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

Undertaking a review of the literature is an important part of any research project. The researcher both maps and assesses the relevant intellectual territory in order to specify a research question which will further develop the knowledge base. However, traditional 'narrative' reviews frequently lack thoroughness, and in many cases are not undertaken as genuine pieces of investigatory science. Consequently they can lack a means for making sense of what the collection of studies is saying. These reviews can be biased by the researcher and often lack rigour. Furthermore, the use of reviews of the available evidence to provide insights and guidance for intervention into operational needs of practitioners and policymakers has largely been of secondary importance. For practitioners, making sense of a mass of often-contradictory evidence has become progressively harder. The quality of evidence underpinning decision-making and action has been questioned, for inadequate or incomplete evidence seriously impedes policy formulation and implementation. In exploring ways in which evidence-informed management reviews might be achieved, the authors evaluate the process of systematic review used in the medical sciences. Over the last fifteen years, medical science has attempted to improve the review process by synthesizing research in a systematic, transparent, and reproducible manner with the twin aims of enhancing the knowledge base and informing policymaking and practice. This paper evaluates the extent to which the process of systematic review can be applied to the management field in order to produce a reliable knowledge stock and enhanced practice by developing context-sensitive research. The paper highlights the challenges in developing an appropriate methodology.

Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence-Informed Management Knowledge by Means of Systematic Review

Varieties of capitalism : the institutional foundations ofcomparative advantage

Undertaking a review of the literature is an important part of any research project. The researcher both maps and assesses the relevant intellectual territory in order to specify a research question which will further develop the knowledge hase. However, traditional 'narrative' reviews frequently lack thoroughness, and in many cases are not undertaken as genuine pieces of investigatory science. Consequently they can lack a means for making sense of what the collection of studies is saying. These reviews can he hiased by the researcher and often lack rigour. Furthermore, the use of reviews of the available evidence to provide insights and guidance for intervention into operational needs of practitioners and policymakers has largely been of secondary importance. For practitioners, making sense of a mass of often-contrad ictory evidence has hecome progressively harder. The quality of evidence underpinning decision-making and action has heen questioned, for inadequate or incomplete evidence seriously impedes policy formulation and implementation. In exploring ways in which evidence-informed management reviews might be achieved, the authors evaluate the process of systematic review used in the medical sciences. Over the last fifteen years, medical science has attempted to improve the review process hy synthesizing research in a systematic, transparent, and reproducihie manner with the twin aims of enhancing the knowledge hase and informing policymaking and practice. This paper evaluates the extent to which the process of systematic review can be applied to the management field in order to produce a reliable knowledge stock and enhanced practice by developing context-sensitive research. The paper highlights the challenges in developing an appropriate methodology.

This paper reports on the development of social network analysis, tracing its origins in classical sociology and its more recent formulation in social scientific and mathematical work. It is argued...

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Social Network Analysis

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Varieties of Capitalism PART II: THE COMPARATIVE BUSINESS SYSTEMS FRAMEWORK 2. The Nature of Business Systems and their Institutional Structuring 3. The Social Structuring of Firms' Governance Systems and Organizational Capabilities 4. The Social Structuring of Work Systems 5. Globalization and Business Systems PART III: THE DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE OF BUSINESS SYSTEMS IN EAST ASIA AND EASTERN EUROPE 6. Divergent Capitalisms in East Asia: The Development of the Post-War Business Systems of South Korea and Taiwan 7. Continuity and Change in East Asian Capitalisms 8. Path Dependence and Emergent Capitalisms in Eastern Europe: Hungary and Slovenia Compared 9. Enterprise Change and Continuity in a Transforming Society: The Case of Hungary

Divergent Capitalisms: The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

Chapter 1: The Modern Sciences as Reputational Work Organizations Chapter 2: Reputational Control over Scientific Work and the Growth of Employment Opportunities for Scientists Chapter 3: The Degree of Mutual Dependence Between Scientists and the Organization of Scientific Fields Chapter 4: The Degree of Task Uncertainty and the Organization of Scientific Fields Chapter 5: The Organizational Structure of Scientific Fields Chapter 6: The Contexts of Scientific Fields Chapter 7: Relationships between Scientific Fields and Changes in the Organization of the Sciences

The intellectual and social organization of the sciences

The Comparative Analysis of Business Systems East Asian Business Systems Differences Between East Asian Business Systems Institutional Influences on East Asian Business Systems I Pre-Industrial Japan, Korea and China Institutional Influences on East Asian Business Systems II Industrialization and Institutional Development The Effects of Institutional Environments on East Asian Business Systems East Asian and Western Business Systems Variety, Change and Internationalization of Business Systems

Business Systems in East Asia: Firms, Markets and Societies

Introduction - Richard Whitley PART ONE: THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS SYSTEMS Societies, Firms and Markets - Richard Whitley The Social Structuring of Business Systems National Business Recipes - Keijo R[um]as[um]anen and Richard Whipp A Sector Perspective PART TWO: NATIONAL BUSINESS SYSTEMS IN EUROPE Introduction - Richard Whitley European Business Systems - Christel Lane Britain and Germany Compared European Business Systems - Ad van Iterson and Ren[ac]e Olie The Dutch Case Strategies Against Structure - Peer Hull Kristensen Institutions and Economic Organization in Denmark A Dominant Business Recipe - Kari Lilja, Keijo R[um]as[um]anen and Risto Tainio The Forest Sector in Finland Small Country Business Systems - Jane Marceau Australia, Denmark and Finland Compared PART THREE: BUSINESS SYSTEMS, INDUSTRIAL SECTORS AND STRATEGIC CHOICES Introduction - Richard Whitley Business Systems, Industrial Wisdom and Corporate Strategies - Bo Hellgren and Leif Melin Business Systems, Consumption and Change - David Knights, Glenn Morgan and Fergus Murray Personal Financial Services in Italy The Societal Construction of Labour Flexibility - Jacqueline O'Reilly Employment Strategies in Retail Banking in Britain and France Firm Development and Diversification Strategies as Products of Economic Cultures - J M Nishida and S G Redding The Japanese and Hong Kong Textile Industries PART FOUR: CONCLUSION The Comparative Study of Business Systems in Europe - Richard Whitley Issues and Choices

European business systems : firms and markets in their national contexts

The increasing significance of project-based forms of organizing economic activities in many industries has stimulated considerable interest in project-based firms (PBFs) as distinctive kinds of economic actors that are seen by some as heralding a new logic of organizing. In particular, their fluid, temporary nature and membership of multiple networks, alliances, and partnerships have been construed as critical to the generation of radical innovations. However, PBFs differ considerably in a number of respects, notably the singularity of their goals and outputs and the distinctiveness and stability of work roles and task organization. At least four distinct ideal types of PBFs can be distinguished in these terms that can be expected to vary in their prevalence and importance across industrial sectors and in different kinds of societies because of differences in investor and employee commitment and coordination costs.

Richard Whitley

Papers

Divergent Capitalisms: The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems

The intellectual and social organization of the sciences

Business Systems in East Asia: Firms, Markets and Societies

European business systems : firms and markets in their national contexts

Project-based firms: new organizational form or variations on a theme?