Title :
Utilization of knowledge management by medical device manufacturers in Japan
Author :
Shimanuki, Seiya ; Saiki, Tomoko
Author_Institution :
Grad. Sch. of Innovation Manage., Tokyo Inst. of Technol., Tokyo, Japan
Abstract :
The technologies for therapeutic medical devices made in Japan are not highly competitive. Some Japanese companies have achieved breakthroughs in this field. In this study, by using the case of one medical device manufacturer (Terumo), we discuss how the change in the organization affects the creation of knowledge useful for a breakthrough. We focused on the Terumo business unit (TBU), which Terumo introduced in 1995 as its business system and analyzed the changes in its patent strategy in comparison with one of its competitors. As a result, an increasing trend in the patentability of the patent applications filed by Terumo after 1995 was observed. An interview regarding the TBU was also conducted. The results suggest that the introduction of the TBU might have intimately affected the ¿creation of knowledge¿.
Keywords :
biomedical equipment; knowledge management; patents; Japan; Terumo business unit; knowledge management; medical device manufacturers; patent strategy; therapeutic medical devices; Catheters; Companies; Conducting materials; Financial management; Human resource management; Innovation management; Knowledge management; Manufacturing; Marketing and sales; Research and development; Knowledge Management; Medical Device; Patent Application Strategies; Therapeutic Device;
Conference_Titel :
Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 2009. IEEM 2009. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Hong Kong
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4869-2
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4870-8
DOI :
10.1109/IEEM.2009.5373534
