Kentaro Nobeoka

Bio: Kentaro Nobeoka is an academic researcher from Kobe University. The author has contributed to research in topics: New product development & Automotive industry. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 22 publications receiving 4225 citations. Previous affiliations of Kentaro Nobeoka include Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Creating and managing a high‐performance knowledge‐sharing network: the Toyota case

Abstract: Previous research suggests that knowledge diffusion occurs more quickly within Toyota’s production network than in competing automaker networks. In this paper we examine the ‘black box’ of knowledge sharing within Toyota’s network and demonstrate that Toyota’s ability to effectively create and manage network-level knowledge-sharing processes at least partially explains the relative productivity advantages enjoyed by Toyota and its suppliers. We provide evidence that suppliers do learn more quickly after participating in Toyota’s knowledge-sharing network. Toyota’s network has solved three fundamental dilemmas with regard to knowledge sharing by devising methods to (1) motivate members to participate and openly share valuable knowledge (while preventing undesirable spillovers to competitors), (2) prevent free riders, and (3) reduce the costs associated with finding and accessing different types of valuable knowledge. Toyota has done this by creating a strong network identity with rules for participation and entry into the network. Most importantly, production knowledge is viewed as the property of the network. Toyota’s highly interconnected, strong tie network has established a variety of institutionalized routines that facilitate multidirectional knowledge flows among suppliers. Our study suggests that the notion of a dynamic learning capability that creates competitive advantage needs to be extended beyond firm boundaries. Indeed, if the network can create a strong identity and coordinating rules, then it will be superior to a firm as an organizational form at creating and recombining knowledge due to the diversity of knowledge that resides within a network. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Multi-Project Strategy and Market-Share Growth: The Benefits of Rapid Design Transfer in New Product Development

Abstract: This paper explores the impact on sales growth of different product development strategies, especially an approach that focuses on the coordination of multiple projects that overlap in time and share critical components. The data for our analysis comes from the automobile industry, although the principles we discuss should apply to any industry where firms compete with multiple product lines and where the sharing of components among more than one distinct product is both possible and desirable. Some firms compete by trying to develop ‘hit’ products in isolation, with little or no reuse of components or coordination with other products. Another way to compete is to leverage a firm’s investment in new technologies across as many new products as possible as quickly as possible, while the technologies are still relatively new. This paper proposes a typology that captures this effect by categorizing product development strategies into four types: new design, rapid (or concurrent) design transfer, sequential design transfer, and design modification. An analysis of 210 projects from the automobile industry between 1980 and 1991 indicates that firms utilizing the rapid design transfer strategy—quickly leveraging new platform components across multiple projects–increased sales more than when they or their competitors did not use this strategy. The study’s results suggest that not only the sharing of technology among multiple projects but also the speed of technology leveraging are important to sales growth. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Influence of Customer Scope on Supplier Learning and Performance in the Japanese Automobile Industry

Abstract: Most studies of Japanese supplier-automaker relationships have focused on the nature of the dyadic interfirm relationship and the performance of the assembler. We examine the relationship from the point of view of the supplier and argue that a broad “customer scope strategy” (i.e., number of customers) leads to superior performance, primarily because of learning opportunities. In addressing these learning opportunities, we draw attention to the important distinction between relation-specific and re-deployable knowledge and the complementary relationship between them. Our analysis of 125 Japanese suppliers supports the key argument that less exclusive ties may be a superior strategy. The argument has important implications for vertical integration and the structure of buyer-supplier relations.

Value creation in E-business

Abstract: We explore the theoretical foundations of value creation in e-business by examining how 59 American and European e-businesses that have recently become publicly traded corporations create value. We observe that in e-business new value can be created by the ways in which transactions are enabled. Grounded in the rich data obtained from case study analyses and in the received theory in entrepreneurship and strategic management, we develop a model of the sources of value creation. The model suggests that the value creation potential of e-businesses hinges on four interdependent dimensions, namely: efficiency, complementarities, lock-in, and novelty. Our findings suggest that no single entrepreneurship or strategic management theory can fully explain the value creation potential of e-business. Rather, an integration of the received theoretical perspectives on value creation is needed. To enable such an integration, we offer the business model construct as a unit of analysis for future research on value creation in e-business. A business model depicts the design of transaction content, structure, and governance so as to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities. We propose that a firm's business model is an important locus of innovation and a crucial source of value creation for the firm and its suppliers, partners, and customers. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Collaboration Networks, Structural Holes, and Innovation: A Longitudinal Study:

Abstract: To assess the effects of a firm's network of relations on innovation, this paper elaborates a theoretical framework that relates three aspects of a firm's ego network—direct ties, indirect ties, an...

Social Capital, Networks, and Knowledge Transfer

Abstract: We examine how social capital dimensions of networks affect the transfer of knowledge between network members. We distinguish among three common network types: intracorporate networks, strategic alliances, and industrial districts. Using a social capital framework, we identify structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions for the three network types. We then link these social capital dimensions to the conditions that facilitate knowledge transfer. In doing so, we propose a set of conditions that promote knowledge transfer for the different network types.