Key success factors to promote knowledge co-creation in technology development organizations

It goes without saying that technology companies are expected to innovate. However, the technical personnel need to follow the internal regulations of the company, which can conflict with the goal of innovation. Therefore, when a company changes its system of internal control, a technical organization learns new ways to work under the new system. This study aims to find the success factors for keeping workers complying with company regulations and improving the organizational climate for innovation when the corporate management system changes. We conducted longitudinal action research from 2009 to 2013 in a Japanese manufacturing company consisting of 50 business units and approximately 8,000 employees. Knowledge co-creation among employees and power relationships between managers and followers are units of analysis in this study. In the results, we found the headquarters plays an important role in creating an organizational climate where technical personnel can easily act under limited autonomy. In addition, the employees of the organization who understand how to comply with regulations can co-create new knowledge for innovation.