Successful corporate strategies, says this leading professor of management, depend upon dynamic marshaling of a firm's "invisible assets"--information-based resources such as technological know-how, the visibility of a brand name, or knowledge of a customer base--as well as tangible assets such as people, goods, and money. Hiroyuki Itami emphasizes the ways strategy must fit the firm's external environment (customers, competitors, and ever-changing technology) and also the importance of internal fit within the organization. He uses invisible assets as a single organizing concept to discuss the appropriateness of strategy in each area.Strategy, Itami insists, must be adapted to rapidly changing conditions and must sometimes be prepared in advance of expected change. The most powerful strategy may often intentionally create imbalance in the short run in order to accumulate invisible assets and energize the organization. Itami examines successful strategies of Japanese firms, which have always operated in an environment of uncertainty and all-pervasive change. Sony and Honda are not the only examples, however--Itami also discusses IBM, Volkswagen, and the Swiss watch industry. The range of examples gives the book wide applicability and appeal to American business executives, who are now facing a similar situation of rapid change.The clarity and sound construction of Itami's argument will make it useful not only to MBAs and theorists of international business and comparative management, but also to "real world" planners and managers who are currently coping with just the sort of situations Itami describes.
"The main scope of the book is to highlight the importance of intangible resources in business management, evidenced in their measurement and financial valuation, and the need for a strategic analysis that enables them to be identified and then assessed"--Provided by publisher.
Knowledge management (KM) has become an evolving discipline since the early 1990s, when organizations started perceiving knowledge as a valuable resource. This field of research has its origin in many disciplines, such as: information and IT management, computer science, enterprise management, organization science, human resource management and even philosophy, offering many potential research perspectives and approaches. For more than three decades, organizations of various types have been undertaking efforts to apply knowledge management, in order to benefit from a competitive advantage. Researchers and practitioners from diversified industries, and with different backgrounds, have tried to answer the question how to successfully manage knowledge, knowledge work and knowledge workers, still leaving much space for further research avenues Now, after all those years of research, some old questions have still not been answered and some new ones have arisen. During the pre-conference workshop on “The future of KM: short-time goals and long-term vision”, organized in Barcelona before the European Conference on Knowledge Management 2017 and conducted by myself and my colleague, Dr Sandra Moffett from Ulster University (UK), we asked the participants what their idea of the future of KM was. We could observe many different voices and approaches: some very pessimistic that KM is probably coming to an end, but mostly very promising that there are still many unexplored aspects of KM we should focus on and there is still a plethora of issues related to knowledge management that should be examined. Similar voices can be detected in the flagship article written by Meliha Handzic, who claims that KM definitely has a future, although it may not be without some challenges and obstacles to overcome. This paper links the past (three evolutionary stages of KM called fragmentation, integration and fusion) with the future of KM (three new trends named extension, specialization and reconceptualization). The author also suggests that KM should embrace different approaches under the “KM Conceptual Umbrella”, highlighting the possibility of addressing many themes, ideas or tools linked with knowledge. All the past and future evolutionary stages of KM are described in detail, together with the challenges that the KM field might face in the future. In the second paper, by Philip Sisson and Julie J. C. H. Ryan, the authors present a mental model of knowledge as a concept map being an input to KM research. The authors used qualitative methods, together with system engineering and object analysis methods, to collect various concepts and relate them. The issue of knowledge is elementary in knowledge management and showing the links between particular knowledge terms is of very high value to all KM researchers. Although the length of this article may constitute a challenge, it is definitely worth the effort as it illustrates many multifaceted, multilayered and multidimensional aspects of knowledge. The third paper by Karl Joachim Breunig and Hanno Roberts discusses another valid issue of value creation in the context of knowledge flow. The authors try to answer the question: How can we express knowledge in such a way that it can be monetized and made accessible to specific managerial interventions? Building on the previous extant studies and authors’ ideas, the paper points out that boundary spanners play a focal role in the monetization efforts of knowledge. In the fourth paper by Regina Lenart-Gansiniec one can read about crowdsourcing and the virtual knowledge sharing taking place in this process. The phenomenon of crowdsourcing is still under-researched and not much is known about the virtual exchange of knowledge in crowdsourcing and its benefits, such as co-creation, participation or gaining new ideas, and potential sources of innovations. Apart from the examination of the potential benefits of virtual knowledge sharing, the author also analyses ways of measuring virtual knowledge sharing in the process of crowdsourcing. The fifth paper by Kaja Prystupa concerns knowledge management processes in small entities and the role played by organizational culture. As the aim of this paper, the author set the examination of organizational culture in small Polish companies with the application of a symbiotic-interpretive perspective. Interesting outcomes of this study are: the confirmed role of organizational culture in KM initiatives, the importance of the founder and the industry, and the threat posed by organizational growth, which should be well-managed from the perspective of organizational culture so as not to hinder organizational performance. The sixth and the final paper, by David Mendes, Jorge Gomes and Mário Romão, deals with ways of creating intangible value through the use of a corporate employee portal. The authors undertake the effort to explain how such a portal fosters the creation of organizational values built on intangible assets. As the research confirms, an employee portal can be considered as a strategic tool for promoting organizational culture and cooperation, through information and communication fluxes and through the teamwork of collaborative functionalities. This issue of JEMI integrates contributions from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United States, Norway, Poland and Portugal. I would like to express my gratitude to all the authors who contributed to this special issue, proving that knowledge management is still a valid topic, and offering abundant research opportunities. I would also like to express my sincerest thanks to the anonymous reviewers who contributed highly to the selection of the best submissions for this issue and guided the authors to further improvements in their works. Finally, I would like to pay special thanks to Dr Anna Ujwary-Gil, Editor-in-Chief of JEMI, for her kind invitation to prepare this special issue and her continual support at each stage of its preparation. I do hope that the readers of JEMI find the selected papers valuable and that they enrich their knowledge on KM issues. Additionally, I do believe that the collected works will be inspiring and offer some future directions for the examination of the knowledge management field. Dr. Małgorzata Zięba Guest Editor, JEMI Assistant Professor, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Since the start of the recent financial crisis, as most global firms struggle to remain competitive, an increasing number of Korean and Japanese firms have experienced an amazing rate of growth and expansion. Although academic researchers and business leaders in the United States, China, Brazil, India, and Europe seek out the secrets to these busin
Comments by global thought leaders on Business of Staffing: A Talent Agenda: "Your section on how HR needs to change in a digital context is spot on with those twenty points" (M. S. Krishnan, Associate Dean, Global Initiatives, Accenture Professor of Computer Information Systems, Professor of Technology and Operations, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan). "Ganesh Shermon has really nailed it. He really knows this area well. Well worth reading for anyone interested in this field" (Mark Smith, National Industry Leader, Financial services, KPMG LLP; earlier Global Head of People & Change Practice). "A must-read for today's HR professionals as they seek to learn evidence-based practices as they transform their talent management performance" (Laura Croucher, Americas leader, KPMG HR, Transformation Centre of Excellence).
Robert M. Grant combines a highly accessible writing style with a concentration on the fundamentals of value creation and an emphasis on practicality in this leading strategy text. In this new edition several topics have increased emphasis including: platform-based competition and 'ecosystems' of related industries; the role of strategy making processes/practices; mergers, acquisitions and alliances; and additional emphasis on strategy implementation.
A strategy text on value creation with case studies The ninth edition of Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases focuses on the fundamentals of value creation with an emphasis on practicality. Topics in this edition include: platform-based competition and ecosystems of related industries; the role of strategy making processes; mergers, acquisitions and alliances; and strategy implementation. Within the twenty case studies, students will find leading companies that are familiar to them. This strategy analysis text is suitable for MBA and advanced undergraduate students.
This book is about strategic performance management for the Twenty-First Century organization. In a practical step-by-step approach it navigates readers though the identification, measurement, and management of the strategic value drivers as enables of superior performance. Using many real life case examples this book outlines how organizations can visualize their value creation, design relevant and meaningful performance indicators to assess performance, and then use them to extract real management insights and improve everyday strategic decision making as well as organizational learning. A key focus of the book is the important issue of creating value from intangible assets. Much has been written about the importance of intangible assets such as knowledge, skills, relationships, culture, practices, routines, and intellectual property as levers for organisational success. However, little has been published that tells managers how to do that. This book moves beyond just raising awareness and provides practical tools and templates, gathered in many extensive case studies with world-leading organizations. The key issues the book addresses are: • How do we identify the strategic value drives, especially the intangibles, in our organisations? • How do we understand their strategic value using the powerful mapping tools? • How do we then measure the business performance? • How do we use performance indicators to improve decision making and organisational learning? • How do we align performance reviews and risk management with our strategy? Well grounded in theory and packed with case studies from around the world, this book will function as a guide for managers as well as a reference work for students and researchers. The tools described in this book are not only suitable for leading international corporations, but have been designed to be equally appropriate for not-for-profit organizations, central and local government institutions, small and medium sized businesses, and even departments and business units. The ideas, tools, and templates provided allow managers to apply them straight away and transform the way they manage strategic performance at all levels of their organization.
Valuation is a topic that is extensively covered in business degree programs throughout the country. Damodaran's revisions to "Investment Valuation" are an addition to the needs of these programs.
Strategic market planning in technology-intensive businesses is more complex and is less manageable than in most other organizations. The technology-driven business environment is intensely competitive, complex, and dynamic, and planning needs to be done quickly and often. Winning Market Leadership offers a refreshing new approach to strategic market planning in these very demanding technology-intensive markets. It provides a systematic and highly integrated process for evaluating market opportunities and for developing strategies to lead in chosen markets. Its proven, highly practical approach to strategic market planning has allowed leading companies worldwide to: plan faster, focus on cash-flow and profitability, create "living plans" that reflect changing market conditions and competitive dynamics, involve cross-functional teams effectively, and drive to "yes/no" decisions. The book resulted from project-based executive programs developed by the authors for corporate clients such as IBM, Nortel Networks, National Semiconductor, and General Electric. This strategic market planning process has been refined and tested with over a thousand managers and executives in North America, Europe, and Asia. Winning Market Leadership: Is targeted at managers in technology-intensive businesses such as computers, telecommunications, software, biotechnology, semiconductors, instruments, pharmaceuticals, and advanced materials. Focuses on the key issues and tough choices faced by executives in very demanding technology-intensive markets. Outlines a clear 10-step process for building winning market plans, including: identifying opportunities, understanding the competition, managing critical relationships, understanding the profit dynamic, and more. Features examples from high-tech companies such as Intel, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Glaxo Wellcome, and General Electric. Includes "Key Questions for Executives and Managers" at the end of each chapter that help eliminate "blind spots" in the planning process. Winning Market Leadership is relevant to all executives and managers who play a significant role in developing cross-functional strategic market plans for their business: general managers; marketing managers; strategic planners; managers in business development, engineering, and R&D; and project team leaders.
