The Role Of Internal Competition In Knowledge Creation

This book is about how to implement creative competition within an organization. It examines the conditions under which internal competition can promote knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing. The book describes a number of studies of sales departments in Japanese firms. Sales departments in Japanese firms were studied because internal competition is getting fiercer in these departments following the recent introduction of performance-based compensation. Exploratory case studies of ORIX Corporation and Japan Computer were conducted in order to generate research hypotheses. To gather quantitative data and test the hypotheses drawn from the case studies, a questionnaire survey of sales departments of Japanese firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was carried out. The findings reported in the book shed new light not only on internal competition theory, but also provide new insights into the theories on knowledge creation and intra-organizational conflict.

"This book examines current research in support of knowledge management by focusing on how knowledge resources can be used to create and sustain competitive advantages, combining imitation and innovation theories"--Provided by publisher.

When The Knowledge-Creating Company (OUP; nearly 40,000 copies sold) appeared, it was hailed as a landmark work in the field of knowledge management. Now, Enabling Knowledge Creation ventures even further into this all-important territory, showing how firms can generate and nurture ideas by using the concepts introduced in the first book. Weaving together lessons from such international leaders as Siemens, Unilever, Skandia, and Sony, along with their own first-hand consulting experiences, the authors introduce knowledge enabling--the overall set of organizational activities that promote knowledge creation--and demonstrate its power to transform an organization's knowledge into value-creating actions. They describe the five key "knowledge enablers" and outline what it takes to instill a knowledge vision, manage conversations, mobilize knowledge activists, create the right context for knowledge creation, and globalize local knowledge. The authors stress that knowledge creation must be more than the exclusive purview of one individual--or designated "knowledge" officer. Indeed, it demands new roles and responsibilities for everyone in the organization--from the elite in the executive suite to the frontline workers on the shop floor. Whether an activist, a caring expert, or a corporate epistemologist who focuses on the theory of knowledge itself, everyone in an organization has a vital role to play in making "care" an integral part of the everyday experience; in supporting, nurturing, and encouraging microcommunities of innovation and fun; and in creating a shared space where knowledge is created, exchanged, and used for sustained, competitive advantage. This much-anticipated sequel puts practical tools into the hands of managers and executives who are struggling to unleash the power of knowledge in their organization.

This innovative book portrays the state-of-the-art of coopetition strategy regarded as a compelling mindset to exploit entirely the potential of actors’ interdependencies (firms, governments, suppliers, customers, scientists and partners) in today’s global scenarios. It provides the rudiments for navigating an exploration journey into a virtually new and emergent management subfield. This volume presents three key distinctive features: it is the first attempt that delves systematically and rigorously into coopetition strategy and coopetitive behaviour; it clearly elucidates the contribution of coopetition to the advancement of strategic management and managerial practice; it is the outcome of the collective brains of several scholars, with diverse geographical roots and backgrounds, who cultivate original research on co-opetition strategy from a variety of perspectives (economic, managerial, political) and multiple methods (theory building, game-theoretical, experimental and inductive case-based inquiries). Looking into this volume, the reader will realize that, while the topic is at the beginning of its lifecycle, coopetition strategy has touched an important crossroads which solicits a more comprehensive and systematic assessment. If mindfully formulated and implemented, this hybrid strategic option is able to increase returns and generate value for shareholders, entrepreneurs, managers and coopetitors.

Ikujiro Nonaka’s A Dynamic Theory of Organisational Knowledge Creation outlines the creation of organisational knowledge through the constant conversion of the two types of knowledge, tacit and explicit, which Nonaka believes has the potential to guide managers’ knowledge creation strategies. This argument is centred on the conviction that companies are not passive parties that simply utilise existing knowledge for providing solutions to the customers, and that organisations and environments simultaneously influence knowledge creation. This text is considered fundamental for the knowledge management field and as such, it has been utilised by a large number of academics.

This book presents the latest management ideas in knowledge creation and management in readable and non-technical chapters. Leading experts have contributed chapters in their fields of expertise. Each distils his or her subject in a chapter that is accessible to managers who want to learn what can be applied to their organizations without the distracting details of research methodology. Each chapter, however, is based on careful research. The book is organized so that readers can easily find chapters of most interest and value to them. The emphasis is on the practical applications of knowledge to a wide variety of organizations and functional areas.

Contemporary capitalistic systems have been undergoing profound transformations determined by the transition towards the so-called knowledge based economy, i.e. a competitive system based on the capabilities firms have to create, use and circulate knowledge. These transformations concern both the characteristics of productive and innovative processes, and the resources used in these activities. This book captures these changes, where traditional R&D investments undertaken internally by firms are increasingly and strategically complemented by external sources of innovation and new knowledge. Collaborations between firms, and between firms and other organizations, as well as the mobility of human capital, are strategic processes in order to share and circulate knowledge and competencies. They are also key determinants in the creation of new knowledge and innovation, and ultimately in growth dynamics. The circulation and distribution of knowledge is now a key input in the production of knowledge. Knowledge and innovation are understood as the result of collective and interactive processes at the system level, and less at the micro level. In other words, new knowledge production is less and less the result of individualistic behaviours of the firms and much more the effect of explicit and pro-active interactions and transactions put in place by local networks of innovators. In this perspective, economic space is much more defined by the quality of the interactions among actors rather than by their mere technological, sectoral or geographical proximity. This book brings together new conceptual and empirical contributions and blends the analysis of the technological and geographical spaces in which innovation and knowledge are produced.

Knowledge and information are the two most powerful competitive weapons of this era. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is money. Stock markets regularly value companies at five or ten times the book value of their physical assets solely because of their intellectual capital. This book shows how the increased importance of effective knowledge management gives rise to a new set of business principles and practices that must be adopted in order to achieve competitive advantage.