Ikujiro Nonaka

Ikujiro NONAKA
Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi University

Employment

2012- University Professor, Waseda University
2007-2013 First Distinguished Drucker Scholar in Residence at the Drucker School and Institute, Claremont Graduate University
2006- Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University
2006- Visiting Professor, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy
2000-2006 Professor, Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy
2001- Xerox Distinguished Faculty Scholar, IMIO, University of California, Berkeley
1997-2001 Xerox Distinguished Professor in Knowledge, Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
1997-2000 Dean, the Graduate School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
1997-1998 Professor, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University
1995-1997 Director, Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University
1991-1995 Director of Research, National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, Japan
1982-1997 Professor, Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University
1979-1982 Professor, Department of Social Sciences, National Defense Academy, Japan
1977-1979 Professor, Department of Business Administration, Nanzan University, Japan
1958-1970 Corporate Staff, Fuji Electric Co.

Dissertation

“Organization and Market: Exploratory Study of Centralization vs. Decentralization,” Graduate School of Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley, Fall 1972

Education

1972 Ph.D. in Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley
1968 M.B.A., University of California, Berkeley
1958 B.S. (Political Science), Waseda University

Publications

Books

  • Zen-in Keiei, with A. Katsumi, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan-sha, 2015, (in Japanese).
  • Phronesis and Quiddity in Management: A School of Knowledge Approach, Kimio Kase, César González Cantón, Ikujiro Nonaka , Palgrave Macmillan , 2014.
  • The Essence of Nation Management, with co-authors, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan-sha, 2014, (in Japanese).
  • Social Innovation, with A. Hirose and T. Hirata, Tokyo: Chikura Shobo, 2014, (in Japanese).
  • The Essence of Great Judgements, with S. Ogino, Tokyo: Diamond-sha, 2014, (in Japanese).
  • Business Model Innovation, with K. Tokuoka, Tokyo: Toyokeizaishimpo-sha, 2012, (in Japanese).
  • The Grammar of Knowledge Creating Management for Prudent Capitalism, with N. Konno, Tokyo: Toyokeizaishimpo-sha, 2012, (in Japanese).
  • The Practical Wisdom of Innovation, with A.Katsumi, Tokyo: Nikkei BP, 2010, (in Japanese).
  • Managing Flow: The Dynamic Theory of the Knowledge-based Firm, with co-authors, Toyokeizaishimpo-sha, 2010, (in Japanese).
  • Managing Flow: A Process Theory of the Knowledge-based Firm, Ikujiro Nonaka, Ryoko Toyama, Toru Hirata, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
  • Virtuous-Based Management, with N. Konno, NTT Shuppan, 2007, (in Japanese).
  • The Art of Innovation, with A. Katsumi, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan-sha, 2007, (in Japanese).
  • The Essence of Strategy, with co-authors, Tokyo: Nikkei BP, 2005, (in Japanese).
  • The Essence of Innovation, with A. Katsumi, Tokyo: Nikkei BP, 2004, (in Japanese).
  • Methodology of Knowledge Creation, with N. Konno, Tokyo: Toyokeizaishimpo-sha, 2003, (in Japanese).
  • Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management, with co-authors, John Wiley (Asia), 2003.
  • Knowledge Emergence: Social, Technical, and Evolutionary Dimensions of Knowledge Creation: Social, Technical and Evolutionary Dimensions of Knowledge Creation, Ikujiro Nonaka and Toshihiro Nishiguchi, Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • Managing Industrial Knowledge: Creation, Transfer and Utilization, I Nonaka, DJ Teece, SAGE Publications Ltd, 2001.
  • Knowledge Creation: A Source of Value, G Von Krogh, I Nonaka, T Nishiguchi, London: Macmillan, 2000.
  • Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation, Ikujiro Nonaka, Kazuo Ichijo Georg von Krogh, Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • Handbook of Organizational Learning & Knowledge, with M. Diekes, A.B. Anthal and J. Child eds, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • The Light and the Shadow: How Breakthrough Innovation is Shaping European Business, with O. Kalthoff and P. Nueno, Roland Berger Foundation, 1997.
  • Relentless: The Japanese Way of Marketing, with J.K. Johansson, New York: Harper Business, 1996.
  • The Knowledge-Creating Company, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, Oxford University Press, 1995.
  • Intellectualizing Capability, with N. Konno, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1995, (in Japanese).
  • U.S. Marine Corp: Self-Innovation of Non-profit Organization, Tokyo: Chuuo Kouron Shinsha, 1995, (in Japanese).
  • Management for Knowledge Creation, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1990, (in Japanese).
  • An Evolutionary Theory of the Firm, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1985, (in Japanese).
  • Strategic vs. Evolutionary Management: A U.S.-Japan Comparison of Strategy and Organization, with T. Kagono, K. Sakakibara and A. Okumura, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1985.
  • 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).
  • A Comparison of U.S. vs. Japanese Management, with T. Kagono, K. Sakakibara and A. Okumura, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, 1983, (in Japanese).
  • Organization and Market: A Contingency Theory, Tokyo: Chikura Shobo, 1974, (in Japanese).

Articles /Book Chapters

  • Strategy as a Way of Life, Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi, MIT Sloan Management Review, Volume 63, Issue 1, 2021.
  • Humanizing strategy, Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi, Long Range Planning, Volume 54, Issue 4, 2021.
  • Maneuvering Knowledge: A study of U.S. Marine Corps, Ikujiro Nonaka, Kota Uno, Kindai Management Review, Vol.9, 2020.
  • ’Meso’-Foundations of Dynamic Capabilities: Team‐Level Synthesis and Distributed Leadership as the Source of Dynamic Creativity, with A. Hirose and Y. Takeda, Global Strategy Journal, 6(3), 168-182, 2016.
  • Practical Strategy as Co-Creating Collective Narrative: A Perspective of Organizational Knowledge Creating Theory, Nonaka, I. & Hirose, A., Kindai Management Review, Vol. 3, 2015.
  • Dynamic fractal organizations for promoting knowledge-based transformation – A new paradigm for organizational theory, Nonaka, I., Kodama, M., Hirose, A., & Kohlbacher, F., European Managemenr Journal (2014) 32, 137-146, 2014.
  • Scenario Planning: The Basics, Konno, N., Nonaka, I., & Ogilvy, J., World Futures, 70(1), 28-43., 2014.
  • Wisdom, Management and Organization, Nonaka, I., Chia, R., Holt, R., & Peltokorpi, V., Management Learning, 45(4), 365-376, 2014.
  • The Wise Leader, Nonaka, I., Takeuchi, H., Harvard Business Review, 89, no. 5, 2011.
  • The Distributed and Dynamic Dimensions of Human Capital, Nonaka, I., Toyama, R., & Peltokorpi, V., in Alan Burton-Jones, J.-C. Spender (eds), Oxford Handbook of Human Capital, 459-476., 20112011.
  • Tacit Knowledge and Knowledge Conversion: Controversy and Advancement in Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory, Nonaka I., von Krogh, G., Organization Science Vol. 20, No. 3, May–June 2009, 2009.
  • Knowledge-based View of Radical Innovation: Toyota Prius Case, with V. Peltokorpi, in J. T. Hage and M. Meenus (eds.), Innovation, Science, and Institutional Change, p. 88-104, 2009.
  • Strategic Management as Distributed Practical Wisdom (Phronesis), Ikujiro Nonaka and Ryoko Toyama, Industrial and Corporate Change (2007) 16 (3): 371-394, 2007.
  • Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory: Evolutionary Paths and Future Advances, I Nonaka, G Von Krogh, S Voelpel , Organization Studies August 2006 vol. 27 no. 8 1179-1208, 2006.
  • Visionary Knowledge Management: The Case of Eisai Transformation, with V. Peltokorpi, International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 3 (2), 2006.
  • The Theory of The Knowledge-Creating Firm: Subjectivity, Objectivity and Synthesis, Ikujiro Nonaka and Ryoko Toyama, Industrial and Corporate Change (June 2005) 14 (3): 419-436 , 2005.
  • Managing Organizational Knowledge: Theoretical and Methodological Foundations, in K.G. Smith and M.A. Hitt (eds.) Great Minds in Management, New York: Oxford University, 2005.
  • Strategic knowledge creation: the case of Hamamatsu Photonics, Ikujiro Nonaka, Vesa Peltokorpi, Hisao Tomae, International Journal of Technology Management Volume 30, Issue 3-4 , 2005.
  • The knowledge-creating theory revisited: knowledge creation as a synthesizing process, Ikujiro Nonaka, Ryoko Toyama, Knowledge Management Research & Practice July 2003, Volume 1, Issue 1, pp 2-10, 2003.
  • A firm as a dialectical being: towards a dynamic theory of a firm, Ikujiro Nonaka and Ryoko Toyama, Industrial and Corporate Change (2002) 11 (5): 995-1009., 2002.
  • An Integrated Information Technology System for Knowledge Creation, with P. Reinmoeller and R. Toyama in M. Dierkes, A. Antal, J. Child, and I. Nonaka (eds.), Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation, Ikujiro Nonaka, Ryoko Toyama, Noboru Konno, Long Range Planning　Volume 33, Issue 1, 2000.
  • Integrated IT Systems to Capitalize on Market Knowledge, Ikujiro Nonaka, Patrick Reinmoeller, Dai Senoo, Knowledge Creation pp 89-109, 2000.
  • A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation: Understanding the Dynamic Process of Creating Knowledge, with R. Toyama and P. Byosiere in M. Dierkes, A. Antal, J. Child, and I. Nonaka (eds.), Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • Emergence of ‘Ba’: A Conceptual Framework for Continuous and Self-transcending Process of Knowledge Creation, with N. Konno and R. Toyama in I. Nonaka and T. Nishiguchi (eds.), Knowledge Emergence, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • A firm as a knowledge-creating entity: a new perspective on the theory of the firm, I Nonaka, R Toyama and A Nagata, Industrial and Corporate Change Volume 9, Issue 1, 2000.
  • Knowledge Creation within Industrial Systems, with F. Corno and P. Reinmoeller, Journal of Management and Governance, 3, 379-394, 1999.
  • Organizational Capabilities in Product Development of Japanese Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Analyse, with K. Kusunoki and A. Nagata, Organization Science, 9 (6) 699-718, 1998.
  • The Concept of ‘Ba’: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation, with N. Konno, California Management Review, 40 (3) 1-15, 1998.
  • A Theory of the Firm’s Knowledge-Creation Dynamics, with H. Takeuchi in A.D. Chandler, P. Hagstrom and O. Solvell (eds.), The Dynamic Firm, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Three Tales of Knowledge-Creating Companies, with K. Umemoto and D. Senoo in G. von Krogh, J. Roos, and D. Klein (eds.), Knowing in Firms: Understanding, Managing, and Measuring Knowledge, London: Sage, 1998.
  • The `ART’ of knowledge: Systems to capitalize on market knowledge, Ikujiro Nonaka, Patrick Reinmoeller, Dai Senoo, European Management Journal, Volume 16, Issue 6, 1998.
  • From Information Processing to Knowledge Creation: A Paradigm Shift in Business Management, with K. Umemoto and D. Senoo, Technology in Society, 18 (2) 203-218, 1996.
  • Managing Innovation as an Organizational Knowledge Creation Process, in G. Pogorel (ed.), Technology Strategies in the Nineties: A Tricontinental Handbook, Milan: Franco Angeli, 1995.
  • A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation, Ikujiro Nonaka, Organization Science　Volume 5, Issue 1 , 1994.
  • Beyond Reengineering, Organizational Science, 28 (1) 21-31, 1994, (in Japanese).
  • Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory: A First Comprehensive Test, with P. Byosiere, C.C. Borucki and N. Konno, International Business Review, 3 (4) 337-351, 1994.
  • Models of Knowledge Management in the West and Japan, with G. Hedland in P. Lorange, B. Chakravarthy, J. Roos and A. Van de Van (eds.), Implementing Strategic Processes: Change, Learning and Co-operation, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1993.
  • Intellectual Productivity of Japanese Firm, Organizational Science, 26(4) 56-63, 1993, (in Japanese).
  • A Theory of Interorganizational Knowledge Creation: Case Study of Innovation Process of Japanese Semiconductor Industry, with S. Yonekura, 1992, (in Japanese).
  • Managing Knowledge Creation for the Global Firm: Case Study of Innovation Process of Nissan Corporation, Organizational Science, 25 (4) 2-15, 1992, (in Japanese).
  • Managing the Firm as an Information Creation Process, in J.R. Meindl, R.L. Cardy and S. M. Puffer (eds.), Advances in Information Processing in Organizations, London: JAI Press, 1991.
  • The Knowledge-Creating Company, Harvard Business Review, 1991.
  • A Methodology of Organizational Knowledge Creation, with N. Konno and N. Kawamura, Organizational Science, 24 (1) 2-20, 1990, (in Japanese).
  • Managing Globalization as a Self-renewing Process: Experiences of Japanese MNCs, in C. Bartlett, Y. Doz and G. Hedlund (eds.), Managing the Global Firm, London: Routledge, 1990.
  • Redundant, Overlapping Organization: A Japanese Approach to Managing the Innovation Process, California Management Review, 22 (3) 27-38, 1990.
  • Self-renewal of the Japanese Firm and the Human Resource Strategy, Human Resource Management, Spring, 1988.
  • Creating Organizational Order out of Chaos: Self-renewal in Japanese Firms, 1988, (in Japanese).
  • Toward Middle Up-down Management: Accelerating Information Creation, Sloan Management Review, 29 (3) 9-18, 1988.
  • The New New Product Development Game, with H. Takeuchi, Harvard Business Review, Jan.-Feb. 137-146, 1986.
  • Managing the New Product Development Process: How Japanese Companies Learn and Unlearn, with K. Imai and H. Takeuchi in R.H. Hayes, K.B. Clark and C. Lorenz (eds.), The Uneasy Alliance: Managing the Productivility-Technology Dilemma, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1985.
  • Japanese Management: What about the ‘Hard’ Skills?, with J. Johansson, Academy of Management Review, 10 (2) 181-191, 1985.
  • Marketing Management, Its Environment, and Information Processing: A Problem of Organizational Design, with F.M. Nicosia, Journal of Business Research, 7 (4) 277-300, 1979.

Academic Honors

2016 Received the Innovation Luminary Awards of 2016
2015 Elected as the member of The Japan Academy
2015 Received the Foreign Minister’s Commendations for FY 2015
2014 Received the School Fellow, Graduate School of Strategic Management,Chuo University
2013 Received the Lifetime Achievement Award by Thinkers50.
2013 Received the Honorary Doctor of Laws, Waseda University.
2012 Received the Eminent Scholar Award by Academy of International Business (AIB).
2010 Received the Zuihōshō, or The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck
Ribbon from the Japanese Government
2009 Received the Professor Honoris Causa of HEC Paris.
2007 Eminent Scholar in International Management Award at the annual meeting of Academy of Management.
2002 Received the Purple Ribbon Medal from the Japanese Government
2002 Elected a member of Fellow Group of the Academy of Management in the U.S.
2001 Awarded the Best Book of the Year Award in Business and Management (Association of American Publishers, Inc.) for ‘Enabling Knowledge Creation” (2000)
1999 Elected as Fellow of the International Academy of Management
1998 Received the Honorary Doctor of Economic Sciences degree, Universitat St. Gallen
1999 Received the Doctor Honoris Causa of the Faculty of Economic, Social Sciences, Universite Catholique de Louvain
1996 Awarded the Best Book of the Year Award in Business and Management (Association of American Publishers, Inc.) for ‘The Knowledge-Creating Company” (1995)
1996 Awarded the Best Book Award in Management (Financial Times/B. Allen & Hamilton, Co.) for ‘Intellectualizing Capability” (1995)
1991 Received the NOMA Prize (Nippon Administrative Management Association) for Management for ‘Knowledge Creation” (1990)
1988 Received the Fourth Annual Richard Beckhard Prize (Sloan Management Review) for ‘Toward Middle-Up-Down Management: Accelerating Information Creation” (1988)
1984 Received the Book of the Year Award (The Academic Association of Organizational Science, Japan) for ‘A Comparison of U.S. vs. Japanese Management” (1983) (in Japanese)
1974 Received the Nikkei Award in Economics and Business (Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha) for ‘Organization and Market: A Contingency Theory” (1974) (in Japanese)

Member of Editorial Board/Scientific Committee/Other Membership

2000- Scientific Committee, Industrial and Corporate Change
1997- Scientific Committee, Journal of Management and Governance
1996-2000 President, Academic Association of Organizational Science (in Japan)
1996-2000 Managing Editor, Organizational Science (Japanese journal of the Academic Association of Organizational Science)
1995- Editor, Business Review (Japanese journal of the Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University)
1989-1994 Senior Editor, Organization Science (An international journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Science, U.S.A)