Takashi Inaba's Books

Knowledge-Driven Work

Unexpected Lessons from Japanese and United States Work Practices

By: Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld,Michio Nitta,Betty J. Barrett,Nejib Belhedi,Simon Sai-Chung Chow,Takashi Inaba,Iwao Ishino,Wen-Jeng Lin,Michael Moore

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Knowledge-Driven Work

Unexpected Lessons from Japanese and United States Work Practices

By: Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld,Michio Nitta,Betty J. Barrett,Nejib Belhedi,Simon Sai-Chung Chow,Takashi Inaba,Iwao Ishino,Wen-Jeng Lin,Michael Moore

Knowledge-Driven Work is a pioneering study of the cross-cultural iffusion of ideas about the organization of work. These ideas, linked with the knowledge of the workforce, are rapidly becoming the primary source of competitive advantage in the world economy. The book provides an in-depth look at eight Japanese-affiliated manufacturing facilities operating in the United States, combined with examinations of their sister facilities in Japan. The authors offer their insights into the complex process by which elements of work systems in one country interact with those in another. They trace the flow of ideas from Japan to the US and other nations, and the beginnings of a reverse diffusion of innovation back to Japan. The authors organize their findings into six categories: the cross-cultural diffusion of work practices, team-based work systems, kaizen and employee involvement, employment security, human resource management, and labor-management relations. Their study of team-based work systems yields a taxonomy of teams and reveals some conflicts between the desire for self-management and the existence of interdependencies. Investigations into kaizen (ongoing incremental improvement) indicate that its emphasis on employee-driven, systematic problem solving makes it a strong counterpoint to the idea of top-down "re-engineering." Looking at employment security, the authors note that while most US managers believe that it restrains managerial flexibility, managers at the firms they observed see it as essential to the flexibility associated with teamwork and kaizen. The study of human resource management practices suggests competitive advantages in diverse, older, unionized, and urban work forces, and emphasizes the importance of wide-ranging training programs in a work system premised on a long-term perspective. The "wildcard" in the work places observed is labor-management relations, the area in which Japanese managers have been least likely to import their ideas. The authors report on several situations in which existing labor-management structures remained untouched, with mixed results: greater labor-management consultation, for example, but also increased ambiguity of roles. The thread running through all of these areas of work is "virtual knowledge," an ephemeral form of knowledge derived from a particular combination of people focused on a given issue. The authors point out that this powerful form of knowledge is only effectively harnessed in environments that are free of fear, that have established procedures for collective problem-solving, and that have some stability in group composition. They claim that too often companies allow virtual knowledge to dissipate, squandering opportunities to create more competitive workplaces. For those organizations that have succeeded in anticipating and channeling it, however, virtual knowledge leads to a knowledge-driven workplace and continuous improvement.

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Page Count

207

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195344367

ISBN 13

9780195344363

Written on Water

By: Takashi Kojima

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Written on Water

By: Takashi Kojima

This collection of classical poetry was selected from the Man'yoshu—the oldest and most important collection of Japanese poetry. Despair and hope are two emotions commonly voiced by poets in the Man'yoshu. Although written over thirteen hundred years ago, the poems retain a rare freshness, an originality that delights and fascinates even today. Part of the collection's originality is due to its variety of authors, from members of the aristocracy to commoners from the lowest ranks. The poems cover a wide range of content and expression, from court poets' highly polished verses to anonymous poems that read like folk songs. Poems about love are common but the treatment of love varies from anguished pinning to wondrous celebration to bitter denunciation. What the various Man'yo poems do have in common is emotional fire, amazing candor, and eloquent expression of feeling not found in later Japanese poetry. It is these characteristics that have earned the Man'yoshu a constant and devoted readership over the centuries.

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Page Count

199

Publisher

Tuttle Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1462901131

ISBN 13

9781462901135

Politics and Power in 20th-Century Japan: The Reminiscences of Miyazawa Kiichi

By: Mikuriya Takashi,Nakamura Takafusa

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Politics and Power in 20th-Century Japan: The Reminiscences of Miyazawa Kiichi

By: Mikuriya Takashi,Nakamura Takafusa

Miyazawa Kiichi played a leading role in Japan's government and politics from 1942 until 2003, during which time he served as Prime Minister, and also as Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Director General of the Economic Planning Agency, and Chief Cabinet Secretary. In this oral history autobiography, he discusses with candor and detail a wide range of topics, including his 1939 visit to the United States, recovery policies during the postwar occupation, the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and Japan's role in international organizations such as GATT and OECD, and gives a thoughtful insider's view of six decades of Japanese politics, closing with his thoughts on Japan's role in the 21st century. Miyazawa's testimony contains the unmistakable richness of the words of one who was present as history was being made. The political candor, unmatched scope, and largely first-person narrative make this book unique.

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Page Count

273

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1472533216

ISBN 13

9781472533210

Hazardous Waste Control in Research and Education

By: Takashi Korenaga,Hiroshi Tsukube,Sumio Shinoda,Isei Nakamura

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Hazardous Waste Control in Research and Education

By: Takashi Korenaga,Hiroshi Tsukube,Sumio Shinoda,Isei Nakamura

Hazardous Waste Control in Research and Education considers every aspect of hazardous waste control in universities, hospitals, and industries. It contains a broad array of organization and practices for off-site and on-site handling, and it introduces students, researchers, and managers to the concepts necessary for providing environmental security. The book describes a number of examples and information that is especially useful for constructing new treatment systems in the developing countries.

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Page Count

456

Publisher

CRC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0873716825

ISBN 13

9780873716826

A History of Korea

By: Takashi Hatada

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A History of Korea

By: Takashi Hatada

A History of Korea is a translation of Professor Hatada Takashi's Chosenshi, undoubtedly the best known survey history of Korea ever written. For almost two decades this work, which surveys developments on the Korean peninsula from the prehistoric period to the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, has been standard reading for students of Korean history throughout the world. The translators remark that they were attracted to Hatada's work by ". . . the skill with which the author revealed the interrelationship between political history and social and economic development" (p. vi). The focus of Hatada's work on selected aspects of Korean socio-economic history, an area in which he has made major contributions through his publications, is at once strength and a weakness. Hatada's concentration upon the socio-economic position of the Korean peasantry and outcaste groups and the control of the agricultural foundations of the state by the Korean elite led him to ignore the entire cultural dimension, the book's most serious flaw, and to deempha-size other economic factors such as international trade and domestic commerce. At the same time, this socio-economic emphasis proved to be the book's greatest strength, so much so, that despite weaknesses, e.g., the sketchy and often erroneous character of the final chapter covering pOst-I945 events, which would have led to the early demise of a lesser work, the book has gone through sixteen printings since it first appeared in late I95I. A second strength of Hatada's work, regrettably but understandably omitted in the translation, was provided by the bibliographies ap-pended to each of the book's fifty-eight sections, and the selected bibliography at the end which together provided an overview of Japanese scholarship on Korean history. -- from http://www.jstor.org (June 13, 2011).

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Page Count

204

Publisher

Santa Barbara, Calif : ABC-Clio

Published Date

ISBN 10

087436065X

ISBN 13

9780874360653

Knowledge-Driven Work

Unexpected Lessons from Japanese and United States Work Practices

By: Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld,Michio Nitta,Betty J. Barrett,Nejib Belhedi,Simon Sai-Chung Chow,Takashi Inaba,Iwao Ishino,Wen-Jeng Lin,Michael Moore

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Knowledge-Driven Work

Unexpected Lessons from Japanese and United States Work Practices

By: Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld,Michio Nitta,Betty J. Barrett,Nejib Belhedi,Simon Sai-Chung Chow,Takashi Inaba,Iwao Ishino,Wen-Jeng Lin,Michael Moore

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Page Count

207

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195344367

ISBN 13

9780195344363

Book's by Takashi Inaba

Knowledge-Driven Work

Knowledge-Driven Work

Written on Water

Written on Water

Politics and Power in 20th-Century Japan: The Reminiscences of Miyazawa Kiichi

Politics and Power in 20th-Century Japan: The Reminiscences of Miyazawa Kiichi

Hazardous Waste Control in Research and Education

Hazardous Waste Control in Research and Education

A History of Korea

A History of Korea

Knowledge-Driven Work

Knowledge-Driven Work

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