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

The purpose and functions of the Highway Research Board's Committee on Conduct of Research are set forth, and papers sponsored by the Committee and presented at the Annual Meetings of the Highway Research Board are mentioned. The Committee, which seeks to improve the quality and effectiveness of research, serves as a forum for the exhange of ideas and the delineation of the problems associated with the various methods of organizing and administering research programs, the consideration of project design and instrumentation, and the application of research findings in the transportation field. The Committee has sponsored Annual Meeting sessions (in 1969, 1973, and 1974) on various aspects (selection, design, and supervision of projects as well as the implementation of results and evaluation of the benefits) of research management. Papers presented at the 1969 sessions were published in Highway Research Record 338. Eight papers presented at the 1973 sessions are included in this publication.

Management of research. introduction

Blockchain technology (BT) is expected to bring a revolutionary paradigm shift in the manner the transactions are carried in the supply chains. BT provides better visibility and transparency by rem...

Understanding the Blockchain technology adoption in supply chains-Indian context

Increasing global competition on product quality and production costs, and the need for flexibility in production petition for transformed production processes which enable high level of connectivity and integration between business processes and systems. Much of the conventional computer- integrated efforts and advanced manufacturing technologies are limited in scope and restricted to only some organisational areas. Such limited scope, which stems from limited connectivity and integration between manufacturing and enterprise systems, confines the achievement of full potential of these systems within manufacturing. Industry 4.0, characterised by computing developments, can create a platform for addressing integration challenge through enabling comprehensive connectivity. Hence, this paper, through following deductive research paradigm and using systems theory as the theoretical base, aims to investigate recent academic research and industrial reports in the area of Industry 4.0 and smart manufactu...

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A critical investigation of Industry 4.0 in manufacturing: theoretical operationalisation framework

Behind the definition of Industry 4.0: Analysis and open questions

Supply chain risk management and operational performance: The enabling role of supply chain integration

Impact of supply chain risk on agility performance: Mediating role of supply chain integration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine, and present a comprehensive review of, the existing literature on the international manufacturing network (IMN). Design/methodology/approach – The original data set used for reviewing the IMN literature consisted of 107 articles selected from 21 journals: more specifically, 40 articles are concerned with plant-level analysis, and 67 articles are related to IMN-level analysis. The literature is simultaneously reviewed by two researchers. The relevance and contribution of each reviewed paper is discussed and mutually agreed upon. Findings – The paper highlights the different concepts related to IMN and traces the evolution of IMN-related research. Based on two levels of analysis (i.e. plant and network), this paper further reviews and discusses the IMN-specific literature in detail to determine the number of IMN articles published across the journals, the dominant methodologies employed, and the research focus reflected in IMN studies. A research trajectory...

International manufacturing network: past, present, and future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of changes at the manufacturing plant level on other plants in the manufacturing network and also investigate the role of manufacturing plants on the evolution of a manufacturing network.Design/methodology/approach – The research questions are developed by identifying the gaps in the reviewed literature. The paper is based on three case studies undertaken in Danish manufacturing companies to explore in detail their manufacturing plants and networks. The cases provide a sound basis for developing the research questions and explaining the interaction between different manufacturing plants in the network and their impact on network transformation.Findings – The paper highlights the dominant role of manufacturing plants in the continuously changing shape of a manufacturing network. The paper demonstrates that a product or process change at one manufacturing plant affects the other plants in the same network by altering their strategic roles, which l...

Sami Farooq

Papers

Supply chain risk management and operational performance: The enabling role of supply chain integration

Impact of supply chain risk on agility performance: Mediating role of supply chain integration

International manufacturing network: past, present, and future

Manufacturing network evolution: a manufacturing plant perspective

Implementation of digital manufacturing technologies: Antecedents and consequences