Harvard Business Review onKnowledge Management

Luis BarredaD. Sean McBrideDeepika NimJagadish RamamurthyJames Sanford

The Coming of the New Organizationby Peter F. Drucker, January 1988

The Knowledge-Creating Company by Ikujiro Nonaka, December 1991

Building a Learning Organization by David A. Garvin, August 1993

The Coming of the New Organization

Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)Born in Vienna, Austria

Received Doctorate in International Law in Germany

Moved to England then to the United States when Nazis came to power in Germany

Management professor from 1950-2002Author of 39 books

Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush on July 9, 2002

Evolution to Information Based Organizations:Before 1895 – Owner Based

Evolution to Information Based Organizations:1905-1925 – Professional Management

Evolution to Information Based Organizations:1925 – Command and Control

Evolution to Information Based Organizations:Information Based Organization

Information-Based Organization Management Problems

1. Developing rewards, recognition, and career opportunities for specialists:

Generally specialists’ career opportunities lie within the specialty. There are few managementpositions available in I.B. Organizations so they are more likely to go to another company thatneeds their specialization.

2. Creating unified vision in an organization of specialists:

A business needs a view of the whole and a focus on the whole to be shared among a great manyof its professional specialists. It will have to foster the pride and professionalism of its specialists.

Information-Based Organization Management Problems

3. Devising the management structure for an organization of task forces:

The information-based organization will use self governing units that are assigned tasks.This creates a problem of who the business managers will be. Task force leaders?Administrative leaders?Is it an assignment or a position? Does it carry any rank?Might the task force leader eventually replace department heads or vice presidents?

This would give rise to yet another organizational structure.

4. Creating unified vision in an organization of specialists:

The toughest problem. With the removal of many middle management positions, where will topexecutives come from?

Top management jobs will be filled by hiring them from other companies. Management Careers.

Chapter 1 - DiscussionChapter 1 - DiscussionAuthor had foresight

◦Published in January 1988◦Before the Internet Age

What current trends match Drucker’s predictions?◦Dependency on employee self-

discipline◦Teamwork featuring cross-

functionality

Chapter 2 – The Chapter 2 – The Knowledge Creating Knowledge Creating CompanyCompanyBy:Ikujiro Nonaka

Ikujiro NonakaIkujiro Nonaka Xerox Professor of Knowledge at the Haas School of

Business, UC Berkeley

Professor at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo

With co-author Hirotaka Takeuchi, Professor Nonaka wrote The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation (Oxford: 1995), which was awarded the "Best Book of the Year in Business and Management" by the Association of American Publishers Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division

KnowledgeKnowledge

Western Misconception of Western Misconception of KnowledgeKnowledge

Japanese Understanding of Japanese Understanding of KnowledgeKnowledge

Knowledge RevisitedKnowledge Revisited

The Knowledge SpiralThe Knowledge Spiral

Source: http://www.psicopolis.com

The Bread Maker ExampleThe Bread Maker Example

Figurative Language and Figurative Language and SymbolismSymbolism

Types of Figurative Types of Figurative LanguageLanguage

Real World Example for a Real World Example for a Metaphor -- HondaMetaphor -- Honda

Let’s Gamble

Theory of

Automobile

Evolution

Man-maximum, Machine-minimum

Tall Boy

The “Tall Boy” – Honda City The “Tall Boy” – Honda City 19811981

Real World Example for a Real World Example for a Analogy-- CanonAnalogy-- Canon

Application of the Concept of Application of the Concept of Model Model The quality standards for the

bread at the Osaka International Hotel lead Matsushita develop the right product specs for its home bread maker

The image of a sphere lead Honda to its “Tall Boy” product concept

The “HOW” of the The “HOW” of the Knowledge-Creating Knowledge-Creating CompanyCompany

Building RedundancyBuilding Redundancy

Organizational RolesOrganizational Roles

Umbrella ConceptsUmbrella ConceptsGrand concepts that identify the

common features linking seemingly disparate activities or businesses into a coherent whole

SHARP –  dedication to optoelectronics

NEC –  categorization of the company’s knowledge-base into C&C   (“computers & communication”)

KAO –  “surface active science”, referring to techniques for coating the surface area of materials.

Qualitative Criteria for Qualitative Criteria for JustificationJustificationDoes the idea embody the

company’s vision? Is it an expression of top

management’s aspirations and strategic goals?

Does it have potential to build the company’s organizational knowledge network?  

Chapter 2 - DiscussionChapter 2 - DiscussionKeys: creativity, subjectivity

◦Employees’ knowledge as unquantifiable asset

◦People at the center of learning, growth

Is this concept foreign to the West?◦Some Western companies suggest not◦How important are the numbers?

Building a Learning Building a Learning OrganizationOrganizationBy

David A. Garvin

David A. GarvinDavid A. Garvin Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard

Business School. He joined the Business School faculty in 1979 and has since then taught courses in leadership, general management, and operations in the MBA and Advanced Management programs

He is especially interested in organizational learning, business and management processes, and the design and leadership of large, complex organizations

What Is a Learning What Is a Learning Organization?Organization?

A learning organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.

Critical IssuesCritical Issues

Measuring LearningMeasuring Learning

Building BlocksBuilding Blocks

Xerox’s Problem-Solving Xerox’s Problem-Solving ProcessProcess

Organizational Learning Organizational Learning StagesStages

First StepsFirst Steps

Stages of KnowledgeStages of Knowledge

Chapter 3 - DiscussionChapter 3 - DiscussionSharply contrasts with Nonaka’s

position◦Nonaka: greatest value is immeasurable◦Garvin: value must be measurable to count◦Which position holds truer? Is culture

relevant?

What gives learning companies success?◦Attention to Garvin’s 5 points?◦Or employees’ creative knowledge?

Harvard Business Review onKnowledge Management

Luis BarredaD. Sean McBrideDeepika NimJagadish RamamurthyJames Sanford