Human resource development programs for knowledge transfer and creation: the case of the Toyota Technical Development Corporation

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this study was to examine how human resource development (HRD) programs promote the linkage between knowledge transfer and knowledge creation in engineering departments. Design/methodology/approach -This study adopted a case study approach to the Toyota Technical Development Corporation (TTDC), an affiliated company of Toyota Motor Corporation. Data were collected from interviews with managers of the TTDC as well as its internal documents. Findings -Three major findings can be extracted from the paper. First, The TTDC effectively links knowledge transfer to knowledge creation so that new knowledge on vehicle development is created by transferred competencies. Second, the TTDC promotes the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge by complementarily combining off-the-job and on-the-job training (OJT). Third, HRD programs are developed and operated in communities of practice. Research limitations/implications -The practices described in this paper are limited to two departments of the TTDC. Hence, the findings should be interpreted in light of this constraint. Practical implications -Knowledge officers should integrate multiple HRD programs so that knowledge transfer is organically linked to knowledge creation by combining off-the-job training, OJT and kaizen (continuous improvement) programs.Originality/value -This paper constitutes one of the earliest works that analyzes the effect of HRD programs on integrating knowledge transfer and knowledge creation.

Employee Turnover: Causes, Importance and Retention Strategies

“…Managers' behaviours and actions, and dissatisfaction could affect intentions to quit and are reciprocated by employee development perceptions [53]. A reason new employees leave the organization is that managers do not allow employees to participate in challenging tasks [59]. Organizational managers positively influence the organizational commitment, work environment, workload were critical to an employee's intent to turnover [60].…”

Analysis of knowledge tacitness in the transfer of food and beverage practices: Evidence from new c

“…Explicit knowledge includes knowledge that can be transmitted through a systematic language (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995). Matsuo (2015) states that most declarative knowledge is explicit.…”

“…The key elements in this idea are embedded in the expression 'we know more than we can tell' (Polanyi 1966;Teece 1998). Matsuo (2015) indicates that some parts of procedural knowledge are tacit. For Okumus (2013), tacit knowledge is generally informal, intuitive, and based on personal experiences.…”

Learning on the move

“…Another virtue of IM is to stimulate organizational learning (McCall et al, 1988), notably in terms of in-firm knowledge transfer (Argote and Ingram, 2000;Notais, 2009). Combining "on-the-job" and "off-the-job" training is a mean of promoting the transfer of tacit and explicit knowledge (Matsuo, 2015). Faegri et al (2010) showed that IM contributes toward improving knowledge redundancy and stimulating innovation derived from different areas of knowledge.…”