The news of the passing of Professor Emeritus Ikujiro Nonaka came as a great shock to the members of the Knowledge Management Society of Japan.

Knowledge Management Society of Japan was built on the research and practice of Professor Emeritus Nonaka regarding knowledge creation by organizations. In this sense, Professor Emeritus Nonaka is the spiritual and theoretical pillar of the society, and without him, the society itself would not exist. Many of the members of our society have been mentored by Professor Emeritus Nonaka in various ways, and we all share the belief that we would not be where we are today without him, regardless of our differences.

For this reason, we are all deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Professor Emeritus Nonaka.

However, it is against Professor Emeritus Nonaka’s will to remain sad forever. We believe that the essence of Nonaka’s theory was to question the way of life of human beings. The question for each of us involved in academic activities is how we want to live our lives. I believe that the best way to repay the kindness of Professor Emeritus Nonaka is for each and every member of the society to think deeply about this fundamental question and to pursue the correct solution to it through research and practice. We shall always keep in mind Professor Emeritus Nonaka’s message, “Unleash the tacit knowledge that resides in our body”.

Chair and Director, Knowledge Management Society of Japan
Professor, IMD
Kazuo Ichijo

About Professor Emeritus Ikujiro Nonaka (as a message of condolence)
 
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Emeritus Ikujiro Nonaka. I often heard Professor Nonaka say that he would work hard until the age of 95, the age at which Drucker passed away, and I also knew that he had plans to publish new books, so I would assume that it must be against his own will. We pray for the repose of Professor Nonaka’s soul.

Following the news of Professor Nonaka’s passing away, there have been so many articles and postings, not only from academia but also from business and politics, not only from Japan but from all over the world, to mourn and remember him. Professor Nonaka had been conducting research on information and knowledge creation since the 1980s, and his book “Knowledge Creating Company”, co-authored with Hirotaka Takeuchi, which has been translated into more than 15 languages and distributed around the world, triggered the “knowledge management” movement. The establishment of the Japan Society for Knowledge Management in 1998 was one of the events that triggered this growing interest in “knowledge management”.

On the other hand, Professor Nonaka often said that his bestseller is “Essence of Failure (Shippai no Honshitsu)”. “Essence of Failure” tends to be stacked flat in bookstores and returns to the Amazon bestseller list whenever Japanese organizations face scandal. Most recently, on January 24, there was an ad in the Nikkei newspaper stating that it had sold over 1 million copies. The ads and comments on the book’s obi change frequently, and it is clear from them that many people, including politicians, have read the book and been influenced by it. On the other hand, Dr. Nonaka has often said that his bestseller is Essence of Failure. Every time a Japanese organization has a scandal, Essence of Failure tends to be stacked flat in bookstores and returns to the Amazon bestseller list. Most recently, in mid-January, there was an ad in the Nikkei newspaper stating that it had sold over 1 million copies. The ads and comments on the book’s obi change frequently, and it is clear from them that many people, including politicians, have read the book and been influenced by it. The “over-adaptation to past successes” that Professor Nonaka pointed out is still the essence of failure in Japanese companies.

There are so many fans of Professor Nonaka around the world, and the reason for this is his extensive activities. For example, Professor Nonaka personally interviewed over 100 companies for the “Essence of Success” series published by the Recruit Works Institute. In addition, Professor Nonaka has created numerous opportunities to learn directly from him, in occasions such as outside director and lecturer at companies, and collaboration with JICA for training with the next generation of Asian leaders and academics. He has also held key positions in several academic societies and universities, including the Japan Society of Organizational Science and Hitotsubashi University. Although being a little bit shy, he was very open to everyone.

Internationally, Professor Nonaka received a high reputation. For example, he was named one of the top 20 most influential business thinkers in the world by the Wall Street Journal in May 2008 and received the Thinkers 50 award in 2013. Professor Nonaka’s colleagues are also distinguished scholars, who are spread around the world. Professor Nonaka thought highly of the two alumni of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, David Teece, who advocated dynamic capability, and Henry Chesbrough, who advocated open innovation, and had often discussed about the research. Even outside of the Knowledge Creation school of thought, there are many scholars who have been influenced by the theory and the concept of “tacit knowledge”, such as Peter Senge’s “Learning Organization” and C. Otto Scharmer’s “Theory U”.

Knowledge creation theory was sometimes referred to as “Nonaka theory” or “Nonaka doctrine. The reason lies in its philosophical thought, which is not found in general economics or business management theories. Professor Nonaka’s ideas are rooted in liberal arts, especially in philosophy (phenomenology), which makes the knowledge creation theory a “life philosophy” or “management philosophy”. As a proof of this, Professor Nonaka always concluded his lectures with the phrase, “Management is a Way of Life”.

When asked why companies and organizations differ, Dr. Nonaka answers, “Because we envision different futures”. He defined knowledge as “a dynamic process of justifying personal beliefs toward truth, goodness, and beauty” which was developed from Plato’s “justified true beliefs.” He also introduced “tacit knowledge” from Polanyi’s “tacit way of knowing” and explained its importance. He also introduced the “SECI Model” that shows the principles of organizational knowledge creation process, defined the concept of ‘ba’ based on the philosophy of Kitaro Nishida and emphasized the importance of “common good” and the “knowledge ecosystem” which connects multiple various “ba.” He also presented the six capabilities of “wise leadership” that drives and promotes the knowledge creation process deriving from Aristotle’s concept of “phronesis (practical knowledge)”. Professor Nonaka has proposed various theories and concepts and clarified the mechanism and process of promoting innovation through knowledge creation that are necessary in today’s world. Others include “Scrum,” “Dynamic Duality (both and),” “Narrative Strategy,” “Middle Up Down,” “Kata,” “Intellectual Athletes,” “Humanizing Strategy,” etc. In the age of AI, we need to focus on human existence, and knowledge creation that places human existence at the center has great value.

I have studied under Professor Ikujiro Nonaka since 2003, earning a MBA and DBA on the theme of knowledge creation theory and social innovation, and have continued to work with him as a co-researcher even after I moved to the College of Business at Rikkyo University in 2016. So, I consider myself as his apprentice. Professor Nonaka loves wine, a Giants fan, and always curious. Whenever I suggested something, he would say, “Okay, let’s do it! I’m energized!” I spent more time with Profesor Nonaka than any other member of my family, and I am still in a complete shock, that I cannot accept the fact that he has passed away. However, I myself am a great fan of “Nonaka Sensei” and an evangelist of the Knowledge Creation Theory, so I must continue to spread and further develop the “Knowledge Creation Theory” that Professor Nonaka advocated, and to repay his kindness in any way that I can.

I am sure that Professor Nonaka has already started his research activities in the other world. I dream that he is already interviewing Churchill and Eisenhower. We in the present must carry on the torch and do what we can at our best.

As I pray for Professor Nonaka and wish for the further development of knowledge creation theory,

Ayano Hirose Nishihara
Director, Knowledge Management Society of Japan
Dean and Associate Professor, College of Business, Rikkyo University