The Tacit Knowledge Problem in Multinational Corporations: Japanese and US Offshore Knowledge Incubators

This paper examines the ‘cognitive’ and ‘societal’ aspects of the tacit knowledge transfer problem in MNCs. Based on a comparative analysis of the overseas R&D labs of US and Japanese MNCs in the UK, it examines how home-based models of learning influence MNCs’ transnational social spaces for learning and their capabilities to address the tacit knowing problem. It illustrates how the US professional ‘networks of practice’ (NoP) and the Japanese organizational ‘communities of practice’ (CoP) approaches to transnational learning unfold in practice. It also examines how divergence between home and host country institutions governing knowledge production inhibits cross-societal tacit knowing.comparative thinking; tacit knowledge; knowledge transfer in MNCs; innovation and R&D; organizational learning; communities of practice

Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Organisational Contexts: A Motivation-Based Perspective

This paper develops a motivation-based perspective to explore how organisations resolve the social dilemma of knowledge sharing, and the ways in which different motivational mechanisms interact to foster knowledge sharing and creation in different organisational contexts. The core assumption is that the willingness of organisational members to engage in knowledge sharing can be viewed on a continuum from purely opportunistic behaviour regulated by extrinsic incentives to an apparently altruistic stance fostered by social norms and group identity. The analysis builds on a three-category taxonomy of motivation: adding ‘hedonic’ motivation to the traditional dichotomy of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Based on an analysis of empirical case studies in the literature, we argue that the interaction and mix of the three different motivators play a key role in regulating and translating potential into actual behaviour, and they underline the complex dynamics of knowledge sharing and creation in different organisational contexts

The Learning Organisation and National Systems of Competence Building and Innovation

This paper is based on a hypothesis that we have entered a specific phase of economic development, which we refer to as the 'learning economy', where knowledge and learning have become more important than in any earlier historical period. In this new context the learning capability of firms located in the domestic economy becomes a major concern for national governments and, at the same time, the national infrastructure supporting knowledge creation, diffusion and use becomes a concern for management and employees. To get the two to match and support each other becomes a prerequisite for economic success for firms as well as for the national economy. One of the main objectives of this paper is to demonstrate that societal institutions, which may exist at the national or regional levels, shape the types of organisational learning predominating at the level of the firm. The paper develops the concept of a 'national system of competence building and innovation' by linking national specificities in the formation of skills and labour market dynamics to the micro-level processes of knowledge creation and learning within and between firms. It uses the examples of Japan, Denmark and the high-technology clusters in the US and UK to illustrate the logic of institutionalised variation in patterns of learning and innovation. The paper argues that tacit knowledge, which is difficult to create and transfer in the absence of social interaction and labour mobility, constitutes a most important source of learning and sustainable competitive advantage. Learning builds on trust and social capital. Institutions that are able to imbue these elements into firms and markets encourage interactive learning and are more likely to produce strong innovative capabilities.learning organisations; learning economy; knowledge creation; national innovation systems; institutions; tacit knowledge, competence building

Boundary-crossing careers and the 'third space of hybridity':Career actors as knowledge brokers between creative arts and academia

This article examines how boundary-crossing careers influence creative knowledge combination by looking at a group of creative artists whose careers straddle professional arts and academia. Whereas previous research has treated individuals as vehicles for knowledge transmission across intertwined networks, this study emphasizes their active role as knowledge brokers. It examines how work role transitions trigger a dynamic interplay between actors and contexts, and brings about changes in the cognitive frames of individuals and their propensity to connect knowledge across contexts. The study employs Bhabha’s concept of the ‘third space of hybridity’ to denote the agency space where career actors construct hybrid role identities and engage in knowledge brokering. The analysis identifies two categories of hybrid with different boundary-crossing careers and shows how work role transitions influence the topology of the third space where knowledge brokering occurs. The ‘artist-academics’ whose careers span art and academia concurrently experience recurrent micro-role transitions. They are ‘organic’ hybrids operating at the ‘overlapping space’ where knowledge translation and integration occur naturally in everyday work. They are ‘embedded’ knowledge brokers. The ‘artists-in-academia’, who cross over from the art world to academia, experience more permanent macro-role transitions. They are ‘intentional hybrids’ who make conscious efforts to bridge two discrete work domains by creating a separate ‘transitional space’. Their knowledge brokering activities are instrumental in transforming both their own knowledge and that of their work context: they are transformative knowledge brokers. The study advances our understanding of career mobility as a mechanism that facilitates creative knowledge combination by highlighting actor agency and the underlying cognitive-behavioural mechanisms. </jats:p

Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Organisational Contexts: A Motivation-Based Perspective

This paper develops a motivation-based perspective to explore how organisations resolve the social dilemma of knowledge sharing, and the ways in which different motivational mechanisms interact to foster knowledge sharing and creation in different organisational contexts. The core assumption is that the willingness of organisational members to engage in knowledge sharing can be viewed on a continuum from purely opportunistic behaviour regulated by extrinsic incentives to an apparently altruistic stance fostered by social norms and group identity. The analysis builds on a three-category taxonomy of motivation: adding ‘hedonic’ motivation to the traditional dichotomy of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Based on an analysis of empirical case studies in the literature, we argue that the interaction and mix of the three different motivators play a key role in regulating and translating potential into actual behaviour, and they underline the complex dynamics of knowledge sharing and creation in different organisational contexts.Knowledge sharing; tacit knowledge; motivation; incentives; organizational learning; human resource practices

Tacit knowledge, embedded agency and learning: local nodes and global networks

Tacit knowledge, embedded agency and learning: local nodes and global network

Equal employment opportunities for Japanese women: changing company practice

The central aim of this thesis is to examine the extent to which the growing pressures for equal opportunity between the sexes has forced Japanese companies to adapt and modify their employment and personnel management practices in recent years. It analyses the major social and economic factors prompting Japanese companies to adopt more open employment policies towards women since the mid-1970s and the change programmes introduced by management. The thesis especially looks at how companies have reacted to the 1985 Equal Employment Opportunity Law and in the light of this considers how far the present legislation will bring about fundamental changes in the Japanese employment system towards more egalitarian treatment of women workers. A detailed case study was conducted at Seibu Department Stores Ltd., both before and after the introduction of the EEO Law, as a critical test of the possibility of introducing equal opportunities for women in a large Japanese company. Seibu was chosen because it is a big employer of women and is a company operating in an industry which has strong economic and- commercial incentives to offer women better career opportunities. All the more important, Seibu is regarded as a 'leading edge' company in personnel management reforms. The study reveals that despite many economic and social reasons that were in favour of change towards greater sexual equality in Seibu, and especially after the introduction of the EEO Law, change towards more egalitarian treatment of women has been very limited. This study illustrates the depth of the resistance to change in the core employment practices in large Japanese companies. The present EEO Law has little potential for undermining the structural mechanisms which perpetúate sexual job segregation in the employment system. The final part of the thesis speculates on the future prospects of introducing equal opportunities for women in Japanese companies. In the light of the present socio-legal constraints, the author puts forward a number of practical policy suggestions for engendering more pervasive long-term changes towards equal employment for Japanese women

Law and equal employment opportunities for women: the Japanese experience

"For many years Japanese companies built their high performance upon an employment system which excluded the majority of women from key jobs. Since the early 1980s Japan has come under increasing pressure from the international community to improve the position and status of women workers in compliance with the standards of gender equality accepted by other advanced countries. In May 1985, the Japanese government passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (hereafter refered to as EEO Law) which took effect from April 1986. It prohibits discrimination against women in vocational training, fringe benefits, retirement and dismissal. It also urges employers to 'endeavour' to treat women equally with men with regard to recruitment, job assignment and promotion. This paper analyses the nature of the EEO Law and looks at its effects on companies' personnel policies and women's career attitudes. The main conclusions are that the EEO Law has not had the desired effect. Japanese companies' continued attachment to the 'traditional' employment practices and their desire to protect the stability of the established maledominated internal labour markets constitute the major obstacle for change." (author's abstract)"Seit Jahren gründet die Leistungsstärke japanischer Unternehmen auf einem Beschäftigungssystem, das die Mehrzahl der Frauen von den zentralen Berufspositionen ausschließt. Seit den frühen 80er Jahren gerät Japan unter zunehmenden internationalen Druck, die Stellung und den Status weiblicher Arbeitskräfte an den in anderen Industrienationen geltenden Gleichberechtigungs-Standard anzugleichen. Im Mai 1985 legte die japanische Regierung das Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEO Law) vor, das seit April 1986 in Kraft ist. Es verbietet die Diskriminierung von Frauen in der beruflichen Bildung, bei den Zusatzleistungen, beim Übertritt in den Ruhestand und bei Kündigungen. Ferner drängt es die Arbeitgeber, sich um eine Gleichbehandlung von Frauen und Männern bei der Rekrutierung, der Arbeitsplatzzuweisung und der Beförderung "zu bemühen". Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird das EEO Law analysiert, und es werden seine Auswirkungen auf die Personalpolitik der Unternehmen sowie auf die Karriereorientierungen der Frauen beleuchtet. Die wichtigsten Folgerungen sind, daß das EEO Law nicht die gewünschten Auswirkungen hatte. Japanische Unternehmen verblieben in den eingefahrenen Bahnen "traditioneller" Beschäftigungspraktiken, und ihr Wunsch, die Stabilität der bestehenden männlich-dominierten internen Arbeitsmärkte zu schützen, bildet das Haupthindernis für den Wandel." (Autorenreferat