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 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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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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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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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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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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10 Dec 2000
TL;DR: The findings indicate that as companies experience increased uncertainty and complexity, and adopt multi-focused strategies, IT governance designs are more hybrid with increased coordination needs.
Abstract: This study aims to enrich and expand the conceptualization of IT governance by identifying the diversity of hybrid configurations and integration mechanisms and exploring the IT performance effects. While literature describes the prevailing configurations for formally allocating IT decision-making authority, previous studies have not addressed the complexity of hybrid configurations, the required integration mechanisms, and the associated performance effects. Building forth on organization theory, a conceptual framework is developed for conducting multiple comparative case study research in the financial services industry. The findings indicate that as companies experience increased uncertainty and complexity, and adopt multi-focused strategies, IT governance designs are more hybrid with increased coordination needs. A federal configuration for IT governance by itself is not related to improved IT performance. IT performance effectiveness is associated with both hybrid configuration and complex integration mechanisms. The implications for research and practice are discussed.
113 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Malecki et al. present new challenges for firms and regions as companies locate research and development in more places, they seek to tap knowledge in new, open ways, to respond to diverse customer demand and short product life cycles.
Abstract: Malecki E. J. Global knowledge and creativity: new challenges for firms and regions, Regional Studies. As companies locate research and development in more places, they seek to tap knowledge in new, open ways, to respond to diverse customer demand and short product life cycles. The globalization of research and development has added costs as firms communicate across national, cultural, and linguistic boundaries, using both information and communication technology networks and face-to-face interaction. Intermediaries in knowledge transfer, such as knowledge brokers and gatekeepers, have become more important as new nodes join the global system of knowledge. As firms respond to the knowledge-based global economy, each region must construct a ‘knowledge monopoly’ to stand out in the global landscape of capabilities. Malecki E. J. La connaissance et la creativite mondiales: de nouveaux defis pour les entreprises et les regions, Regional Studies. Au fur et a mesure que la localisation des activites de recherch...
113 citations
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
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