From information processing to knowledge creation: A paradigm shift in business management

Technology in Society

Volumn 18, Issue 2 SPEC. ISS., 1996, Pages 203-218

  Nonaka, Ikujiro ^a   Umemoto, Katsuhiro ^b   Senoo, Dai ^b  

^a HITOTSUBASHI UNIVERSITY   (Japan)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0000668295     PISSN: 0160791X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/0160-791X(96)00001-2     Document Type: Article

References (34)

1. A. Toffler, Powershif: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (New York: Bantam Books, 1990); P. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society (Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1993); J. B. Quinn, Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry (New York: The Free Press, 1992). See also T. A. Stewart, "Your Company's Most Valuable Asset: Intellectual Capital," Fortune, (October 1994), pp. 34-42.
2. A. Toffler, Powershif: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (New York: Bantam Books, 1990); P. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society (Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1993); J. B. Quinn, Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry (New York: The Free Press, 1992). See also T. A. Stewart, "Your Company's Most Valuable Asset: Intellectual Capital," Fortune, (October 1994), pp. 34-42.
3. A. Toffler, Powershif: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (New York: Bantam Books, 1990); P. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society (Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1993); J. B. Quinn, Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry (New York: The Free Press, 1992). See also T. A. Stewart, "Your Company's Most Valuable Asset: Intellectual Capital," Fortune, (October 1994), pp. 34-42.
4. A. Toffler, Powershif: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century (New York: Bantam Books, 1990); P. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society (Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1993); J. B. Quinn, Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry (New York: The Free Press, 1992). See also T. A. Stewart, "Your Company's Most Valuable Asset: Intellectual Capital," Fortune, (October 1994), pp. 34-42.
5. I. Nonaka, "Managing the Firm as Information Creation Process," Working Paper (1987), Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, later in J. Meindl, R. L. Cardy, and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991), Vol.4, pp. 239-275; "Organizing Innovation as Knowledge-creation Process," Working Paper (1989), University of California at Berkeley; No. OBIR-41; Chishiki-souzou no Keiei (A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, in Japanese); "The Knowledge-Creating Company," Harvard Business Review, (1991), Nov.-Dec., 96-104; "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, Vol.5, no.1 (1994), pp. 14- 37; I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
6. 1. Nonaka, "Managing the Firm as Information Creation Process," Working Paper (1987), Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, later in J. Meindl, R. L. Cardy, and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991), Vol.4, pp. 239-275; "Organizing Innovation as Knowledge-creation Process," Working Paper (1989), University of California at Berkeley; No. OBIR-41; Chishiki-souzou no Keiei (A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, in Japanese); "The Knowledge-Creating Company," Harvard Business Review, (1991), Nov.-Dec., 96-104; "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, Vol.5, no.1 (1994), pp. 14- 37; I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
7. 1. Nonaka, "Managing the Firm as Information Creation Process," Working Paper (1987), Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, later in J. Meindl, R. L. Cardy, and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991), Vol.4, pp. 239-275; "Organizing Innovation as Knowledge-creation Process," Working Paper (1989), University of California at Berkeley; No. OBIR-41; Chishiki-souzou no Keiei (A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, in Japanese); "The Knowledge-Creating Company," Harvard Business Review, (1991), Nov.-Dec., 96-104; "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, Vol.5, no.1 (1994), pp. 14- 37; I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
8. 1. Nonaka, "Managing the Firm as Information Creation Process," Working Paper (1987), Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, later in J. Meindl, R. L. Cardy, and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991), Vol.4, pp. 239-275; "Organizing Innovation as Knowledge-creation Process," Working Paper (1989), University of California at Berkeley; No. OBIR-41; Chishiki-souzou no Keiei (A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, in Japanese); "The Knowledge-Creating Company," Harvard Business Review, (1991), Nov.-Dec., 96-104; "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, Vol.5, no.1 (1994), pp. 14- 37; I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
9. 1. Nonaka, "Managing the Firm as Information Creation Process," Working Paper (1987), Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, later in J. Meindl, R. L. Cardy, and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991), Vol.4, pp. 239-275; "Organizing Innovation as Knowledge-creation Process," Working Paper (1989), University of California at Berkeley; No. OBIR-41; Chishiki-souzou no Keiei (A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, in Japanese); "The Knowledge-Creating Company," Harvard Business Review, (1991), Nov.-Dec., 96-104; "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, Vol.5, no.1 (1994), pp. 14-37; I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
10. 1. Nonaka, "Managing the Firm as Information Creation Process," Working Paper (1987), Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, later in J. Meindl, R. L. Cardy, and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, (Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991), Vol.4, pp. 239-275; "Organizing Innovation as Knowledge-creation Process," Working Paper (1989), University of California at Berkeley; No. OBIR-41; Chishiki-souzou no Keiei (A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation) (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, in Japanese); "The Knowledge-Creating Company," Harvard Business Review, (1991), Nov.-Dec., 96-104; "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, Vol.5, no.1 (1994), pp. 14- 37; I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, The Knowledge-Creating Company (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)
11. Tacit knowledge is discussed in-depth by Michael Polanyi, a Hungarian chemist-turned-philosopher. See Michael Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966).
12. Noria, Nitin and R. G. Eccles (eds.), Networks and Organizations (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1992), p. 293.
13. According to the 5th technological forecasting survey conducted by Japan's National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, such a "virtual conference" is forecast to be diffused by the year of 2011. The Nikkei Industrial Daily, August 17, 1995, p. 2.
14. For examples of metaphors and analogies, see Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), pp. 65-67. Examples of metaphors used in IT can be found in C. D. Winslow and W. L. Bramer, Future Work: Putting Knowledge to Work in the Knowledge Economy (New York: The Free Press, 1994), pp. 72, 73, 106, 107, 112-116.
15. For examples of metaphors and analogies, see Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), pp. 65-67. Examples of metaphors used in IT can be found in C. D. Winslow and W. L. Bramer, Future Work: Putting Knowledge to Work in the Knowledge Economy (New York: The Free Press, 1994), pp. 72, 73, 106, 107, 112-116.
16. C. A Ellis defined Groupware as a "computer-based system supporting a group of users working on a common task or goal, and providing an interface to shared environment." Quoted by Hiroshi Ishii, Designing Groupware (Tokyo: Kyoritsu, 1994), p. 10; its original source is C. A. Ellis and G. L. Rein, "Groupware" in Communications of the ACM, Vol. 34, no.1 (1991), pp. 38-58.
17. C. A Ellis defined Groupware as a "computer-based system supporting a group of users working on a common task or goal, and providing an interface to shared environment." Quoted by Hiroshi Ishii, Designing Groupware (Tokyo: Kyoritsu, 1994), p. 10; its original source is C. A. Ellis and G. L. Rein, "Groupware" in Communications of the ACM, Vol. 34, no.1 (1991), pp. 38-58.
18. IBM has already commercialized a groupware called "TeamFocus," which is an electronic conference room for idea generation and evaluation under the guidance of a human facilitator. Y. Shimizu and I. Murase, Groupware (Tokyo: Just System, 1995), pp. 64-66, (in Japanese).
19. Y. Matsushita, Illustrated Introduction to Groupware (Tokyo: Ohm, 1991), pp. 87-95, (in Japanese).
20. This method was developed by Jiro Kawakita, an anthropologist and professor emeritus of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. It consists of four basic steps: (1) writing down information (text or image) on cards; (2) grouping the cards and entitling them; (3) spatially arranging the groups and drawing charts to show relationships among them; and (4) explain the whole chart in verbal or written sentences.
21. Y. Kanda et al., "GrIPS: An Groupware to Support Group-Based Idea Generation," paper presented at the Symposium on Groupware to Support Idea Generation, held at the Mitsubishi Research Institute in Tokyo, December, 1992, (in Japanese).
22. Ishii (1994), op. cit., pp. 84-86.
23. Nikkei Ryutsu Shimbun, August 10 (1995), p. 4, (in Japanese).
24. Nikkei Joho Sutorateji, May (1995), pp. 149-150, (in Japanese).
25. For more detailed discussions about each of the five enabling conditions, see Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), op. cit., pp. 73-83.
26. Matsushita (1991), op. cit., p. 52.
27. According to W. R. Ashby, An Introduction to Cybernetics (London: Chapman and Hall, 1956), an organization's internal diversity must match the variety and complexity of the environment to deal with challenges posed by the environment.
28. Matsushita (1991), op. cit., p. 95.
29. M. S. Alabastro et al., "The Use of Visual Modeling in Designing a Manufacturing Process for Advanced Composite Structures," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 42, no. 3 (1995), pp. 233-241.
30. For more detailed discussions about middle-up-down management and a comparison of the three management styles, see I. Nonaka, "Toward Middle-Up-Down Management: Accelerating Information Creation," Sloan Management Review, Vol. 29, no. 3 (1988), pp. 9-18; and Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), op. cit., chap. 5.
31. For more detailed discussions about middle-up-down management and a comparison of the three management styles, see I. Nonaka, "Toward Middle-Up-Down Management: Accelerating Information Creation," Sloan Management Review, Vol. 29, no. 3 (1988), pp. 9-18; and Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), op. cit., chap. 5.
32. T. H. Davenport, "Why Reengineering Failed: the Fad that Forgot People," Fast Company, premiere issue (1995), pp. 70-74.
33. Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (London: Hamish 1995), p. 26. According to Fukuyama, the U.S., Japan, and Germany are high-trust societies; whereas China, Italy, and France are low-trust societies. He argues that trust is an important "social capital" to give such benefits as low transaction costs to business.
34. Davenport (1995), op. cit., p. 74.