Innovation through dialectical leadership-case studies of Japanese high-tech companies

This paper provides a new point of view regarding the knowledge management and leadership theory of new product development, a high-tech field requiring the merging and integration of different technologies. As in-depth case studies, the author examine the dynamism of the knowledge creation process in new product development at three Japanese companies, traditional Japanese telecommunications manufacturers and carrier, as they merge and integrate the different elements of technologies and business models. In a short period of time, strategic teams at each company, consisting mainly of undisclosed cross-functional middle managers transcending business divisions, formed strategic communities inside and outside the companies, including customers, and then formed networks that transcended the strategic communities' boundaries. The dialectical leadership of community leaders enabled companies to build new business models aimed at customers and achieve successful new product development.