Knowledge Management in Japan

By Andrew Kleckner

Sophia University, Tokyo

What is Knowledge?

© Andrew Kleckner, 2009

Knowledge refers to ,“Information, skills, expertise, acquired through experience and education”(Oxford English Dictionary)

• Explicit Knowledge

– Can be expressed verbally or numerically

– Doesn't change depending on the source

• Tacit Knowledge

– Hunches, intuitions, etc.

– Often difficult to explain

What is Knowledge Management?(KM)

• The wide range of practices used to identify, create, distribute, and incorporate knowledge into a firm

– Treating knowledge as a component of business

activities (equal or greater level than the traditional

components, such as land, labor, and capital)

– Includes people, processes, technology, and culture.

– Deeply personal (emphasis placed on relationships)

Why is KM Important?

© Andrew Kleckner, 2009

• Value is created through innovation and

productivity

• Increasingly competitive market

• Knowledge oriented industries are thriving more

than product-oriented industries

• Electronics, software, medicine, communications,

services (e.g. when you buy aspirin, you're buying

knowledge. The pill is just a form of packaging)

KM in Japan

• Internal organizational knowledge creation is key to innovation

– Everyone is involved

– No group has exclusive control and responsibility for

creating new knowledge

– Sharing and discussion by all is essential

• "On the job" knowledge is more valued

– Personalized training as opposed to guidebook training

– Uses both explicit and tacit knowledge

KM in Japan (cont.)

• Many ideas are incorporated in the end result

– Allows for maximum creativity

– Can lead to market innovations

– Developing new goods and services

– Ability to reach un-touched markets

– Can be a lengthy process

• Knowledge is always accessible

• More emphasis on creating new knowledge than working with existing knowledge

– Continuous improvement and development

Importance of Ba (場場場場)

• More than just a place of work or location

- An emotional tie between worker and the firm

• Uniting factor between everyone in the firm

- Top management and low level employees share a

common bond

- People are devoted to the firm and everyone inside

• Ba (場) for the creation of Chi (知)

- Creating wisdom (Chi) through exchanging ideas

Differences in the West

• Decisions are made by only a few people.

• Knowledge creation is less important

– "If it ain’t broke, don't fix it."

• They define knowledge and its creation differently

• Individual goals are often pursued

– Companies have difficulty with long projects because they

cannot trust the workers will stay with the firm

• According to a recent survey of American executives, 80% feel that KM is important, but only 15% believe

they're managing it efficiently(Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations)

These slides are part of a student podcast project related to the book “J-Management: Fresh Perspectives on the Japanese Firm in the 21st Century” edited by

Dr. Parissa Haghirian of Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan.

For further information about the podcasts and the book, please visit www.parissahaghirian.com

These slides are to be used for teaching and educational purposes only.

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