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.
Citations
More filters
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
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...A knowledge-based perspective of the firm has emerged in the strategic management literature (Cole 1998; Spender 1996a, 1996b; Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)....
[...]
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
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...This type of interaction and collaboration is important when attempting to transmit tacit knowledge between individuals or convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, thereby transforming it from individual to organizational level [84, 85, 86, 87]....
[...]
...Collaboration is seen as one of the key manners in which knowledge is transmitted and created within the organization [49, 74, 87, 89, 98]....
[...]
...The formal organizational structures within an organization may encourage or inhibit interactions among employees, a practice seen as vital in the effective management of knowledge [49, 87, 89, 94]....
[...]
...Nonaka and Takeuchi [87] develop a new organizational...
[...]
...Collaboration between individuals is also the basis for the socialization of knowledge [87]....
[...]
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
Additional excerpts
...Knowledge may also be thought of as ‘tacit’ and ‘explicit’ (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)....
[...]
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
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...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....
[...]
...Not surprisingly, the process of innovation is commonly equated with an ongoing pursuit of harnessing new and unique knowledge (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....
[...]
...Several studies have underscored how new products embody organizational knowledge (e.g., Stewart, 1997), described innovation as a knowledge management process (e.g., Madhavan & Grover, 1998), and characterized innovative companies as knowledge creating (e.g., Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....
[...]
01 Feb 2009
TL;DR: It is suggested that the competence to do global product development is both collective and distributed, grounded in the everyday practices of organizational members, and not a static embedded capability or stable disposition.
Abstract: Knoving in practice: Enacting a collettive capability in distributed organizing - 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 o\ 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.
2,661 citations
Cites background from "The knowledge-creating company : ho..."
...…examine the various strategies, routines, and techniques through which different types of knowledge are created, codified, converted, transferred, and exchanged (Nelson and Winter 1982, Leonard-Barton 1992, Hedlund 1994, Nonaka 1994, Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, Winter 1987, Teece 1998, Hansen 1999)....
[...]
...Indeed, “knowledge” has become the watchword of contemporary organizations, and research interest in knowledge, knowledge-based organizations, and knowledge management has accelerated (Kogut and Zander 1992, Starbuck 1992, Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, Tsoukas 1996, Teece 1998)....
[...]
References
More filters
TL;DR: Based on a survey of senior executives from large organizations in Taiwan, this article used a structural equation modeling approach to investigate the influence of employee motivation, social interaction, and knowledge management (KM) strategy (codification knowledge strategy and personalization knowledge strategy) on KM implementation level.
Abstract: This study examines the influence of employee motivation (intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation), social interaction (interpersonal trust, openness in communication, and social reciprocity), and knowledge management (KM) strategy (codification knowledge strategy and personalization knowledge strategy) on KM implementation level. Based on a survey of 243 senior executives from large organizations in Taiwan, this study uses a structural equation modeling approach to investigate the research model. The results showed that employee motivation, social interaction, and KM strategy are closely related to level of KM implementation. However, codification knowledge strategy did not significantly influence KM implementation level. Given the importance of KM implementation in contemporary organizations and also in the future, the findings of this study are designed to enable business managers or policy-makers in formulating policies and targeting appropriate organizational enablers to support effective KM implementation. Implications for KM research and practice are discussed.
79 citations
TL;DR: A set of experience knowledge structure (SOEKS) is a combination of organized information obtained from a formal decision event that stores and administers experience from the day-to-day decision processes to improve decision-making quality and efficiency.
Abstract: When managers make decisions, they use previous, similar, or equal experiences to help themselves in a new decision-making situation. Thus, keeping record of previous decision events appears to be of the utmost importance as part of the decision making process. For us, every formal decision event has to be collected and stored as experienced knowledge, and any technology able to do this will allow us to improve the decision-making process by reducing decision time, as well as by avoiding duplication in the process. However, one of the most complicated issues about knowledge is its representation. Developing a knowledge structure that stores and administers experience from the day-to-day decision processes would improve decision-making quality and efficiency. We are proposing such a knowledge structure and have named it set of experience knowledge structure. A set of experience knowledge structure (SOEKS) is a combination of organized information obtained from a formal decision event. Fully applied, the set of experience knowledge structure would advance the notion of administering knowledge in the current decision-making environment.
79 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors empirically tested the association between four groups of LPD enablers and 11 groups of product development problems in a sample of 64 companies that are undergoing lean implementation in the shop floor and administrative areas.
Abstract: The lean product development (LPD) approach uses lean principles and enablers (tools, techniques and practices) to reduce waste and continuously improve the product development processes (PDP). Other than reducing product development lead time, LPD also aims at improving quality by reducing problems that might occur during the process. Several LPD enablers are proposed in the existing literature; however, there is limited knowledge on how these enablers may effectively counteract the occurrence of problems in the PDP. We empirically tested the association between 4 groups of LPD enablers and 11 groups of LPD problems in a sample of 64 companies that are undergoing lean implementation in the shop floor and administrative areas. There are two major contributions here. First, we propose an empirically validated instrument for assessing the adoption of LPD enablers and the incidence of LPD problems in companies filling an existing gap in the literature. Second, we provide understanding on how LPD enablers can...
79 citations
TL;DR: The main operational element of this Audit Tool is in the form of a questionnaire, which aims to act as both a discovery mechanism and as a prompt to further reflection on the specific Knowledge Management activities within innovation processes.
Abstract: This document presents a practical tool for analysing and improving the various forms of Knowledge Management activity within the Innovation processes of companies. It is addressed principally to those companies with well-developed and sophisticated units for innovation, such as RD the mapping of relationships across technological and organisational boundaries; RD the management of Intellectual Property; and the management of information and information technology. These are described and illustrated. The main operational element of this Audit Tool is in the form of a questionnaire, which aims to act as both a discovery mechanism and as a prompt to further reflection on the specific Knowledge Management activities within innovation processes. The questionnaire consists of some 80 questions, each in the form of a description of a specific Knowledge Management Practice, these having been derived from the case studies and additional desk research. This is complemented by a format for specifying action plans for improving KMPs for Innovation.
79 citations
TL;DR: The paper highlights interesting organisational as well as ICT aspects that should be considered when planning, developing and implementing the e-maintenance IS.
Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to understand the developments of the Information Systems (IS) and Information technology, i.e. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the area of Condition Monitoring and Maintenance, especially e-maintenance. Therefore, the paper goes through and categorises the literature findings with the support of two models, i.e. the three era and the IS capability models to analyse and understand the maturity of the ICTs in the domain. The result shows that many researchers are working with software applications that are in the data processing era, which is highly important for the technologies and then the management of IS era. Conversely, both in the Management Information Systems and the Strategic Thinking era fewer findings have been made so far. Further on, in the fourth era, named the Information System (IS) capability, the research findings are mostly at the rudimentary stage. The implementation of Web technologies, such as the Web 2.0, i.e. Social media tec...
78 citations