Vale Ikujiro Nonaka, celebrated knowledge management pioneer
As reported by Nikkei, celebrated knowledge management pioneer Ikujiro Nonaka passed away on 25 January at his home in Tokyo. He was 89 years old. On behalf of RealKM Cooperative, I extend our thoughts and condolences to his wife and family.
Ikujiro Nonaka graduated from the School of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University in 1958. After working at Fuji Electric Manufacturing, he entered the Graduate School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley in 1967. In 1982, he became a professor at Hitotsubashi University.
Described as the intellectual father of knowledge management and one of its greatest philosophers, Ikujiro Nonaka’s academic achievements are many, having authored numerous books and papers and receiving more than 20 academic honors.
He is best known for his 1994 publication of “A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation” and subsequent work with Hirotaka Takeuchi on the now well-known SECI model, which makes the distinction between explicit and tacit knowledge and proposes their interrelationships.
The SECI model and its diverse applications are discussed in numerous RealKM Magazine articles. Recent research has recommended that knowledge management models need to evolve, which should be expected in any area of professional endeavor if it is to remain as relevant and useful as possible. But there will always be valid applications for the SECI model, and Ikujiro Nonaka will forever be remembered as a knowledge management icon.
Article sources: Vincent Ribiere, Nikkei, Berkeley-Haas, Nonaka Institute of Knowledge, RealKM Magazine.
Header image source: 日本学士院 on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
