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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.
Citations
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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


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)....

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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


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]....

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  • ...Collaboration is seen as one of the key manners in which knowledge is transmitted and created within the organization [49, 74, 87, 89, 98]....

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  • ...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]....

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  • ...Nonaka and Takeuchi [87] develop a new organizational...

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  • ...Collaboration between individuals is also the basis for the socialization of knowledge [87]....

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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


Additional excerpts

  • ...Knowledge may also be thought of as ‘tacit’ and ‘explicit’ (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995)....

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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


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....

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  • ...Not surprisingly, the process of innovation is commonly equated with an ongoing pursuit of harnessing new and unique knowledge (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995)....

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  • ...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)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
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)....

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  • ...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)....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Knowledge in organizations and, more particularly, in knowledgeintensive firms is an important topic as discussed by the authors, however, some contemporary approaches tend to over-use the concept of tacit knowledge leading to mystification and magification.
Abstract: Knowledge in organizations and, more particularly, in knowledgeintensive firms is an important topic. However, some contemporary approaches tend to over-use the concept of tacit knowledge leading to mystification and magification. Knowledge creation, storage and transmission in organizations may be rationalized and foster bureaucratization, consonant with the Weberian tendency towards formal rationality. The ideationalist nature of certain theorizing may lead to unrealistic accounts of knowledge in organizations. Antithetic positivist theory can offer illumination on some aspects of organizations and so analysts should not confine themselves to ideationalist theories. Arguments for the importance of knowledge in organizations can become enmeshed in claims that society is post-capitalist, which are best avoided. Future researchers would do better to follow the lead of the articles in this special edition and analyse knowledge in organizations in a careful empirical and skeptical fashion.

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The application of the case study of the textile group Zara shows that the combined used of these ICTs involve positive effects on socialization, exteriorization, combination and interiorization processes of knowledge management.

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined three different ways to balance market exploration and market exploitation in product innovation and found that market exploration facilitates new product innovativeness, whereas market exploitation is more beneficial for new product development speed.

69 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: Workplace learning for entrepreneurs in the context of lifelong learning should take place in settings where (new) knowledge is constructed in dialogue with the entrepreneurs' environment and where personal competence development is facilitated by experts in learning.
Abstract: This article presents a study on work-related lifelong learning for entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector. Accordingly, learning needs, learning preferences, learning motivation and conditions in the context of lifelong learning were identified. The results indicate that technology, IT and entrepreneurial competencies will become of increasing importance in the future. Non-formal and informal learning seem to play an especially important role in the competence development of entrepreneurs. Supporting learning in a personal way is a critical factor in stimulating lifelong learning. The results might provide some important starting points for the support of lifelong learning in practice. Investment in new, different, long-term work-related learning arrangements than have been undertaken hitherto is a high priority. Workplace learning for entrepreneurs in the context of lifelong learning should take place in settings where (new) knowledge is constructed in dialogue with the entrepreneurs' environment and where personal competence development is facilitated by experts in learning.

69 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model that takes into account both, benefits and transaction costs of social ties is proposed to examine the advantages and disadvantages of strong and weak ties in the process of knowledge mobilization, the quality of knowledge, and the transaction cost of maintaining and using the ties.
Abstract: Social network ties enable collaborative creation and sharing of ideas between knowledge workers. Thus, these ties play an important role in organizational innovation as well as for the personal success of the innovators. However, scholars tend to focus only on the information benefits, underestimating the costs of interpersonal relationships. Going beyond this one-dimensional perspective, we first suggest a theoretical model that takes into account both, benefits and transaction costs of social ties. Second, based on this model, we examine the advantages and disadvantages of strong and weak ties in the process of knowledge mobilization, the quality of knowledge, and the transaction costs of maintaining and using the ties. Finally, we shift the focus from the dyadic perspective to an integrative view and discuss the implications that our analysis has for a knowledge worker's portfolio of ties.

69 citations