Managing Flow: A Process Theory of the Knowledge-Based Firm

Managing Flow is a classic and influential text from the revered Professor Ikujiro Nonaka. It was published at a time when there was a great shift towards a knowledge-based economy which has only intensified in recent years, where knowledge is the most important resource, superseding the traditional resources of the land, capital and labour. The book presents the latest developments in knowledge creation and management theory by the leading scholar in the field, expanding on and enriching existing knowledge-based theory. It also presents process theory through 10 case studies of successful global Japanese firms, such as Eisai, Canon, Honda and Toyota. The book provides a framework for a dynamic model of a knowledge-creation organization and demonstrates the conditions and abilities of knowledge-creating leadership. It explores knowledge management as a global concept and is relevant to any company that wants to prosper and thrive in the global knowledge economy. Managing Flow has changed the prevailing view of knowledge management as a branch within IT to an enabler of in-depth learning, advocating for the cultivation and deliberate harnessing of tacit knowledge.