical review of existing classifications, the typology introduces an important differentiation between the rebound mechanisms, which generate changes in energy consumption, and the rebound effects, which describe the size of such changes. Both rebound mechanisms and rebound effects can be analytically related to four economic levels – micro, meso, macro and global – and two time frames – short run and long run. The typology is populated with eighteen rebound mechanisms from the literature. This contribution is the first that transparently describes its criteria and methodology for developing a rebound typology and that gives clear definitions of all terms involved. The resulting rebound typology aims to establish common conceptual ground for future research on the rebound phenomenon and for developing rebound mitigation policies.

The Jevons paradox unravelled: A multi-level typology of rebound effects and mechanisms

We present the most important results of two expert surveys of the acceptance of bio-based products in the business-to-business (B2B) sector and in the public sector Both surveys follow a Delphi approach giving insight into key market drivers and barriers, the most important information requirements, as well as perceptions on the role of product labeling and standardization The business survey shows that market drivers differ significantly across European countries, a point to be taken into account when developing harmonized approaches for the European Union Furthermore, the importance of market factors also varies across sub-groups of bio-based products The labeling of bio-based products, preferably in combination with additional environmental and sustainability criteria, receives broad support from the experts The procurement survey identifies effective policy measures and informational needs for enhancing the uptake of bio-based products in (green) public procurement Key findings include that bio-based products are not (yet) considered a relevant category and that bio-based content on its own is typically not viewed as a relevant justification for inclusion in green public procurement schemes Moreover, eco-labeling schemes are important points of reference, suggesting that the incorporation of bio-based content as criteria in relevant labeling schemes could also promote the acceptance of bio-based products in the public sector © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Acceptance of bio-based products in the business-to-business market and public procurement: Expert survey results

Narratives are shaping our understanding of the world. They convey values and norms and point to desirable future developments. In this way, they justify and legitimize political actions and social practices. Once a narrative has emerged and this world view is supported by broad societal groups, narratives can provide powerful momentum to trigger innovation and changes in the course of action. Narratives, however, are not necessarily based on evidence and precise categories, but can instead be vague and ambiguous in order to be acceptable and attractive to different actors. However, the more open and inclusive a narrative is, the less impact can be expected. We investigate whether there is a shared narrative in research for the sustainable economy and how this can be evaluated in terms of its potential societal impact. The paper carves out the visions for the future that have been underlying the research projects conducted within the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funding programme “The Sustainable Economy”. It then analyzes whether these visions are compatible with narratives dominating societal discourse on the sustainable economy, and concludes how the use of visions and narratives in research can contribute to fostering societal transformations.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/6163/pdf

Stories that Change Our World? Narratives of the Sustainable Economy

We compare newly industrialising countries as to their capabilities for integrating sustainability innovations into their catching-up processes. We thereby provide an approach to assess their absorption potential for sustainability innovations. The conditions that favour the exploitation of imitation opportunities are separated into general innovation capabilities and the sustainability selection environment. Using principal component analysis to aggregate numerous subjective indicators, we construct two composite indices that measure the functioning of the national innovation system and the societal anchoring of sustainability, respectively. Both indices have a strong positive correlation, suggesting that the development of certain institutions promotes both innovation and sustainability.

Jan Peuckert

Papers

What shapes the impact of environmental regulation on competitiveness? Evidence from Executive Opinion Surveys

The Jevons paradox unravelled: A multi-level typology of rebound effects and mechanisms

Acceptance of bio-based products in the business-to-business market and public procurement: Expert survey results

Stories that Change Our World? Narratives of the Sustainable Economy

Assessment of the social capabilities for catching-up through sustainability innovations