Book•
The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation
01 Jan 1995-
TL;DR: In this article, Nonaka and Takeuchi argue that Japanese firms are successful precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies, and they reveal how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge.
Abstract: 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.
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make use of the cluster concept and other theoretical approaches of the new economic geography contributed to the popularisation of regional development concepts, and a substantial feature of this focus on the region is that measures, which have so far had a national orientation (and for those the question about the distribution of innovative potentials in space was not or was only implicitly raised), have to be adapted to the specific structures and potential of individual regions.
Abstract: In recent years, not only has the network paradigm become the starting-point for policy measures aiming at a better exploitation of innovation potentials, but also the region, ie sub-national spatial entities, has been made an important platform for innovation policy implementation by national governments Specifically, the cluster concept and other theoretical approaches of the new economic geography contributed to the popularisation of regional development concepts A substantial feature of this focus on the region is that measures, which have so far had a national orientation (and for those the question about the distribution of innovative potentials in space was not or was only implicitly raised), have to be adapted to the specific structures and potential of individual regions However, not every region in a country can develop into a high-tech island equipped with leading-edge technology, industry and research For many regions and their economic actors, the only development option is to carry out supplementary functions for other regions, clusters and economic activities or to focus on the exploitation of endogenous potential and strengths
71 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue the need for coherent, holistic frameworks offering insightful understandings as well as viable, connected and synergistic solutions to schools in addressing pressing problems arising from the acknowledged gaps between research, practice and professional development.
Abstract: This paper argues the need for coherent, holistic frameworks offering insightful understandings as well as viable, connected and synergistic solutions to schools in addressing pressing problems arising from the acknowledged gaps between research, practice and professional development. There is a need to conceptualise a comprehensive conceptual framework that rationalises, constructs and connects salient professional development concepts and practices fit for purpose in twenty-first-century schools. Specifically, three themes conceptualise existing problems faced by schools and their possible solutions: first, bridging the research–policy–practice gap by mobilising knowledge more effectively through knowledge producers and consumers working collaboratively; second, valuing and integrating both tacit knowledge and academic coded knowledge; and third, raising the professionalism and reflectivity of teachers and leaders. However, a new organisational and human infrastructure is needed to enable these solution...
71 citations
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...…carefully designed, evidence-backed, strategically focused projects so that both explicit and tacit knowledge (Polanyi 1967, Sternberg and Horvath 1995, Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995) can be mobilised and transformed into knowledge innovations to improve the quality of instruction and learning in situ....
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Dissertation•
19 Sep 2003
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-theoretical approach to the analysis of the spatial organization of evolving enterprises, including the role of networks, is proposed, based on a post-positivist constructive realism.
Abstract: Entrepreneurship is seen as a crucial determinant of economic development. Entrepreneurs recognize and capitalize on opportunities so that a business organization can be created and evolve. The ability and willingness of entrepreneurs to take risks and start new companies, coupled with institutions that support entrepreneurship, has sparked economic growth and job creation. But it is not small firms per se that are the key; it is the relatively small number of fast-growing gazelles that account for the lion s share of net new jobs in small firms. In a quickly changing economy with a premium on innovation, the degree to which the economy is composed of new, rapidly growing firms is said to be indicative of innovative capacity. These enterprises often start in the home region of the entrepreneur, but when they grow they have to reconsider their location. Do they stay in their region of origin or do they move to or start branches in other regions and countries?
The general purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the spatial organization of evolving enterprises. A critical overview of theories on location and on the development of new enterprises shows that there is indeed a gap to be filled. This gap concerns a life course approach to the analysis of the spatial organization of evolving enterprises, including the role of networks and the role of the entrepreneur. A comprehensive theory of the spatial organization of evolving enterprises is still lacking. There are theories on the growth of new enterprises, but these have no spatial dimension and do not explain their spatial organization. And there are also theories on multinational enterprises, but these mainly focus on large, well-established enterprises. In addition, there are empirical approaches to the location decisions of small firms, but most of them lack a proper theory. To fill this gap we have made use of existing approaches that had not previously been related to research into the spatial organization of evolving enterprises, but which offered promising applications. However, as explained below, the spatial organization of enterprises as such refers to a state, but this state has to be explained by an underlying process.
Understanding dynamics of the spatial organization of evolving enterprises involves the study of entrepreneurship in context. Although empirical and theoretical issues of this kind of research have been discussed quite intensively, there has been remarkably little discussion about meta-theoretical issues. While it is clear that positivism has died a long time ago that does not mean that we have to embrace the postmodern anything goes-principle . Our study is based on a post-positivist constructive realism. This will be discussed together with other meta-theoretical foundations of research on entrepreneurship in context.
To fulfil the purpose of this study a confrontation between theory and particular empirical settings is considered. An empirical inquiry into the impact of both inter-organizational and personal - networks on the spatial organization of evolving enterprises, which is essentially about entrepreneurial behaviour, needs a research approach that takes into account cognitive, affective, and behavioural elements. These elements have been investigated in empirical research into the (location) strategies and histories of evolving enterprises in two young - knowledge services, and biomedicals and two mature industries - shipbuilding, and graphics-media, in contrasting regions (core/urbanized, peripheral/rural).
71 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents Athena, an approach founded on collective knowledge to progressively build the system requirements from a narrative of user stories to the definition of use cases, and consists of a knowledge model based on stories about the system, a collective construction method, and a tool to support interactions.
71 citations
Cites methods from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...Nonaka and Takeuchi’s spiral du built cooperatively and explore the group knowledge about the organization....
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...This figure shows that current techniques of requirements elicitation explore only a few steps of the Knowledge Spiral....
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...We also analyze other requirements engineering techniques, and show that they do not explore all of the aspects of the Knowledge Spiral....
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...In this paper (Section 6), we present an analysis of our approach w/ r/t the Knowledge Spiral of Nonaka and Takeuchi [27]....
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...In Section 6, we establish a comparison between approaches to Requirements Engineering and Cognitive Analysis, and the Knowledge Spiral....
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TL;DR: It is argued that the new electronic environment will not be immune to forces of monopolization nor will it give rise to an era of market competition that fully protects the interests of all consumers and citizens.
Abstract: It is often argued that constraints on access to new information and communication environments will disappear as services decline in price and as customers and producers engage in new market relationships. Following this line of argument, the relative scarcity of communication and information access opportunities of the past should be dispelled. The aim of this article is to illustrate the faults in this vision as applied to Internet and new media services development. It is argued that the new electronic environment will not be immune to forces of monopolization nor will it give rise to an era of market competition that fully protects the interests of all consumers and citizens. In fact, empirical evidence suggests that electronic intermediary service providers are populating the new markets and deploying strategies that are no less informed by monopolization strategies than in the past, though they do take different forms. The evidence is consistent with the inescapable dynamics of tension between abun...
71 citations
References
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TL;DR: The objective of KMS is to support creation, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations by promoting a class of information systems, referred to as knowledge management systems.
Abstract: Knowledge is a broad and abstract notion that has defined epistemological debate in western philosophy since the classical Greek era. In the past few years, however, there has been a growing interest in treating knowledge as a significant organizational resource. Consistent with the interest in organizational knowledge and knowledge management (KM), IS researchers have begun promoting a class of information systems, referred to as knowledge management systems (KMS). The objective of KMS is to support creation, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations. Knowledge and knowledge management are complex and multi-faceted concepts. Thus, effective development and implementation of KMS requires a foundation in several rich literatures.
9,531 citations
TL;DR: This research suggests that a knowledge infrastructure consisting of technology, structure, and culture along with a knowledge process architecture of acquisition, conversion, application, and protection are essential organizational capabilities or "preconditions" for effective knowledge management.
Abstract: A hallmark of the new economy is the ability of organizations to realize economic value from their collection of knowledge assets as well as their assets of information, production distribution, and affiliation. Despite the competitive necessity of becoming a knowledge-based organization, senior managers have found it difficult to transform their firms through programs of knowledge management. This is particularly true if their organizations have long histories of process and a tradition of business success. This research examines the issue of effective knowledge management from the perspective of organizational capabilities. This perspective suggests that a knowledge infrastructure consisting of technology, structure, and culture along with a knowledge process architecture of acquisition, conversion, application, and protection are essential organizational capabilities or preconditions for effective knowledge management. Through analysis of surveys collected from over 300 senior executives, this research empirically models and uncovers key aspects of these dimensions. The results provide a basis for understanding the competitive predisposition of a firm as it enters a program of knowledge management.
4,646 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the nature of value co-creation in the context of service-dominant (S-D) logic and develop a conceptual framework for understanding and managing value cocreation.
Abstract: Central to service-dominant (S-D) logic is the proposition that the customer becomes a co-creator of value. This emphasizes the development of customer–supplier relationships through interaction and dialog. However, research to date suggests relatively little is known about how customers engage in the co-creation of value. In this article, the authors: explore the nature of value co-creation in the context of S-D logic; develop a conceptual framework for understanding and managing value co-creation; and utilize field-based research to illustrate practical application of the framework. This process-based framework provides a structure for customer involvement that takes account of key foundational propositions of S-D logic and places the customer explicitly at the same level of importance as the company as co-creators of value. Synthesis of diverse concepts from research on services, customer value and relationship marketing into a new process-based framework for co-creation provide new insights into managing the process of value co-creation.
3,114 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how aspects of intellectual capital influenced various innovative capabilities in organizations and found that human, organizational, and social capital and their interrelationships selectively influenced incremental and radical innovative capabilities.
Abstract: We examined how aspects of intellectual capital influenced various innovative capabilities in organizations. In a longitudinal, multiple-informant study of 93 organizations, we found that human, organizational, and social capital and their interrelationships selectively influenced incremental and radical innovative capabilities. As anticipated, organizational capital positively influenced incremental innovative capability, while human capital interacted with social capital to positively influence radical innovative capability. Counter to our expectations, however, human capital by itself was negatively associated with radical innovative capability. Interestingly, social capital played a significant role in both types of innovation, as it positively influenced incremental and radical innovative capabilities. It is widely accepted that an organization’s capability to innovate is closely tied to its intellectual capital, or its ability to utilize its knowledge resources. Several studies have underscored how new products embody organizational knowledge (e.g., Stewart, 1997), described innovation as a
3,008 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors outline a perspective on knowing in practice which highlights the essential role of human action in knowing how to get things done in complex organizational work and suggest that the competence to do global product development is both collective and distributed, grounded in the everyday practices of organizational members.
Abstract: In this paper, I outline a perspective on knowing in practice which highlights the essential role of human action in knowing how to get things done in complex organizational work. The perspective suggests that knowing is not a static embedded capability or stable disposition of actors, but rather an ongoing social accomplishment, constituted and reconstituted as actors engage the world in practice. In interpreting the findings of an empirical study conducted in a geographically dispersed hightech organization, I suggest that the competence to do global product development is both collective and distributed, grounded in the everyday practices of organizational members. I conclude by discussing some of the research implications of a perspective on organizational knowing in practice.
2,670 citations