Hitotsubashi
ICS Reveals Secrets of Knowledge Management
HONOLULU— On
February 27, 2004, Hawai‘i professionals,
businesses, and organizations gathered at a special forum
on knowledge management hosted by JAIMS and the University
of Hawaii College of Business. Featured were Hitotsubashi
University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy
(ICS) professors Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi,
dean of ICS.
World-renowned in his field, Nonaka
presented an overview of his dialectic approach to knowledge
management to begin the forum. Nonaka’s dialectic
approach involves combining diverse and often contradictory
knowledge to create higher states of knowledge and skills
into an ideal synthesis.
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Hirotaka Takeuchi, professor and dean of Hitotsubashi
ICS. |
Takeuchi followed Nonaka by elaborating on
the dialectic approach and
giving examples of its use in Japanese and U.S. organizations. With
deep roots
in both Japan and the United States, Takeuchi himself is a living
example of a dialectic synthesis, able to shed light on the contrasting
nature
of both cultures in terms of knowledge management.
“
[Japanese] have tons of tacit knowledge but don't know how to articulate
it,” Takeuchi said, “A lot of the challenge of the
Westerners is the opposite. You have tons of knowledge [in your
head], but how do you convert that and share it with your employees
so that that knowledge
is shared in your guts?”
Following his presentation, Takeuchi then
facilitated a panel discussion and group brainstorming with the
audience.
The panel was composed
of Hitotsubashi ICS professors Satoshi Akutsu, Yoko Ishikura,
Ken Kusunoki,
and Emi Osono
who each contributed chapters to Takeuchi and Nonaka’s
newly published book, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management.
The panel and audience discussions focused
on Hawai‘i’s future
in business and how it can be improved using Nonaka’s dialectic approach
to knowledge management. Ideas ranged from finding and utilizing Hawai‘i’s
unique and advantageous qualities to transforming its perceived
weaknesses into strengths in the global market.
The forum was a special engagement co-presented
by JAIMS and the University of Hawaii College of Business in
appreciation
of the
partnership with
Hitosubashi ICS, the first national entity in Japan to offer
an MBA degree taught exclusively
in English.
Business Week voted Takeuchi as one of the
top 10 “management-school
professors in demand for in-house corporate education programs” in
the world. Fortune introduced him as “among the intellectual leaders
of the younger, globally-minded generation that is coming to power in Japan” in
a two-page featured article on his work on knowledge creation.
Prior to joining Hitotsubashi, he taught at the Harvard
Business School for
seven
years. Takeuchi has authored many articles and books including
his recent book, Can Japan Compete? which was co-authored
by Michael E. Porter.
Nonaka is the first Xerox Distinguished Professor
of Knowledge at the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business
and is also visiting dean and professor at the Center for Knowledge and
Innovation Research
at the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. He has
presented his work to the executives of the Nippon Keidanren and is acknowledged
to be a leader of the knowledge creation movement.
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