Remy Magnier-Watanabe

Organizational characteristics as prescriptive factors of knowledge management initiatives

Purpose – The use of knowledge in organizations is largely a discretionary behavior that can be encouraged but not demanded. As such, the firm can only attempt to provide the right conditions for employees to endorse the role of knowledge workers. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the organization of the firm affects knowledge management.Design/methodology/approach – This research proposes a new framework showing the prescriptive role of organizational characteristics onto knowledge management (KM) initiatives. Based on this framework, data were generated from nine semi‐structured interviews conducted in the American, British and Japanese offices of a major Japanese pharmaceutical company, using a Boolean approach and qualitative content analysis.Findings – Organizational characteristics, specifically – structure, membership, relationship, and strategy affect KM, namely – knowledge acquisition, storage, diffusion, and application respectively.Research limitations/implications – Even though the d...

Building a research model for mobile wallet consumer adoption: the case of mobile Suica in Japan

The growth of mobile commerce, or the purchase of services or goods using mobile technology, heavily depends on the availability, reliability, and acceptance of mobile wallet systems. Although several researchers have attempted to create models on the acceptance of such mobile payment systems, no single comprehensive framework has yet emerged. Based upon a broad literature review of mobile technology adoption, a comprehensive model integrating eleven key consumer-related variables affecting the adoption of mobile payment systems is proposed. This model, based on established theoretical underpinnings originally established in the technology acceptance literature, extends existing frameworks by including attractiveness of alternatives and by proposing relationships between the key constructs. Japan is at the forefront of such technology and a number of domestic companies have been effectively developing and marketing mobile wallets for some time. Using this proposed framework, we present the case of the successful adoption of Mobile Suica in Japan, which can serve as a model for the rapid diffusion of such payment systems for other countries where adoption has been unexpectedly slow.

Shaping knowledge management: organization and national culture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to confirm quantitatively the previous finding that organizational characteristics influence knowledge management, and to assess whether the national culture of knowledge workers equally affects the management of knowledge.Design/methodology/approach – Based on data gathered from a questionnaire survey of a Japanese pharmaceutical companys 14 foreign subsidiaries, the effects of organizational characteristics and national culture on knowledge management were tested using multiple regression analysis.Findings – Although organizational characteristics and national culture were found to affect knowledge management, the data showed organizational characteristics to be a stronger prescriptive factor compared with national culture.Research limitations/implications – Because this research centered on a single company in the pharmaceutical industry, future research should attempt to confirm the validity of this framework in other industries.Practical implications – Changes ...

A Study of Knowledge Management Enablers across Countries

Knowledge has been long cited as a strategic asset and a source of competitive advantage for organizations. However, the creation of knowledge is a complex process that is influenced by several factors beyond the typical practice of knowledge management (KM). In this research, we assess the effects of leadership, Ba (shared context in motion), organizational culture, organizational control, and work style on KM defined in terms of the SECI process of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. On the basis of data gathered from a questionnaire survey of a Japanese pharmaceutical company and its subsidiaries in the United States, France, and China, we compare how the aforementioned organizational factors influence the processes of KM in these organizations. The results show that organizational factors affect KM practices differently in each of the targeted countries, and suggest that KM activities need to be tailored to the organizational idiosyncrasies of each local office, without betraying the global vision of the corporation.

Social network productivity in the use of SNS

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the effect of intranet‐based social networking services (SNS) on the activity of the firm, in particular on the change in the number of business connections and on the time and cost‐savings brought about by such SNS.Design/methodology/approach – The authors hypothesize that the use of intranet‐based SNS positively influences “social network productivity” defined as the relationship between interconnectedness and knowledge performance, whereby an increase in the number of business contacts may result in a shortened and less costly retrieval of work‐relevant knowledge. Drawing on a large sample of Japanese respondents, a taxonomy based on levels of organizational social capital and innovativeness was used to assess the moderating effects of social capital and innovativeness on social network productivity.Findings – SNS were found to mildly improve efficiency in accessing knowledge or in increasing the number of business contacts. More importantly, this study reveals tha...

Getting ready for kaizen: organizational and knowledge management enablers

Purpose – In an economy where firms compete for limited resources, focusing internally to boost efficiency and reduce waste is critical. In particular, the kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement in small sustainable increments has spread in the manufacturing industry with mixed results. However, the knowledge management requirements of kaizen have not yet been formalized for practitioners to easily check the necessary pre‐conditions of their organization. The objective of this paper is to explore the successful implementation of kaizen in terms of its organizational design and knowledge management preconditions.Design/methodology/approach – Using a case‐study approach building on previous in‐depth research of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) in Fremont, California, this study assesses the organizational and knowledge preconditions of kaizen.Findings – The results show that the success of NUMMI may reside as much in Toyotas production system as in the alignment of kaizen and the organizati...

Workplace reformation, active ba and knowledge creation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose propose a practical framework for the design and measure of active ba and assess whether workplace reformation initiatives actively contribute to promoting knowledge creation by activating ba.Design/methodology/approach – The workplace reformation is first segmented into virtual and physical environments. Then, using the SECI knowledge‐creation process, the effects of each environment as well as their mutual interactions on active ba are analyzed. Next, the case studies of two workplace reformations are introduced, the first using a qualitative analysis and the second the results of a questionnaire survey carried out at three different stages of the implementation.Findings – The effective implementation of workplace reformation in two separate entities enabled the creation of active ba. The influence of the physical and virtual environments on the creation of active ba were significantly different, thus justifying the assumption of the division of such env...

Diagnosis for organizational knowledge creation: an ontological shift SECI model

Purpose – This paper intends to propose an “ontological shift SECI model” as a tool to diagnose organizations in the context of knowledge creation, and thereby support the management of knowledge creation‐related projects.Design/methodology/approach – This researchs hypothesis is based on existing knowledge creation theories and is tested using a case study methodology. The authors first examine the model in a completed project in order to test its validity and second, apply it in Company As software project to demonstrate its feasibility and usefulness.Findings – In any given project, knowledge creation activities occur in various ontological entities – individual, group, organization or social‐network. The diagnosis tool, which proved to be useful in this paper, traces such ontological shifts and makes visible all key activities of a knowledge creation project. These activities form an “ontological shift model” and trace an “activity map” which exposes underlying enablers and barriers, and provides vi...

Blended learning in MBA education: a cross-cultural experiment

e-Learning has entered the mainstream in higher education and many institutions are implementing technology-mediated learning at some level. This paper outlines the case of a course taught jointly in 2010 over three months by two graduate programmes in management at the University of Tsukuba in Japan and the Grenoble Ecole de Management in France through a video-conferencing system and other information and communications technology tools. The authors used a blended learning approach aimed at increasing collaboration among instructors and students remotely located. The results of a questionnaire survey of students conducted during the course provide practical recommendations for developing and managing a hybrid course balancing the positive aspects of e-learning with the benefits of face-to-face instruction, while suiting the participants’ cultural learning preferences. Particular insights include selecting a relevant blended learning course topic, addressing student diversity and distinct learning motives, and bringing ‘tangible diversity’ through the exchange of faculty.

Congruent knowledge management behaviors as discriminate sources of competitive advantage

Purpose – While knowledge management has been shown to be a strategic source of competitive advantage, processes designed to enhance the productivity of knowledge do not, however, equally contribute to the organizations capabilities. Consequently, this research aims to focus on the relationship between each mode of the knowledge management process and multiple sources of competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approach – This research, using questionnaire data collected from the entire population of a pharmaceutical companys head office in Japan, investigates how different perceptions and behaviors related to knowledge management affect the perceived contribution of certain types of organizational knowledge acting as sources of competitive advantage.Findings – The study finds that the perceived importance of knowledge management activities, especially combination, appears as an important source of competitive advantage related to technical knowledge, and more time spent on knowledge management tasks, i...