Knowledge-Driven Work

The daily work experiences of people in almost any part ofthe world are shaped by workplace innovations. This bookprovides a close-up of eight Japanese affiliatedmanufacturing facilities operating in the United States,tracing the flow of ideas from Japan to the US and thebeginnings of a reverse diffusion of innovation back toJapan. Arguing that traditional conceptions of knowledge inthe workplace are incomplete, the author introduces theconcept of "virtual knowledge" to reflect the elusive, yetcritical understandings that are a function of particularcombinations of people. He reveals how some organizationshave anticipated and channeled the virtual knowledge that isconstantly emerging from different groups in theorganization, a process that is part of a much largerprocess of global diffusion from Japan, the US, and othernations to all parts of the world.