Hirotaka Takeuchi

Article by: Alexander Zeeman

Last update: August 30, 2022

Hirotaka Takeuchi (Takeuchi Hirotaka; 16 October 1946) is a Japanese professor and author specialized in marketing, competitive strategy, and knowledge management. He is also considered to be one of the creators of the concept of Scrum Methodology, which he co-created with Ikujiro Nonaka. He authored and co-authored several books, including ‘The Knowledge-Creating Company.’ The book was named the Best New Book of the Year in 1995 by the Association of American Publishers.

Biography Hirotaka Takeuchi

Hirotaka Takeuchi was born in Tokyo, Japan. During his childhood, he was always interested in climbing mountains.

After high school, he first studied at the International Christian University in Tokyo from which he received his degree in Business Administration. After his study in Japan, Hirotaka Takeuchi moved to the United States where he obtained his MBA and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Immediately after Hirotaka Takeuchi received his doctorate, he got offered a job at Harvard University. He consequently began working as an Assistant Professor in marketing and retailing for approximately five years. In 1983, he returned to Japan where he lectured as an Associate Professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. Hirotaka Takeuchi later became a professor at Hitotsubashi University in 1987.

Since 1995, Hirotaka Takeuchi worked as a visiting professor at Harvard University for one year. He was in this time lecturing on Competition and Strategy.

From 1998 until 2010, he additionally was one of the founding deans of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, part of Hitotsubashi University.

Next to Hirotaka Takeuchi’s experience in teaching, he also worked for global organizations. He worked at McCann-Erickson, an advertising company that has helped organizations like Coca-Cola and MasterCard. Hirotaka Takeuchi was responsible for executing marketing research and account services. He also worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company where he has consulted many multinationals. He additionally was a conference speaker for many times.

Hirotaka Takeuchi worked along with many professionals around the world which gave him broad experience in his field. He wrote many articles for academic journals, including the Harvard Business Review, California Management Journal, and Journal of Retailing. Many of his articles have also been published by other academic journals and business magazines.

Hirotaka Takeuchi serves as a member for various committees such as the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum planning board and several political organizations in Japan.

In 2016, Hirotaka Takeuchi co-founded the Global Academy Corporation. The organization aims to help Japanese businesses reach their full potential by providing both offline and online learning programs to employees of member companies.

Hirotaka Takeuchi currently works as a professor of management in the strategy unit at Harvard Business School, but also as a chairman for Global Academy Corporation. Next to these positions, he works as a director for Mitsui & Co, Daiwa Securities Group Inc., and BrightPath Biotherapeutics Co Ltd.

He has today climbed the world’s fourteen tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, K2, and Kanchenjunga. In 2007, he almost lost his life when he climbed a mount in Nepal. However, according to Hirotaka Takeuchi, he will keep climbing mountains as long as his body allows him.

Publications and Books

2016. Embracing agile. Harvard Business Review, 945, 40-50.
2013. Knowledge-based view of strategy. Universia Business Review, 40.
2011. The wise leader. Harvard business review, 895, 58-67.
2011. The Company–creator of knowledge. The origin and development of innovation in Japanese firms.
2008. The contradictions that drive Toyota’s success. Strategic Direction, 251.
2008. Extreme toyota. Radical Contradictions That Drive Success at the World’s Best Manufacturer. Hoboken, New Jersey.
2006. The new dynamism of the knowledge-creating company. Knowledge Economy, 1, 1-10.
2006. The competitiveness of Japanese industries and firms. Knowledge Economy, 35.
2006. Japan, Moving Toward a More Advanced Knowledge Economy: Volume 2. Advanced Knowledge-Creating Companies. Washington, DC: World Bank.
2006. Creating the dynamics of hard-to-imitate innovation. Knowledge Economy, 83.
2004. Hitotsubashi on knowledge management. Wiley.
2001. Organizational knowledge creation. Creative Management, SAGE, London,, 64-82.
2001. Classic work: Theory of organizational knowledge creation. Knowledge Management: Classic and Contemporary. Works. Morey, Daryl, 139-182.
2001. 15 Towards a Universal Management Concept of Knowledge. Managing industrial knowledge: Creation, transfer and utilization, 315.
2000. Reflection on knowledge management from Japan. Knowledge management: Classic and contemporary works, 183-6.
2000. Can Japan Compete? pp. 2-3. London: Macmillan.
1998. Beyond Knowledge Management. Lesson from Japan, June 1998.
1998. A Theory of the Firmer’s Knowledge-Creation Dynamics.
1996. The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. Long range planning, 429, 592.
1996. A theory of organizational knowledge creation. International Journal of Technology Management, 117-8, 833-845.
1995. Introduction to knowledge in organizations. The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, 3-19.
1995. How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation: The Knowledge-Creating Company.
1988. Gaining competitive advantage through global product development. Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, 231 23, 21-52.
1986. Three roles of international marketing in global strategy. Competition in global industries, 11, 1-46.
1986. The new new product development game. Harvard business review, 641, 137-146.
1984. The strategic role of international marketing: managing the nature and extent of worldwide coordination. Division of Research, Harvard Business School.
1984. Managing the new product development process: how Japanese companies learn and unlearn. Division of Research, Harvard Business School.
1983. Quality is more than making a good product. Harvard business review, 614, 139-145. 1980. New promise of computer graphics. Harvard Business Review, 581, 122-131.
1981. Productivity: learning from the Japanese. California Management Review, 234, 5-19.
1981. Non-store marketing-fast track or slow. Harvard Business Review, 594, 75-84.
1980. Strategic Issues in Distribution. Harvard Business School.
1977. Productivity in retailing: retail structure and public policy. Journal of Retailing, 53, 35-46.

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Article by:

Alexander Zeeman

Alexander Zeeman is Content Manager at ToolsHero where he focuses on Content production, Content management and marketing. He is also an International Business student at Rotterdam Business school. Currently, in his study, working on the development of various management competencies and improving operational business processes.