Professor Emeritus Ikujiro Nonaka

On November 3, 2010, an official announcement was made that Hitotsubashi ICS Professor Emeritus Ikujiro Nonaka would be conferred the Zuihōshō, or The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (瑞宝中綬章), for his outstanding achievements, and long-service and contributions in education. The 2010 Fall Conferment of Decorations took place at the Japanese Imperial Palace on November 9.

Professor Nonaka teaches the Knowledge Management course at Hitotsubashi ICS. He is best known for the SECI model, one of the most widely cited theories in knowledge management to present the spiraling knowledge processes of interaction between explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. SECI stands for Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization.

In 2008, the Wall Street Journal listed Professor Nonaka as one of the most influential persons on business thinking.

In addition to being Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi ICS, Professor Nonaka is the First Distinguished Drucker Scholar in Residence at the Drucker School and Institute, Claremont Graduate University. He is also the Xerox Distinguished Faculty Scholar, at the Institute of Management, Innovation and Organization, University of California.

Among his numerous publications are the English book The Knowledge-Creating Company, which he co-authored with previous Hitotsubashi ICS dean Hirotaka Takeuchi. This book is used as the textbook in his course. His recent publications in Japanese include The Essence of Innovation, which he co-authored with A. Katsumi, and Enabling Knowledge Creation which he co-authored with Kazuo Ichijo, current Associate Dean at Hitotsubashi ICS, and G. von Krogh.

The recent conferment adds to Professor Nonaka’s existing long list of academic awards and achievements. To view the entire list, please click here.

Professor Nonaka was first decorated by the Emperor of Japan in 2002 with the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon for his outstanding contributions to the academia, making this year’s award the second such honor bestowed upon him.