The Japanese Model of Knowledge Management

The effectiveness of Japanese management methodologies is making them increasingly popular with business organisations all over the world. This paper aims to present one of the least known knowledge management theories: the knowledge creation model by I. Nonaka and H. Takeuchi. In their approach to the theory of organisational learning and knowledge creation, Nonaka and Takeuchi propose a categorisation of knowledge into tacit and explicit (formal) knowledge and explore the relationships between knowledge production, transfer and application; they also address the issue of applying existing and creating new knowledge. Presented SECI model captures the conversion of tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge in four steps: Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation. The paper examines case studies that illustrate the practical application of the processes.