Ikujiro Nonaka

SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation

Abstract Despite the widely recognised importance of knowledge as a vital source of competitive advantage, there is little understanding of how organisations actually create and manage knowledge dynamically. Nonaka, Toyama and Konno start from the view of an organisation as an entity that creates knowledge continuously, and their goal in this article is to understand the dynamic process in which an organisation creates, maintains and exploits knowledge. They propose a model of knowledge creation consisting of three elements: (i) the SECI process, knowledge creation through the conversion of tacit and explicit knowledge; (ii) ‘ba’, the shared context for knowledge creation; and (iii) knowledge assets, the inputs, outputs and moderators of the knowledge-creating process. The knowledge creation process is a spiral that grows out of these three elements; the key to leading it is dialectical thinking. The role of top management in articulating the organisations knowledge vision is emphasised, as is the important role of middle management (‘knowledge producers’) in energising ba. In summary, using existing knowledge assets, an organisation creates new knowledge through the SECI process that takes place in ba, where new knowledge, once created, becomes in turn the basis for a new spiral of knowledge creation.

The Knowledge-creating Theory Revisited: Knowledge Creation as a Synthesizing Process

This paper is a part of our attempt to build a new knowledge-based theory of the firm and organization to explain the dynamic process of knowledge creation and utilization. For this, we revisit the theory of knowledge creation through the SECI process and ba, and try to advance them further by incorporating the dialectic thinking. In this paper, knowledge creation is conceptualized as a dialectical process, in which various contradictions are synthesized through dynamic interactions among individuals, the organization, and the environment. With the view of a firm as a dialectic being, and strategy and organization should be re-examined as the synthesizing and self-transcending process instead of a logical analysis of structure or action. An organization is not an information-processing machine that is composed of small tasks to carry out a given task, but an organic configuration of ba. Ba, which is conceptualized as a shared context in motion, can transcend time, space, and organization boundaries to create knowledge.

Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory: Evolutionary Paths and Future Advances:

Organizational knowledge creation is the process of making available and amplifying knowledge created by individuals as well as crystallizing and connecting it to an organizations knowledge system. In other words, what individuals come to know in their (work-)life benefits their colleagues and, eventually, the larger organization. The theory explaining this process — the organizational knowledge creation theory — has developed rapidly in academia and been broadly diffused in management practice over the last 15 years. This article reviews the theorys central elements and identifies the evolving paths taken by academic work that uses the theory as a point of departure. The article furthermore proposes areas in which future research can advance the theory of organizational knowledge creation.

Making the Most of Your Company's Knowledge: A Strategic Framework

This paper develops a framework of four strategies for managing knowledge. Companies can leverage their knowledge throughout the organisation, expand their knowledge further based on existing expertise, appropriate knowledge from partners and other organisations, and develop completely new expertise by probing new technologies or markets. The two core processes of knowledge creation and transfer are central to the execution of these strategies, as is the companys domains of knowledge. The framework is based on conceptualisation about knowledge management practices at Unilever, a multinational fast-moving consumer goods company.

Organizational knowledge creation theory: A first comprehensive test

Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test Nonakas ((1994) Organization Science, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 14-37) a priori model of organizational knowledge creation with data collected from 105 Japanese middle managers. The results provide strong support for viewing organizational knowledge creation as a higher-order construct comprised of four knowledge conversion processes: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization.

Creating Organizational Order Out of Chaos: Self-Renewal in Japanese Firms

Based on the experiences of leading Japanese companies, this article attempts to formulate a conceptual framework of a self-renewal process of a firm. The author conceptualizes the process as the continuous creation and dissolution of organizational order, or nonequilibrium self-organizing process. Although the process is continuous, four phases can be identified: creation of chaos; amplification of fluctuation; dynamic cooperation; and restructuring of organizational knowledge. The essence of the process is not the processing of syntactic information, but the organizational creation of meaningful, semantic information. The article negates the information-processing model of organization that emphasizes such concepts as fit, balance, and equilibrium. Instead, it advocates the self-organization paradigm that sheds light on functional aspects of chaos, fluctuation, and disequilibrium.

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

Abstract This paper examines how information technology (IT) can help implement the concept of “the knowledge-creating company,” which we propose as the management paradigm for the emerging “knowledge society.” We present our theory of organizational knowledge creation, along with actual examples of IT that are being used now or can be used in the near future by business organizations. Also, several differences between the Japanese- vs. Western-style organizational knowledge creation and their implications in relation to IT are discussed.

Leadership in Organizational Knowledge Creation: A Review and Framework

Organizational knowledge creation integrates context, knowledge assets, and knowledge creation processes throughout the organization. Using organizational knowledge creation theory as an organizing framework, we conduct a literature review that shows prior work has focused on the role of central, upper‐echelon, leadership in knowledge creation processes, without devoting much attention to context and knowledge assets. To remedy these weaknesses, we develop a new framework for situational leadership in organizational knowledge creation. The framework is based on a continuum that ranges from centralized to distributed leadership at three layers of activity: a core layer of local knowledge creation; a conditional layer that provides the resources and context for knowledge creation; and a structural layer that forms the overall frame and direction for knowledge creation in the organization. We discuss the implications of this framework for theory and practice.

Managing innovation as a self-renewing process

Abstract In order to remain competitive, a firm must constantly create new strategies, products and features as well as new ways of manufacturing, promoting and distributing its products. The process of new product development can serve as a catalyst for the self-renewal of an organization. Developing a new product forces members of an organization to create innovative approaches to problems which may then lead to shifts in the thinking of the firm. Most studies have regarded the organization as a machine for information processing. However, a view in which humans are likened to parts of a machine overlooks a very important aspect in considering the process of organizational self-renewal. Although humans have a finite ability to process information, they also have the ability to create information by looking at things in a new way or adopting a different point of view. This change in thinking can lead to a new awareness throughout the organization, and can help to solve the problems which seem to have no traditional solution. Information which arises in this process competes with and complements other information in the organization. Eventually, the new and the existing information may be integrated to produce a change in organizational cognitive and behavioral patterns. This results in the self-renewal of the organization. This study examines the process of new product development through a case study of the creation of the Canon personal copier, and outlines a series of stages for promoting innovation and organizational self-renewal. The analysis of the process used by Canon in creating the personal copier indicates that the self-renewal of the firm may result from deliberately creating a climate of turbulence and constructive conflict within the organization. In such an environment, dynamic cooperation between different divisions or task forces is encouraged and new solutions to complex problems are found. The viewpoint presented in this study—that the self—renewal of an organization is a process of information creation-could be extended to create new theoretical frameworks. While Canons approach to fostering information creation was effective, however, other methods of organizational self-renewal should be explored.

Strategic knowledge creation: the case of Hamamatsu Photonics

Strategic management can be viewed as a mechanistic or an organic process. In the former, strategic formulation is based on environmental analysis. In the latter, managers are advised to frame strategies on the unique inimitable internal resources. While both heuristics are feasible, the ontological and epistemological foundations of strategic management can be elaborated. A knowledge-based view posits that both indigenous and exogenous factors need to be considered in strategy formulation because companies are in a dialectic environmental interaction. The integral components of the knowledge-based strategy are knowledge vision, driving objectives, dialogues, creative routines, and shared context of interaction (Ba). The space-time specific interaction of these components is illustrated in the example of Hamamatsu Photonics, Ltd., a Japanese company that has recently received attention for its production of the large photoelectron cell. Professor Koshiba was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research aided by the photoelectron cell.