【REPORT】Noboru Konno at the European Drucker Association Senior Fellow Award Ceremony

2026/06/10

On July 1, 2025, the Noboru Konno of the Committee for Executive Innovation (EIC) was awarded the title of Senior Fellow of the European Drucker Association. We will report on the event with a digest video. Please watch the digest video by playing the YouTube video in the blue frame below.

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Noboru Konno appointed as a senior fellow of the European Drucker Association Expectations and discussions on’ Next Management’

How can we make knowledge workers more productive? This question was bequeathed by management giant Peter Drucker as the greatest challenge of the 21st century. A ray of light is now shining on this question. Noboru Konno, professor emeritus at Tama University, president of the Japan Innovation Network (JIN) (at the time of award), and member of the Committee for Executive Innovation (EIC), has been appointed senior fellow of the European Drucker Association. Will his achievements in inheriting and developing the “knowledge-creation theory” of the late Ikujiro Nonaka serve as a new management compass in an era without answers? We will explore the outline of next-generation management from the enthusiasm of the award ceremony.

“Genealogy of Knowledge” in response to Drucker’s question

A highlight of the ceremony was Richard Straub, President of the European Drucker Association, who spoke of the rationale for the award, referring to Peter Drucker’s challenge to make knowledge workers more productive. In response, Richard Straub praised the concept of “knowledge creation” developed by the late Ikujiro Nonaka and further developed by Noboru Konno with the concepts of “Ba” and “Knowledge Ecology” as “remarkable contributions from basic research to applied research to practical implementation”.した。

“The appointment of Mr. Konno as a Senior Fellow is extremely important to our work,” said ADB President Richard Straub, not just as a compliment, but as an expression of his strong expectation that Japanese management wisdom, drawing on Eastern ideas, can serve as a global prescription for issues that cannot be solved by Western rationalism alone.

Kunitake Ando, a JIN board member who delivered a congratulatory speech on behalf of the organizers, also emphasized the significance of this “lineage of knowledge.” “It is a dual great pleasure for us that Professor Konno has become a senior fellow following Professor Nonaka,” he said, referring to the fact that the late Ikujiro Nonaka was awarded an honorary fellow of the association in 2023. He praised the two men for their achievements over many years in refining the theory of knowledge creation into a practical management method.

Noboru Konno, who was awarded the prize, first expressed his deep gratitude. He reiterated that the origin of his research lies in the knowledge-creation theory of his mentor, the late Ikujiro Nonaka, and reflected on how his thinking expanded from there to “Ba” and then to a more comprehensive “knowledge-ecology”. “This award is not due to me alone, but to the community I have discussed and worked with,” he said humbly, reflecting his philosophy of valuing knowledge co-creation.

The challenge of “Next Management” to create the future

At the beginning of the ceremony, Yoshikuni Takashige, Ambassador of the European Drucker Association, introduced that the Drucker Forum held every year in Vienna is not just a place to learn the teachings of Peter Drucker, but “a place where the world’s top thinkers and managers gather to discuss and create the management of the future.”

The core of its activities is the “Next Management Initiative,” which the association is focusing on the most. Mr. Yoshikuni Takashige emphasized the significance of this initiative, saying, “We need to rebuild a new comprehensive and holistic management framework appropriate for the 21st century.” The association is driven by a strong awareness that the old management model has reached its limits in the increasingly complex modern age. Mr. Noboru Konno’s appointment as a senior fellow is positioned as an important move to build this next-generation framework.

Leadership in an Era of No Answers — The “Ability to Ask Questions” Required

The panel discussion, “New Management, New Leadership,” held later in the award ceremony, further accelerated the discussion.

Today’s leaders are no longer the “wise men” who present clear-cut solutions as they used to be. Facing a time when there are no answers, what is essential for them is the ability to ask questions. This point made by the panelists must have touched the hearts of many managers and leaders in the audience.

The discussion then turned to the potential of Japanese companies. At first glance, it may seem inefficient, but the culture of “helping each other” and the concept of “kata” (form), which emphasizes process, have led to a lively discussion of the great potential for unexpected chemical reactions to occur when these elements merge with a global perspective, leading to the creation of new innovations. The search for knowledge that began with Peter Drucker’s question has now pointed to a new horizon of “the ability to ask questions” and “a reevaluation of Japanese-style management,” following the line of “knowledge creation” by the late Ikujiro Nonaka and Noboru Konno. This award ceremony may serve as a signal gun for Japanese companies to reaffirm their own strengths and create new management models that will lead the world.

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