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Brannen, Liker and Fruin (1999)Management > Comparative Management > Lectures > Independent Research > Brannen et al.
Brannen, Liker and Fruin (1999) - Recontextualisation and factory-to-factory knowledge transfer from Japan to the US: the Case of NSK"Recontextualisation is the transformation of the meaning of firm offerings as they are uprooted from one cultural environment to another". Unsuccessful recontextualisation will result in lost opportunities and the eventual failure of a management transfer. "Technology is always coupled with cultural systems and if these linkages are left unmanaged, unexpected outcomes occur, frustrating successful transfer".
NSKNSK is the largest bearing manufacturer in Japan, supplying to Toyota, Nissan and Chrysler. They are famed for their quality and performance. They employed what is now known as TQM, including extensive standardisation, quality procedures, a clean and efficient workplace, excellent equipment maintenance, and continuous flow and inventory control. At first, recontextualisation of NSK in the US was not fast enough. For example, NSK did not immediately invest large amounts in upgrading the technology to Japanese standards. This, of course, affected performance. The company felt it needed to go slow so management and employees could get used to the changes. Ann Arbor (NSK in the US) boasted of its individualistic nature and contentious union-management relations, while in Japan the workers were willing to follow their managers' lead
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