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The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

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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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a multimodal approach is used to facilitate the brain-storm interaction in a multi-modal perspective, where participants are helped to express their thoughts and engage in a social process of clarifying, developing and refining ideas.
Abstract: This article discusses ‘brainstorm’ interaction in a multimodal perspective. It shows how an innovation workshop facilitator is ‘doing facilitation’ by not only organizing group activities and managing turn-taking, but also drawing each group member out to participate actively and contribute to the group process. Institutional goals are transformed to individual conversational participation. Participants are helped to express their thoughts and engage in a social process of clarifying, developing and refining ideas. In the process the facilitator is socializing the participants into a particular participation framework, letting them collaborate in shaping a local community of practice. The facilitator is separating phases of activities to afford decoupling actions, creating specific local sequential environments for participants to produce particular kinds of talk, thus engaging a group of participants in a social process of collaborative idea development. The article will show how multimodal orientation ...

57 citations


Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."

  • ...…individual cognitive processes to words on a colored card and hanging the card on a whiteboard makes it possible for others to treat the otherwise hidden thoughts of other people as something to make a ‘noticing’ of and have the idea owner claim responsibility for (see Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)....

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01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: Three theories inspired by language action perspective are investigated, one of which is articulated in terms of socio-instrumental pragmatism, which gives substance and basis for steps towards development of an integral understanding of organizations and information systems.
Abstract: A need for an integrated theoretical understanding of organizations and information systems has been acknowledged. For this purpose three theories inspired by language action perspective are investigated. These three theories (Theory of Practice, Business Action Theory, Information Systems Actability Theory) deal with different but related subject matters. The theories have theoretical affinities but lack clear relations. The common theoretical thread of these theories is articulated in terms of socio-instrumental pragmatism. The different theories give substance and basis for steps towards development of an integral understanding of organizations and information systems. This includes the clarification, modification and convergence of the investigated theories.

57 citations


Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."

  • ...Similar claims can also be found in many approaches to knowledge management (e.g. Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....

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01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the roles and values of personal knowledge management (PKM) in the KM process cycle and assess the values for improving the competences of both individuals and organizations.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to describe the roles and values of personal knowledge management (PKM). It seeks to investigate the roles of PKM in the KM process cycle and assess the values for improving the competences of both individuals and organizations.Design/methodology/approach – A research model was developed based on a critical review of KM and the PKM literature, followed by a survey of the KM participants in KM associations/interest groups/societies. The results and conclusions were made based on the quantitative analysis approach.Findings – The results indicate that PKM is playing important roles in the KM process and both individuals and organizations are benefitting by PKM in improving their competences. The roles of PKM are positively correlated to the values of PKM for individuals and organizations. It is also found that the values of PKM for individuals are correlated to the values of PKM for the organization.Research limitations/implications – This study is intended as a starting point for e...

57 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a conceptual approach for a next-generation innovation paradigm in the Digital Economy called "Embedded Innovation" (Innovation 3.0), which is introduced to mark the increasing challenge of integrating firms into their surrounding communities to assure the absorption of exploitable knowledge.
Abstract: The paper describes a conceptual approach for a next-generation innovation paradigm in the Digital Economy called “Embedded Innovation” (Innovation 3.0). The notion of “embeddedness” is introduced to mark the increasing challenge of integrating firms into their surrounding communities to assure the absorption of exploitable knowledge. In the paper the evolutionary steps from Closed via Open to Embedded Innovation in small and medium sized companies (SME) are described. On the basis of the firm’s different relationships and knowledge flows with respect to its surrounding communities different modes of how and what to learn from communities are defined and how this may unfold leverage effects for the innovation process. Finally, we present empirical innovation case studies on how to embed the firm into communities with the aim of ensuring knowledge absorption and collaborative learning.JEL Codes: L17, O31, O32, O33

57 citations


Cites methods from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."

  • ...This refers to previous research on relationships between societal culture and institutions, codification of knowledge and its diffusion (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Boisot, 1995)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A novel theoretical model that characterizes information and knowledge leakage in an integrated supply chain is contributed to create a mitigation framework to soften the impact of leakages on performance.
Abstract: The current world of post industrial value generation sees companies increasingly analyzing their internal operations against their external organizations to identify supply/demand fluctuations along the supply chain. Within these integrated relationships between internal and external parties in the supply chain, knowledge and information have become very important production resources. The existence and success of an increasing number of organizations strongly depend on their capabilities to utilize knowledge and information for profit generation. By managing more efficient information sharing, the volume of company confidential information passing through the supply chain increases, and this brings about more incidences of knowledge leakage and information leakage. A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2014 shows information security spending over the next 12 months would increase 60.27 % in Asia and 48.98 % in all regions. This emphasizes the importance of information privacy and therefore the necessity to study the information and knowledge leakage in integrated supply chain. The objectives of this study are to investigate the factors triggering information and knowledge leakage and create a mitigation framework to soften the impact of leakages on performance. The above objectives will be met by formulating and examining several hypotheses of a conceptualized information leakage (IL) and knowledge leakage (KL) framework. A case study derived from a structured interview is adopted as a methodology in this research. As a result, this paper contributes a novel theoretical model that characterizes information and knowledge leakage in an integrated supply chain. Therefore, it also adds new knowledge of managing information and knowledge leakage to supply chain management.

57 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
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