Conceptual Influence

My interest in knowledge management developed at the Department of Navy'sNaval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 1996 on what was then thin traces of the emerging field. This is where my collaboration with Bala Ramesh—with whom I later co-authored several research papers—began. In essence, he was the one who introduced me to this then barely-emerging line of research and later mentored me during the formative years of my doctoral research. [Trivia: this was where the concept of the computer operating system was created by Gary Kendall who served on its faculty and went on to found Digital Equipment Corporation (now part of Hewlett Packard). Literally next door are the streets where the dot com bubble grew and burst.] I did my doctoral research with Eph McLean, who taught me to see the forest in the trees. I collaborate with a very small but delightful group of individuals such as Eph McLean, Bala Ramesh, Ashley Bush, Anandhi Bharadwaj, Mark Keil, V. Sambamurthy, Benn Konsynski, Rob Fichman, and Arun Rai who have influenced my thinking.

The most profound influence on my research has been from the pioneering work of Professor Ikujiro Nonaka. Professor Nonaka (in the middle in the picture below) was one of the first people who developed the contemporary idea of knowledge management.

Pictures with some of my celebrities

The second most profound influence on my research has been the work of professors Mike Jensen and late Bill Meckling. Although they are best known for their contributions to Agency Theory, I have been extending a little recognized insight about decision rights distribution (in their seminal paper on Agency Theory, which is most notably associated with their Nobel Prize) using a knowledge management lens.

Contextual Influence

Besides this conceptual influence, my research and thinking have also been influenced by other contextual influences, most notably my colleagues at Emory—my first faculty appointment—who continue to be active collaborators and great sounding boards. Then again, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here's two: #1 and #2

Recent Foreign Corporate Invited Seminars

• Istituto Superiore Universitario di Formazione Interdisciplinare, Italy.

• Kansai Electric Power Company

• Japan Electronics & IT Industry Association.

• International Information Science Foundation (sponsors: Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and IBM).

• Strategic Software Research Consortium (sponsors: Sony, IBM, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Toshiba).

• Hitachi (global headquarters)

• Toshiba R&D headquarters

• United Parcel Service

• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

• EU-sponsored INFORTE Consortium, Finland.

• Japan Electronics & IT Industry Association.

• NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi (co-PI).

• Finland’s INFWEST consortium.

• IISF (www.iisf.or.jp) funded by Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, and IBM.

• ISU Center for International Programs.

• Japan’s SSR. Funded by Fujitsu, Toshiba, Hitachi, IBM, and Sony.

Recent Industry Leadership and Advising

• Business Technology Management Institute, research board.

• Japan Electronics & IT Industry Association (JEITA).

• The KM Professionals Society, Advisor to the Board.

• Japan’s Joint Forum for Strategic Software Research.

• Nobel Fulbright Institute, advisory council.