Description

The daily work experiences of people in almost any part of the world are shaped by workplace innovations. This book provides a close-up of eight Japanese affiliated manufacturing facilities operating in the United States, tracing the flow of ideas from Japan to the US and the beginnings of a reverse diffusion of innovation back to Japan. Arguing that traditional conceptions of knowledge in the workplace are incomplete, the author introduces the concept of "virtual knowledge" to reflect the elusive, yet critical understandings that are a function of particular combinations of people. He reveals how some organizations have anticipated and channeled the virtual knowledge that is constantly emerging from different groups in the organization, a process that is part of a much larger process of global diffusion from Japan, the US, and other nations to all parts of the world.

Reviews

"A phantasmagoric mixture of wit and witness."--Edward Rothstein, The New York Times

"Thomas makes labor come to life. An amazingly varied collection of poems, snippets of novels, newspaper articles, diaries, socialist denunciations and capitalist celebrations, from the farmers of ancient Greek times to modern office workers."--Richard Sennett, The Los Angeles Times Book Review

"An instant classic.... There's genuine wisdom and thoughtfulness on all of these pages about nothing less than our roles and responsibilities as human beings living in societies."--Forbes

"Offers some unique insights into the cross-cultural diffusion of work practices with key implications regarding such issues as the connection between work and learning, knowledge generation, the value of increasing the relationships among power, trust, and influence, and remaining challenges and dilemmas in managing work around the globe in the next century."--Choice

Product Details

208 pages; 2 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-511454-6ISBN10: 0-19-511454-X