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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TL;DR: The results indicated that some of the students had positive experiences using the tools for online collaboration in the group project work, and the qualitative data supplemented, enriched and clarified the quantitative responses from the online surveys.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on and describe the use of MediaWiki and Google Docs at undergraduate level as online collaboration tools for co‐constructing knowledge in group project work.Design/methodology/approach – Participants included 22 undergraduate students from the Information Management Programme at the University of Hong Kong. All the students had used MediaWiki for the major project in their knowledge management course and Google Docs for their final year project. Questionnaires and semi‐structured telephone interviews were administered after completion of the course/final year project. All interview conversations were audio‐recorded and transcribed for analysis. Each transcript was e‐mailed to the interviewee for accuracy review. The qualitative data supplemented, enriched and clarified the quantitative responses from the online surveys.Findings – The results indicated that some of the students had positive experiences using the tools for online collaboration in the group p...
161 citations
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) argued that knowledge creation is a spiral process of interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge in this four-stage process....
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the socio-cognitive theory of learning in groups and organizations is used to develop and empirically test a model of team learning process and its effects on team performance in new product development teams.
Abstract: The study purports to develop and empirically test a model of team learning process and its effects on team performance in new product development teams. Using the socio-cognitive theory of learning in groups and organizations, several hypotheses were tested to show that the primer components of social cognition (that is, information acquisition, information dissemination, information implementation, unlearning, thinking, intelligence, improvisation, sense-making, and memory) form an interactive process model of the team earning phenomenon. By studying 165 new product development projects, it was shown: (i) that the eight primer socio-cognitive factors of information acquisition, information dissemination, information implementation, memory, thinking, improvisation, unlearning, and sense-making constitute interrelated sub-components of a higher-order team information-processing construct; (ii) that team intelligence is positively related to components of team information-processing; and (iii) that information-processing facilitates new product success primarily through the positive effects of superior information implementation. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study findings are discussed.
160 citations
Dissertation•
31 Jan 2006
160 citations
TL;DR: The article describes the micro-knowledge life cycle and macro- knowledge life cycles from each organizational level, as well as the processes of vertical knowledge flow between organizational levels.
Abstract: Knowledge is the most important resource needed for project management. The aim of this article is to present a full, consistent model of project knowledge management. There are two basic types of ...
160 citations
Cites background or methods from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...A person who is conscious of having created new knowledge may externalize this knowledge (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....
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...Knowledge combination (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) is its grouping, new classification, summarization, aggregation, or similar techniques....
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...In order to use this knowledge, the micro-knowledge must be subject to the process of internalization (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995); the subject willing to use the knowledge must also learn it, and then incorporate it into his or her own structure of concepts....
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...For transfer of noncodified knowledge, its prior identification is not necessary, and a person with micro-knowledge may not be aware of possessing it (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....
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...Socialization (i.e., knowledge transfer by direct contact with people possessing knowledge), through observing people and watching their behavior, constitutes a specific form of knowledge transfer (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors extended a previously published framework for the analysis of knowledge development in professional service firms by looking deeper into the underlying dynamics of the components and processes described in the framework.
Abstract: The present article extends a previously published framework for the analysis of knowledge development in professional service firms by looking deeper into the underlying dynamics of the components and processes described in the framework. This extension is based on an in-depth comparative case study of knowledge development in two professional service firms from two very different industries, namely, engineering design and communication consulting. Despite the major differences between the firms and the industries, we found some remarkable similarities in terms of how professionals perceive knowledge development at work, in particular, the emphasis on the role of sophisticated and knowledgeable clients. In this article, we elaborate on this aspect. As a result of these findings, the framework is further refined, as the areas where clients play a major role in the knowledge-development processes of professional service firms are highlighted.
159 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