The Legacy of the Late Ikujiro Nonaka

Lectures

The Legacy of the Late Ikujiro Nonaka

Synopsis

Professor Ikujiro Nonaka, the colleague and co-author of Professor Hirotaka Takeuchi at Hitotsubashi University, passed away on January 25, 2025. Prof. Takeuchi will celebrate his legacy by speaking about the contributions he made both globally (through his work on The Knowledge-Creating Company) and domestically (through his work on The Essence of Failure), with an emphasis on the knowledge creation theory. He will talk about why this theory born in Japan became universally accepted among academics and practitioners around the world and why Prof. Nonaka is recognized as the “CHI NO KYOJIN 知の巨人” from a professional standpoint. Prof. Takeuchi will also introduce the personal side of Ikujiro Nonaka, who called himself a “wild combattant”.

Brief Biography

Professor Takeuchi received his B.A. from International Christian University in Tokyo and his M.B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

He was an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Business School from 1976 to 1983, where he taught courses in marketing and retailing in the MBA program. He joined Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo as an Associate Professor in 1983 and became Professor in 1987. In 1998, he became the Founding Dean at Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy (ICS). He was a Professor of Management Practice in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School from 2010 to 2022. In 2019, he became Chair, Board of Trustees at his alma mater International Christian University. He was a senior fellow at Harvard Business School from 2022 to 2023.

Professor Takeuchi’s current research interests are focused on (a) the knowledge creation process within organizations, (b) knowledge-based strategy, (c) practical wisdom as the basis of continuous innovation, and (d) agile innovation methods.

His business experience includes marketing research and account service work with McCann-Erikson in Tokyo and San Francisco, and management consulting work with McKinsey & Company in Tokyo. He is an advisor/trustee to a number of organizations and an external board member of several Japanese companies.

Lecture Date

Monday, November 17, 2025

Lecture Format

Online

Lecture By

Prof. Hirotaka Takeuchi, Professor of Management Practice, Strategy Unit, Harvard Business School and Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi University

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