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: This study explores the implications of electronic-based media such as email and negotiation support systems (NSSs) on cross-cultural business negotiations and investigates how innovative new media are applied in an cross- and inter-cultural negotiation context.
Abstract: Negotiating a deal with a new client, customer, or supplier has traditionally meant meeting in person, sometimes enduring long hours in transit. Today, business people find themselves with an ever-increasing array of technologies for communicating and initiating relationships, many of which do not involve leaving the office. But one wonders: when am I better served by a face-to-face (FTF) meeting, and when by an email exchange? With the globalization of the world economy, it is imperative that managers, both present and future, be sensitive to differences in business communication between cultures such as the Anglo, Nordic or Latin cultures or, more specifically, Dutch and German cultures. As the Internet becomes the common vehicle (95 % of the business have access today), this new force demands an adaptation from traditional commerce to electronic commerce, including all the tasks that were previously conducted in a traditional fashion. Internet technologies allow for communication across the cultural frontiers. While the communication is not as rich as in the case of FTF discussions, it allows subjects to negotiate in an asynchronous mode and at their own pace. This study explores the implications of electronic-based media such as email and negotiation support systems (NSSs) on cross-cultural business negotiations. It considers those implications from an innovation management (IM) perspective in two ways: First, it investigates how innovative new media such as email and NSSs are applied in an cross- and inter-cultural negotiation context (the difference between cross- and inter-cultural contexts will be explained in the following section) and second, it tries to find out how an innovative context triggers the use of those innovative media. In an effort to reduce several concepts to the bare minimum, a "classic" metaphor has been used: that of the iceberg. The written contract of a negotiation, etc. and an invisible bottom of emotions, the human relation, the unspoken and unconscious rules of behavior. This study comprises both a theoretical approach by investigating the current literature and an empirical approach by conducting several experiments with international student negotiators.
113 citations
01 Mar 1987
TL;DR: The relevance of the DKM model is shown in a case study of a distributed decision support system (DDSS) in heath care administration in the US.
Abstract: Knowledge management has inspired a shift from a transaction to a distributed knowledge management (DKM) perspective on inter-organizational information processing. The DKM concept structures the knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge exploitation in organizations according to a product state model (PSM) required for management of technological diversity. Each player in the network acquires specific knowledge from other players for decision support. This article shows the relevance of the DKM model in a case study of a distributed decision support system (DDSS) in health care administration in the US.
112 citations
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...We have also seen multi-participant decision making (MDSS), some in the form of group decision support systems (GDSS) and others as meeting systems facilitating unstructured, creative decision processes....
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TL;DR: The types of help IDAs can provide to users and the kinds of (background) knowledge they leverage to provide this help are explicated.
Abstract: Research and industry increasingly make use of large amounts of data to guide decision-making. To do this, however, data needs to be analyzed in typically nontrivial refinement processes, which require technical expertise about methods and algorithms, experience with how a precise analysis should proceed, and knowledge about an exploding number of analytic approaches. To alleviate these problems, a plethora of different systems have been proposed that “intelligently” help users to analyze their data.This article provides a first survey to almost 30 years of research on intelligent discovery assistants (IDAs). It explicates the types of help IDAs can provide to users and the kinds of (background) knowledge they leverage to provide this help. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the systems developed over the past years, identifies their most important features, and sketches an ideal future IDA as well as the challenges on the road ahead.
112 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a social network-based model for improving knowledge management in multi-level supply chains formed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is proposed, which improves the establishment of interorganizational relationships into networks to exchange knowledge among the companies along the supply chain and to create specific knowledge by promoting confidence and motivation.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to provide a social network‐based model for improving knowledge management in multi‐level supply chains formed by small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach – This approach uses social network analysis techniques to propose and represent a knowledge network for supply chains. Empirical experience from an exploratory case study in the construction sector is also presented.Findings – This proposal improves the establishment of inter‐organizational relationships into networks to exchange knowledge among the companies along the supply chain and to create specific knowledge by promoting confidence and motivation.Originality/value – This proposed model is useful for academics and practitioners in supply chain management to gain a better understanding of knowledge management processes, particularly for supply chains formed by SMEs.
112 citations
TL;DR: A conceptual model for understanding the influence of change readiness on knowledge management processes and knowledge management effectiveness is proposed and it is suggested that change readiness should be assessed as a multidimensional construct consisting of psychological and structural facets.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to propose a conceptual model for understanding the influence of change readiness on knowledge management processes and knowledge management effectiveness. It is suggested that change readiness should be assessed as a multidimensional construct consisting of psychological and structural facets. Furthermore, as the process of managing organizational knowledge requires interaction among members of the organization, a holistic view of readiness at individual and organizational levels is presented.Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive literature review results in the development of the conceptual model that depicts potential relationships between change readiness and knowledge management processes. It also postulates the effects of different knowledge management processes on effective knowledge management implementation.Findings – Potential implications of change readiness from both psychological and structural dimensions for knowledge acquisition, creation and sharing proces...
112 citations
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...The process of knowledge creation requires communication and sense-making capabilities among organization’s members to translate acquired knowledge that suits the organization’s context (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Sthyre et al., 2002)....
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...…Growth Communication AppropriatenessParticipation Structural Organisational Knowledge Sharing PAGE 344 j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENTj VOL. 16 NO. 2 2012 organization (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal, 2010; Davenport and Prusak, 1998; Desouza and Evaristo, 2003; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)....
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...In addition, externalization of an individual’s knowledge leads to the availability and sometimes redundancy of knowledge, which is claimed as a prerequisite for innovation (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)....
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...Clearly linking the change initiative to the vision could enhance employees’ involvement in and contribution to the implementation of change initiatives (Davenport et al., 1996; Gold et al., 2001; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)....
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...New knowledge is claimed to emerge during the interaction among the knowledge units through four processes: socialization, externalization, combination and internalization (Nonaka and Konno, 1998; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)....
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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