Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of knowledge brokers in Japanese communities of practice (CoP). This is because if knowledge brokers can connect across boundaries and introduce practices into another CoP, they can contribute by introducing practices as tacit knowledge to another CoP. Design/methodology/approach This study examines five hypotheses on knowledge brokers with respect to multi-membership in CoPs, knowledge brokering and career adaptability. In this study, an online questionnaire was administrated to 412 business persons, all employed by Japanese companies. Findings In line with the predictions, the results show that the cognition and behavior of multi-membership were composed of two factors: “creation and integration of diverse opinions” and “acceptance of diverse opinions”. With respect to covariance structure analysis, “concern”, one of the factors of career adaptability, had both direct and indirect effects on “knowledge brokering”. “Creation and integration of diverse opinions”, one of the factors of the cognition and behavior of multi-membership, had direct effects on “knowledge brokering”. Research limitations/implications Given that the data presented in this study are limited to knowledge brokers in Japanese CoPs, the study needs to be extended to an international context and to other kinds of knowledge brokers. Originality/value This study contributes to the findings which show the complexity of multi-membership and career adaptability. Upon closer examination, each subscale of multi-membership and career adaptability shows a different effect on knowledge brokering. In other words, this study reveals the importance of proactive behavior in integrating diverse opinions for knowledge brokering.

This study aimed to elucidate how career adaptability (CA) affects subjective well-being by focusing on the psychological adjustment of middle-aged and older workers. Two web-based surveys were conducted at 1-year and 3-month intervals with 3540 workers aged 40 to 64 years, including those eligible for both position-retirement and reemployment. Factor analysis of CA in the first wave extracted two factors “control and confidence” and “concern and curiosity”. Multiple regression analysis, adjusted for important covariates, was conducted with the overall CA and the two factors of CA as the independent variables, and scores of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) as the dependent variable. For satisfaction with life, only concern and curiosity had a significant positive association, while control and confidence had no significant association. Analysis by employment stage indicated that only concern and curiosity had a significant positive association with satisfaction with life, while control and confidence had no significant association with any employment stage. The results suggest that the effect of CA on satisfaction with life remains the same, even among those who are position-retired or reemployed at the end of their vocational lives, which is a transition period in their lives.

The increase in knowledge acquisition and co-configuration work has in the past prompted discussions about the impact of changes in learning beyond company borders.The purpose of this study is to analyze how brokers in external communities of practice can introduce external practices into internal communities of practice.A total of 15 brokers were interviewed in this study. The major findings are as follows: 1) Brokers acquire skills suited to co-configuration work. 2) Brokering generates conflicts in internal communities of practice. However, eventually, brokers can introduce external practices into such communities.Therefore it is suggested that companies should understand the importance of brokering and its role in internalizing new practices.

This study uses a quantitative analysis to investigate the connection between the talent management (TM) mechanism and work engagement with a perceived moderating effect of the self-perceived talent status on work engagement. Using responses from 471 respondents in six Japanese firms, I propose and test hypotheses regarding the TM mechanism, work engagement and the moderating role of the self-perceived talent status between the TM mechanism and work engagement. The results demonstrate that the TM mechanism and the self-perceived talent status have mutually exclusive and positive effects on work engagement. This finding corroborates the previous studies that employed exclusive and inclusive approaches. However, this study failed to find any concrete evidence that supports the moderating role of the self-perceived talent status.

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