Opportunities to improve skills and opportunities to teach or train others may be associated with job satisfaction, work engagement and organizational commitment. The analysis reported in this paper used a subsample of 823 employees within two Japanese and three American worksites. We tested not only the direct relationships of each type of…

This new book presents case studies from the US, the UK and Japan. Packed full of vignettes from cases studies and subscribing to a socio-cultural approach rather than the often tacit assumption that knowledge and "technology transfer" is a logistical problem, this excellent volume illuminates the often misunderstood process of knowledge…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the importance of new employee orientation (NEO) programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a viewpoint of the importance of new employee orientation programs, the quality of typical NEOs, and how to improve NEOs. Findings: Although western…

The author's personal journey regarding simulation and gaming started about 25 years ago when he happened to realize how powerful computerized simulation could be for organizational change. The metaphors created by computerized simulation enabled him to transform a stagnant university into a high-performance organization. Through extensive…

This chapter features a recent conversation with Dr. Arnold J. Love, a long-time proponent of internal evaluation and one of the most cited internal evaluation authors. In 1983, Love edited the first issue of "New Directions for Program Evaluation" on the topic of internal evaluation. He is the author of the book "Internal…

Purpose: While knowledge management has been shown to be a strategic source of competitive advantage, processes designed to enhance the productivity of knowledge do not, however, equally contribute to the organization's capabilities. Consequently, this research aims to focus on the relationship between each mode of the knowledge management process…

Securing the future of the human race will require an improved understanding of the environment as well as of technological solutions, mindsets and behaviors in line with modes of development that the ecosphere of our planet can support. Some experts see the only solution in a global deflation of the currently unsustainable exploitation of…

New product development and commercialization are essential to entrepreneurial growth and international competitiveness. Excellence in this area is strongly supported by individual and organizational learning efforts. By analyzing how Japanese car manufacturer Toyota organizes learning, this paper evaluates the potential of action learning to…

Three models of lifetime employment, a Japanese concept, are the stationary model, the growth model, and the stagnation model. (SK)

Sociologists of knowledge find that academic stratification is present among individual scholars, genders, networks, fields, and all kinds of scientific organizations, while communications scholars have been studying global cultural asymmetry for a long time. Yet few researchers have explored the global dimension of academic stratification. In…

Explains lean instructional systems design/development (ISD) as it relates to curriculum architecture design, based on Japan's lean production system. Discusses performance-based systems; ISD models; processes for organizational training and development; curriculum architecture to support job performance; and modular curriculum development. (LRW)

William Ouchi's Theory Z, a theory that focuses on the identification of both management and labor with the company's goals, emphasizes communication structures and styles. Ringi is a Japanese procedure for decision making in which all levels of management participate. In Ringi, a manager's task is to communicate. In quality control (Q-C) circles,…

A seven-step process can help people from different cultures understand each other's intentions and perceptions so they can work together harmoniously: problem identification, problem clarification, cultural exploration, organizational exploration, conflict resolution, impact assessment, and organizational integration. (JOW)

Many education critics, teachers, and parents have lamented the recent poor achievement scores of Japanese school-age children, and have sought the reasons for the decline. Some critics, including the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, and Science and Technology, blame the practice known as yutori-kyoiku (literally translated as…

A two-year study of creativity in Japanese companies concluded that human resource development policy and education/training can influence corporate creativity through promotion of information movement and selective acquisition of diverse stimuli. (Reactions to Stern's study by Torrance and Johnson are included.) (SK)