The capability of MNCs to create, transfer and combine knowledge from different locations is an important determinant of corporate success. This book uses examples of knowledge-based firms – Hewlett-Packard Consulting & Integration, Siemens, Mazda, and Maekawa – to show that knowledge-based marketing is key to a sustainable competitive advantage.
Scholars and practitioners around the globe have identified the capability of MNCs to create and efficiently transfer and combine knowledge from different locations worldwide as an increasingly important determinant of competitive advantage, corporate success and survival. Traditional marketing approaches have overly focused on explicit knowledge and neglected the important role of tacit knowledge, specifically in international, cross-cultural settings. This book draws on real-life examples of knowledge-based firms – Hewlett-Packard Consulting & Integration, Schindler, Siemens, Toyota, Mazda, and Maekawa – to reveal that knowledge-based marketing is key to obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage.
FLORIAN KOHLBACHER is a visiting researcher at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University, Japan. Before, he was a Visiting Researcher at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, for two years, during which he conducted the research that led to this book.
‘This book is a consequent and smart application of the knowledge creation theory to the field of marketing.’ – Hirotaka Takeuchi, Professor and Dean, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo
‘The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the creation and transfer of marketing knowledge. The many case studies in the book provide great insights for managers who strive to improve marketing in their firms.’ – Georg von Krogh, Professor and Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation, ETH Zurich
‘The book is a welcome, significant addition to the growing body of academic research on managing knowledge assets.’ – Dorothy Leonard, William J. Abernathy Professor of Business, Emerita, Harvard Business School; author of Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation
‘Kohlbacher shows a formidable ability to integrate state-of-the-art theory with data from worldleading companies. His treatment of knowledge as the basis for marketing success is truly international…It is not only a seminal contribution to research but a platform for the rejuvenation of executive training.’ – Evert Gummesson, Professor, Stockholm University School of Business, Sweden
‘The marriage of marketing and knowledge management – and specifically knowledge-creation theory – is long overdue. Kohlbacher’s timely book challenges the academic marketing community to rethink its assumptions about the nature of marketing knowledge as a competitive resource especially in international and cross-cultural contexts.’ – Nigel J Holden, Professor and Director, Institute of International Business, Department of Strategy and Innovation, Lancashire Business School, University of Central Lancashire
Foreword–I.Nonaka * Preface * Introduction * Aims of the Books and Research Questions * Theoretical Framework: The Knowledge-Based View of the Firm * Knowledge-Based Management and Organizational Learning in Marketing * The Case Studies * Knowledge-Based Marketing: Results and Conclusion * Afterword–C.Savage * Appendix: Research Methodology and Empirical Research
