Kimio Kase

Conclusions and Discussions

As we have proposed and concluded in Chapter 6, there is probably more to say about further lines of research in management thinking than a normative theoretical conclusion. Writing this book, and the process the authors went through in doing so, brought out typical situations where ‘West meets East’. For example: (1) the Westerners in our team (See Chapter 1 Appendix) sought a general framework and, if possible, a well worked-out plan, whereas the Asians felt comfortable with a general guideline directing their attention towards a specific final objective but sometimes ambiguous sub-objectives; and, (2) therefore, process-based Asian thinking was seen as chaotic or lacking in purposefulness by the Westerners, and precision and the emphasis on planning and following models by the Westerners were viewed as rigid and inflexible. Deduction and induction did, however, provide creative tensions that served as catalysts for further examination.

CEOs as leaders and strategy designers : explaining the success of Spanish banks

Much management discussion has taken place on whether strategy is centrally designed or emergent-based on the bottom up process, whether motivated management teams can replace the leadership of top executives, whether MBA-trained corporate planners make up for the absence of strategically-minded CEOs, and whether operational factory management techniques such as the Kaizen movement have an effect on strategy, and so on. Spain and some of its industries appear to offer answers to these discussions since from a relatively small economy such world-class competitors have come to prominence in recent times, as Grupo Santander, BBVA, Telefonica, Zara and others. Based on our research on Spanish retail banks we conclude that their success is owed essentially to excellent CEOs aided by adequate deregulatory measures and well-defined business models, etc., which confirm the necessity for leadership figures, whilst not excluding necessary support from other management levels to implement strategy.

The Rationalist Approach to Judgement-Making: Description and Critique

This chapter plays a heuristic role in our argument. In order to explicate practical reason, a detailed picture will be given of the misleading concept that features as practical reasoning in mainstream management theories and business education. Within such theories and education, the process of decision-making or judgement-making has been understood in a very rationalistic fashion, exactly the opposite of what Aristotle and Izutsu, the sources of our notion of phronesis, defend in their writings (see Chapter 1).

Phronesis and Quiddity

This chapter elaborates further the points we have raised and discussed in Chapter 4, namely, the question of consciousness and quiddity. Through Izutsu (1983, 1991) we arrived at the concept of a superior knowledge that was metaphysical in nature both in and through practice. We contend that it is this knowledge that activates judgementmaking.1

Consciousness and Quiddity

In Chapter 3 we reviewed the notion of contingency. Although by this stage it is unnecessary to make such a statement, this book is predicated on the idea that excellent managerial judgement-making hinges upon granting necessity to contingent opportunities according to their true nature or, in other words, turning possibility into necessity. In this chapter we will delve further into the aspect of ‘true nature’ by examining the two elements in the equation, quiddity and consciousness.1 We will leave until Chapter 5 the discussion of the process of ‘turning’ contingency into necessity.

The Metaphysics of Judgement-Making: Contingency

In Chapter 2 we critiqued the rational choice theory (RCT) on practical reasoning: the basic points thereof currently serve as the basis of a great part of management theory and business education.1 RCT was traced back to its conceptual roots in Ockham’s, Descartes’ and Hume’s epistemological arguments and theories.

Judgement-Making in the Face of Contingency

Uncertainty is a fact of life, of which there is no denying. Accordingly, it has been studied by a wide range of disciplines, including physics, philosophy, statistics, economics, finance, insurance, psychology, sociology, engineering and information science. It may be defined as the lack of certainty owing to having limited knowledge where it is impossible to exactly describe the existing state, a future outcome or more than one possible outcome.

Scholarship with Wisdom: An Introduction

This book is designed to honour Professor Ikujiro Nonaka for his scholarly achievements. Through his intellectual contributions, Ikujiro Nonaka has achieved a remarkable advancement in our academic understanding of management and organization as well as the very practice of management. After decades of conceptual and empirical work, many scholars and managers alike have come to see good leadership as an essential means to unleash individual and organizational potential to create knowledge. We recognize such leadership in Professor Ikujiro Nonaka, who, like all great scholars, deserves a tribute in the academic tradition of a Festschrift in which colleagues are given the opportunity to express their admiration and gratitude in the way they know best: to write a paper in his honour. Compared to academic volumes and journal papers, a Festschrift has few set standards of rigour and relevance, and its contributors write what they feel serves the celebratory purpose best. Papers in such books are therefore often unconventional and daring, venturing in new strings of thought. The reader of this book will find many novel and inspiring ideas, interesting historical nuggets, critical thinking, and unusual perspectives. This is perhaps not so surprising given that it celebrates the work of a man whose greatest achievements have been to show how we may develop and deploy more creativity and innovation.

Literature Review: Cognitive Science Perspective

Though Chapter 2 reviewed different philosophical schools regarding induction and deduction, which were further elaborated in Chapter 3 from a more epistemological perspective, psychology, especially, cognitive psychology may offer a better approach to deductive or inductive ways of thinking than philosophy for the following two reasons:Inductive or deductive thinking may not be at the forefront of the problems addressed by some of the schools of philosophy discussed in Chapter 2. For instance, Plato and Aristotle seek above all to explain the opposition between change and permanence of things (as mentioned in Chapter 2). Idealism does not deal with the opposition of universals and particulars, deduction and induction, but forms part of a higher-level attempt at determining the substance of reality as rational.

Literature Review: Cross-Cultural Management Perspective

Markus and Kitayama (1991: p. 224) hold that ‘people in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the two’, which ‘can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation’