Knowledge Convergence through “Ma Thinking”

• Date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1541
• Published date: 01 July 2017

■Research Article

Knowledge Convergence through “Ma

Thinking”

Mitsuru Kodama*

College of Commerce, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan

This paper suggests that Ma enable the coexistence of dissimilars and that the formation of Ma is an important factor

in bringing about the knowledge convergence process to integrate dissimilar knowledge in organizations and

companies. The paper presents four concepts of Ma: the first is the temporal Ma of experience (Ma of time); the second

is spatial Ma, which raises the quality of dialogue (Ma of space); the third is the psychological Ma that ties together

knowledge from different areas of specialization (mental Ma); and the fourth is situational Ma that ties together

different contexts (Ma of context).

The commonality in these four concepts of Ma is the existence of relationships that ties together different contexts

and knowledge (in other words boundaries) in dynamically changing space-time. However, rather than referring to

relationships that have specific meaning, Ma describe holistic relationships that allow a diversity of meanings in

dynamically changing flows. The paper argues that Ma, as dynamically changing holistic relationships, have their

roots in the Eastern philosophies of Japanese Shintoism and Buddhism and discusses relationship among Ma, Ba,

and strategic communities. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION—MA THEORY

In recent years, there has been a growing need for

strategies that provide for knowledge convergence

(Kodama and Shibata, 2016) in the development of

products and services and building of business

models that integrate different technologies and

services and span different industries. The question

is: How is it that leading companies, organizations,

and talented individuals are able to consistently

bring about high-quality knowledge convergence?

The core theoretical concept presented in this paper

is the idea of “Ma thinking”—an idea that serves as

a springboard in the thinking and actions of

outstanding practitioners (innovators) toward

realization of knowledge convergence.

Japan is a country that has a culture of Ma, and

the Japanese people have a unique type of Ma

culture that can be found in the exquisite sensitivity,

imagery, colors, and meanings expressed through

traditional Japanese culture and arts. In no small

measure, this unique and refined Ma also

influenced the sensibilities of the Japanese people

and enabled them to give expression to distinct

aspects of their culture and art.

To date, a number of Japanese cultural

anthropologists and researchers have published

research papers and held discussions on Ma.

Moreover, a French geographer, Augustin Berque,

in his Vivre L’espace au Japon (1982), presents

Japanese culture from the perspective of its unique

customs and language, while he contrasts with

Christian culture. Berque’s work offers a uniform

view in which he verifies many special aspects that

organically tie in the Japanese cultural idea of Ma,

such as the structure of the Japanese language, the

mindset of the Japanese, and organizational

principles underpinning Japanese families and

corporations as well as urban design and land usage

in Japan.

Berque (1982) argues that Ma are born of

the crystallization (tying together) of countless

possibilities with emptiness (blanks, silence,

discontinuity, and stillness). Viewed from the

perspective of communications theory or linguistics,

Ma introduces free zones into the flow of

information presented by a disseminator, while

receivers of that information detachedly insert

meaning into those zones according to their own

predilections. However, as long as gaps exist,

meaning cannot be conveyed to the receivers of

messages, no matter what. Nevertheless, because

some kind of meaning is implicit in a relationship,

the disseminators of messages need only make the

*Correspondence to: Mitsuru Kodama, Nihon University,College

of Commerce, 5-2-1, Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-8570 Japan.

E-mail: kodama.mitsuru@nihon-u.ac.jp

Knowledge and Process Management

Volume 24 Number 3 pp 170–187 (2017)

Published online 17 March 2017 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/kpm.1541

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

effort to suggest it. Therefore, Ma can be defined as

“intersubjective spaces”—spaces that escape control

or restriction of symbolic expression, and in which

exchanges of complete messages between one actor

(the message disseminator) and another (the

message receiver) can take place. A Ma is often

depicted as a gap or opening, and it is from these

gaps and openings that new phenomena and events

emerge into the flow of dynamically changing

space-time.

More recently, the Japanese haiku poet Kai

Hasegawa (2009) developed his own theories that

focus on the characteristics of Ma and the

“coexistence of dissimilars”in Japanese culture.

Hasegawa offers a fascinating hypothesis that

argues the power of harmony brings forth new

creativity by harmonizing dissimilar elements and

events and thereby allows them to coexist. He sees

Ma as the foundation on which this harmony can

be brought forth. According to Hasegawa, Japan

has created its own unique culture with highly

refined Ma by absorbing many aspects of

international culture and allowing them to coexist.

Such “Ma thinking”by Hasegawa (2009) is

considered to contribute to the promotion of the

knowledge convergence process.

Thus, research focusing on the concept of Ma is an

important theme relevant not only to business and

management (in particular, knowledge and

innovation management) but also to architecture

and the arts, and even cultural studies and

linguistics. However, such research into Ma in

relation to people and organizations engaging in

and developing economic and social activities on a

daily basis, and in the field of business and

management, is almost nonexistent.

In this paper, the author describes Ma as the

starting point for the capability that allows for the

coexistence of dissimilars, an important factor in

achieving knowledge convergence, and explains

that the formation of Ma is a critical factor in

integrating dissimilar knowledge and integrating

knowledge in organizations and companies. To

demonstrate this, the author also presents in-depth

case studies in business and management,

architecture, and the arts. Thus, as a study on

knowledge convergence related to Ma in business

and management and in the arts and architecture,

this paper provides a template for new Ma-based

academic research across a range of different

specializations with the potential for further

development.

Ma characteristics can be observed as phenomena

(elements and events) in the daily practical activities

of people working not only in business and

management but also in fields such as architecture,

the arts, language, and culture. Thus, leading

practitioners demonstrate Ma thinking either

consciously or unconsciously to achieve knowledge

convergence in a wide range of routine and creative

activities. This paper presents a theoretical concept

of four types of Ma thinking: Ma of time, Ma of

space, mental Ma, and Ma of context.

The paper begins by explaining the research

methodology. Next, it analyzes the functions and

roles of Ma in an international innovative company

(Dyson in the UK) as a case study in business and

management in regard to the thinking and activities

of practitioners and the nature of organization. The

paper then further broadens its focus to the fields

of the humanities and science and technology and

takes a look at examples of Ma and its impact on

knowledge convergence activities of practitioners

(innovators) in the fields of art and architecture

where practitioners are engaged in creative

activities in particular. Finally, the paper discusses

Ma theory in light of the case studies and considers

implications before drawing conclusions and citing

research issues for future consideration.

RESEARCH METHOD

This research is exploratory in that it extracts details

of certain people and organizations involved in

corporate knowledge convergence activities,

architecture, and arts, gathers data regarding the

processes of their activities, and carefully analyzes

these. Therefore, the author has adopted a

qualitative survey and case study analysis as the

methodology. This research methodology provides

for the gathering of rich data and rich analyses for

introducing a new theoretical framework that

cannot be found in research to date.

Many scholars have already pointed out the

effectiveness of case studies (e.g., Eisenhardt, 1989;

Pettigrew, 1990; Yin, 1994) as a methodology for

explaining the relationship between causes and

results of phenomena and their appropriateness

from multiple perspectives and interpretations

through deep insights based on objective qualitative

information and the researcher’s subjective

interpretation regarding individual cases, which

cannot be obtained from statistical methods. Case

studies are important not only in complementing

generality through statistical methods but also in

constructing novel, creative theories.

The case studies in this paper focus on research

questions relating to creative thinking in managing

diverse knowledge in organizations and companies

(including individuals as architects and artists)

and provide in-depth analyses and observations

regarding how such organizations and companies

(and individuals) achieve knowledge convergence

activities. Based on the aforementioned research

approach, the author first prepared details of the

case studies and then proceeded with analyses and

observations regarding the practice theory of Ma

based on the cases.

Ma Thinking 171

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Know. Process Mgmt. 24, 170–187 (2017)

DOI: 10.1002/kpm