is a Japanese
organizational theorist
Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...
and Professor
Emeritus at the
Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy of the
Hitotsubashi University
is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social science ...
, best known for his study of
knowledge management
Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making ...
.
Biography
Nonaka was born in Tokyo in 1935 and as a child he lived through the Japanese defeat by the West during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. His nationalist spirit led him to believe that, in order to avoid further humiliation, Japan should adapt its technological and organizational skills. In 1958 Nonaka received his B.S. in political science of
Waseda University
, mottoeng = Independence of scholarship
, established = 21 October 1882
, type = Private
, endowment =
, president = Aiji Tanaka
, city = Shinjuku
, state = Tokyo
, country = Japan
, students = 47,959
, undergrad = 39,382
, postgrad ...
.
After graduation Nonaka accepted a job in
Fuji Electric
, operating under the brand name FE, is a Japanese electrical equipment company, manufacturing pressure transmitters, flowmeters, gas analyzers, controllers, inverters, pumps, generators, ICs, motors, and power equipment.
History
Fuji Electric ...
, where he initiated a management program. This curriculum was in the 1960s further developed together with the business school of
Keio University and offered to companies all over Japan. In 1967 Nonaka moved to US where in 1968 he obtained an MBA and in 1972 a
PhD in
Business Administration both at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
Nonaka was the First Distinguished Drucker Scholar in Residence at the Drucker School and Institute,
Claremont Graduate University; the Xerox Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Institute of Management, Innovation and Organization, UC Berkeley. Back in Japan he became professor at the
Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy of
Hitotsubashi University
is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social science ...
.
Work
Nonaka co-wrote several noteworthy articles with
Hirotaka Takeuchi, a colleague at Hitotsubashi University, including:
* The article ''The New New Product Development Game'', in which they emphasised speed and flexibility for
new product development
In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along ...
. This article is considered to be the one of the roots of the
Scrum framework, one of the most used
agile software development techniques.
* The Nonaka-Takeuchi model of accumulation of
tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge or implicit knowledge—as opposed to formal, codified or explicit knowledge—is knowledge that is difficult to express or extract, and thus more difficult to transfer to others by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. This ...
.
In 2008, the ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' listed him as one of the most influential persons on business thinking, and
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
included him in its "Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus".
[Hindle, T. (2008). Guide to management ideas & gurus. Delhi: Profile Books.]
Nonaka has also proposed the ''
SECI model'', to present the spiraling knowledge processes of interaction between
explicit knowledge
Explicit knowledge (also expressive knowledge) is knowledge that can be readily articulated, codified, stored and accessed. It can be expressed in formal and systematical language and shared in the form of data, scientific formulae, specifications ...
and
tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge or implicit knowledge—as opposed to formal, codified or explicit knowledge—is knowledge that is difficult to express or extract, and thus more difficult to transfer to others by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. This ...
. ''SECI'' is short for:
* Socialization
* Externalization
* Combination
* Internalization
Selected bibliography
* ''Essence of Failure: Organizational Study of the Japanese Armed Forces during the World War II'' (with R. Tobe, Y. Teramoto, S. Kamata, T. Suginoo and T. Murai), Tokyo: Diamond-sha, 1984 (in Japanese).
*
* ''Enabling Knowledge Creation'' (with G. von Krogh and K. Ichijo), New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
* ''Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management'' (with co-authors), John Wiley (Asia), 2003.
* ''The Essence of Innovation'' (with A. Katsumi), Tokyo: Nikkei BP, 2004 (in Japanese).
* ''The Essence of Strategy'' (with co-authors), Tokyo: Nikkei BP, 2005 (in Japanese).
* ''Managing Flow'' (with T. Hirata and R. Toyama), Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
* ''The Core of Organization is People'' (with H. Sakai, H. Yoshida, T. Sakikawa, T. Hirata, K. Isomura and
Yasunobu NARITA), Kyoto: Nakanishiya, 2009 (in Japanese).
* ''The Philosophy-Creating Company'' (with K. Genma, T. Hirata, K. Isomura and
Yasunobu NARITA), Kyoto: Nakanishiya, 2012 (in Japanese).
;About Ikujiro Nonaka
*
*
* Strategy Business Magazine article i
Winter 2008 issue
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonaka, Ikujiro
1935 births
Living people
People from Tokyo
Japanese business theorists
Fujitsu people
Waseda University alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of California, Berkeley fellows
Hitotsubashi University faculty
Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class