Susan J. Bigelow is a writer and editor based in Tokyo, Japan. Her research is in communications theory and comparative philosophy concerning aesthetics and technology.Ayano Hirose is Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsbashi University, Tokyo, Japan. Her research is in the field of organizational knowledge creation, management, and leadership in private and public organizations, and knowledge-based innovation that co-create values in the social ecosystem.Florian Kohlbacher is Associate Professor of marketing in the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China. Before joining IBSS, he was a senior research fellow and head of the Business & Economics Section at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo, Japan, where he has lived for 11 years. His professional experience covers both industry and academia in the field of marketing and knowledge-based management.

"Nonaka and his co-authors must be congratulated on developing an understanding of this ephemeral concept of knowledge, and on widening it out beyond business objectives to general wellbeing." - Gordon Harris, Professional Manager

• Introduction Characteristics of Knowledge The Theoretical Framework Vision and Driving Objectives: Values for the Common Good Eisai Honda Implications Ba Mayekawa Manufacturing Co., Ltd Kumon Implications Dialogue and Practice: Leveraging Organizational Dialects Seven-Eleven Japan Muji Implications Dynamic Knowledge Assets in Process YKK JFE: Synthesizing Experience Implications Leadership: Fostering Distributed Excellence in the Organization Canon Toyota Prius Implications Conclusions