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Knowledge workers are workers whose main capital is knowledge. Examples include ICT professionals, physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, scientists, design thinkers, public accountants, lawyers, editors, and academics, whose job is to "think for a living". [1]
Knowledge work can be differentiated from other forms of work by its emphasis on "non-routine" problem solving that requires a combination of convergent and divergent thinking. [2] But despite the amount of research and literature on knowledge work, there is no succinct definition of the term. [3]
Mosco and McKercher (2007) outline various viewpoints on the matter. They first point to the most narrow and defined definition of knowledge work, such as Florida's view of it as specifically, "the direct manipulation of symbols to create an original knowledge product, or to add obvious value to an existing one", which limits the definition of knowledge work to mainly creative work. They then contrast this view of knowledge work with the notably broader view which includes the handling and distribution of information, arguing that workers who play a role in the handling and distribution of information add real value to the field, despite not necessarily contributing a creative element. Thirdly, one might consider a definition of knowledge work which includes, "all workers involved in the chain of producing and distributing knowledge products", which allows for a very broad and inclusive categorization of knowledge workers. It should thus be acknowledged that the term "knowledge worker" can be quite broad in its meaning, and is not always definitive in who it refers to. [4]
Knowledge workers spend a portion of their time searching for information. [5] They are also often displaced from their bosses, working in various departments and time zones or from remote sites such as home offices and airport lounges. [6] As businesses increase their dependence on information technology, the number of fields in which knowledge workers must operate has expanded dramatically. [7]
Even though they sometimes are called "gold collars", [8] because of their high salaries, as well as because of their relative independence in controlling the process of their own work, [9] current research shows that they are also more prone to burnout and very close normative control from organizations they work for, unlike regular workers. [10]
Managing knowledge workers can be a difficult task. Most knowledge workers prefer some level of autonomy, and do not like being overseen or managed. Those who manage knowledge workers are often knowledge workers themselves, or have been in the past. Projects must be carefully considered before assigning to a knowledge worker, as their interest and goals will affect the quality of the completed project. Knowledge workers must be treated as individuals.
Loo ( [11] 2017) using empirical findings from knowledge workers of two sectors – advertising and IT software sectors – and from three developed countries – England, Japan and Singapore – investigated a specific type of knowledge workers – the creative knowledge workers - as opposed to the generic ones as indicated above. The findings from the analysed empirical data offer a complex picture of this type of work in the knowledge economy where workers use a combination of creativity, abilities, talents, skills, and knowledge towards the eventual production of products and services. This investigation (Loo, 2017) identified a definition of creative knowledge work from four specific roles of copywriting, creative directing, software programming, and systems programme managing in advertising and IT software. The manner in which each of the creative applications is applied is dependent on the role(s) of the creative workers. This type of work includes a complex combination of skill sets or 'creative knowledge work (ckw) capacities'. "Creative knowledge workers use a combination of creative applications to perform their functions/roles in the knowledge economy including anticipatory imagination, problem solving, problem seeking, and generating ideas and aesthetic sensibilities" (Loo, 2017, p. 138).
Taking aesthetic sensibility as an example, for a creative director, it is a visual imagery whether still or moving via a camera lens and for a software programmer, it is the innovative technical expertise in which the software is written.
Other sector-related creative applications include an emotional connection in the advertising sector and the power of expression and sensitivity in the IT software sector. Terms such as 'general sponge', 'social chameleon', and 'in tune with the zeitgeist' were identified which the creative knowledge workers used to identify emotionally with their potential audience in ad making. From the IT software perspective, creative knowledge workers used a 'sensitivity' creative application to ascertain business intelligence and as a measurement of information, the software worker might obtain from various parties (Loo, 2017).
Creative workers also require abilities and aptitudes. Passion for one's job was generic to the roles investigated in the two sectors and for copywriters, this passion was identified with fun, enjoyment, and happiness in carrying out the role alongside attributes such as honesty (regarding the product), confidence, and patience in finding the appropriate copy. As with the other roles, a creative worker in software programming requires team working and interpersonal skills in order to communicate effectively with those from other disciplinary backgrounds and training. As regards the managerial roles of creative directing and systems programme managing, the abilities to create a vision for the job in hand, to convince, strategize, execute, and plan towards the eventual completion of the given task (such as a campaign or a software) are necessary capacities (Loo, 2017).
Linking these abilities and capacities are collaborative ways of working, which the findings from this study have identified. The two modes of working ranged from individual to collaborative where a worker might be doing either or both depending on the specific activity. The abilities to traverse between these two work modes alongside the relevant creative application are part of the complexity of this style of working.
Creative workers also require an understanding of various forms of knowledge (Loo, 2017). These are related to disciplines such as those from the humanities (e.g., literature), and the creative arts such as painting and music (e.g., popular and classical varieties). Creative knowledge workers also require technical-related knowledge such as mathematics and computer sciences (e.g., software engineering) and physical sciences (e.g., physics) though there are distinctions in the two sectors. In the IT software sector, technical knowledge of software languages is especially significant for programmers as ascertained in the findings. However, the degree of technical expertise may be less for a programme manager, as only knowledge of the relevant software language is necessary to understand the issues for communicating with the team of developers and testers. The technical know-how for a creative director relates only to the understanding of the possibilities of technologies (such as graphics and typography) in order to capitalise on the technical wizardry. The technical specialists are then required to execute the creative director's vision.
The above types of disciplinary knowledge may appear in explicit formats, which can be learnt from formal programmes at teaching institutions such as higher education and professional institutions alongside other skills and abilities relating to presentation, communication, and team working. As ascertained in the findings, there was other non-disciplinary knowledge, which was not explicit but tacit in nature. Interviewees mentioned tacit experiences from their past work and life experiences, which they used to draw upon in performing their creative knowledge work. This form of knowledge was harnessed collectively as a team (of an advertising campaign or a software programme). This collaborative approach to working, especially with roles such as creative directing and software programme managing, requires tacit knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses and the needs and wants of the related team members (knowledge of psychology). This form of working may occur within the organisation, as a stand-alone group for a specific project in the organisation, or as a sub-contracted team outside the organisation. Within this role, creative knowledge workers may perform their activities individually and/or collectively as part of their contribution to the project. The findings also brought out some characteristics of collaborative working such as the varieties of stakeholders such as sub-contracted groups, and the indirect relationships between clients, workers (of an ad agency), and consumers (Loo, 2017).
The term 'knowledge work' appeared in The Landmarks of Tomorrow (1959) by Peter Drucker. [12] Drucker later coined the term 'knowledge worker' in The Effective Executive [13] in 1966. Later, in 1999, he suggested that "the most valuable asset of a 21st-century institution, whether business or non-business, will be its knowledge workers and their productivity." [14]
Paul Alfred Weiss (1960) [15] said that "knowledge grows like organisms, with data serving as food to be assimilated rather than merely stored". Popper (1963)[ full citation needed ] stated there is always an increasing need for knowledge to grow and progress continually, whether tacit (Polanyi, 1976)[ full citation needed ] or explicit.
Toffler (1990)[ full citation needed ] observed that typical knowledge workers (especially R&D scientists and engineers) in the age of knowledge economy must have some system at their disposal to create, process and enhance their own knowledge. In some cases they would also need to manage the knowledge of their co-workers.
Nonaka (1991) [16] described knowledge as the fuel for innovation, but was concerned that many managers failed to understand how knowledge could be leveraged. Companies are more like living organisms than machines, he argued, and most viewed knowledge as a static input to the corporate machine. Nonaka advocated a view of knowledge as renewable and changing, and that knowledge workers were the agents for that change. Knowledge-creating companies, he believed, should be focused primarily on the task of innovation.
This laid the foundation for the new practice of knowledge management, or "KM", which evolved in the 1990s to support knowledge workers with standard tools and processes.
Savage (1995) describes a knowledge-focus as the third wave of human socio-economic development. The first wave was the Agricultural Age with wealth defined as ownership of land. In the second wave, the Industrial Age, wealth was based on ownership of Capital, i.e. factories. In the Knowledge Age, wealth is based upon the ownership of knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to create or improve goods and services. Product improvements include cost, durability, suitability, timeliness of delivery, and security. Using data,[ citation needed ] in the Knowledge Age, 2% of the working population will work on the land, 10% will work in Industry and the rest will be knowledge workers. [17]
Davenport (2005) says that the rise of knowledge work has actually been foreseen for years. [1] : 4 He points to the fact that Fritz Machlup did a lot of the early work on both knowledge as well as knowledge work roles and as early as 1958 stated that the sector was growing much faster than the rest of the economy with knowledge workers making up almost a third of the workforce in the United States. [1] : 4 "According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (1981), by the beginning of the 1970s around 40 percent of the working population in the USA and Canada were classified to the information sector, whereas in most other OECD countries the figures were still considerably lower." [3] : 118
As of 2016, an average of 1.9 million knowledge worker positions had been added every year since 1980, more than any other type of role. [18]
Tapscott (2006) sees a strong, on-going linkage between knowledge workers and innovation, but the pace and manner of interaction have become more advanced. He describes social media tools on the internet that now drive more powerful forms of collaboration. Knowledge workers engage in peer-to-peer knowledge sharing across organizational and company boundaries, forming networks of expertise. Some of these are open to the public. While he echoes concern over copyright and intellectual property law being challenged in the marketplace, he feels strongly that businesses must engage in collaboration to survive. He sees on-going alliance of public (government) and private (commercial) teams to solve problems, referencing the open source Linux operating system along with the Human Genome Project as examples where knowledge is being freely exchanged, with commercial value being realized.
Palmer (2014) [19] researched knowledge worker productivity and work patterns. Part of this research has involved the analysis of how an average knowledge worker spends their day. He notes that effective and efficient knowledge work relies on the smooth navigation of unstructured processes and the elaboration of custom and one-off procedures. "As we move to the 21st century business model, the focus must be on equipping knowledge workers with tools and infrastructure that enable communication and information sharing, such as networking, e-mail, content management and increasingly, social media." Palmer points to the emergence of Adaptive Case Management (also known as Dynamic or Advanced case management) representing the paradigm shift triggered by the appearance from adapting business practices to the design of IT systems, to building systems that reflect how work is actually performed.
Due to the rapid global expansion of information-based transactions and interactions being conducted via the Internet, there has been an ever-increasing demand for a workforce that is capable of performing these activities. Knowledge Workers are now estimated to outnumber all other workers in North America by at least a four to one margin. [20] : 4
While knowledge worker roles overlap heavily with professions that require college degrees, the comprehensive nature of knowledge work in today's connected workplace requires virtually all workers to obtain these skills at some level. To that end, the public education and community college systems have become increasingly focused on lifelong learning to ensure students receive skills necessary to be productive knowledge workers in the 21st century.
Many of the knowledge workers currently entering the workforce are from the generation X demographic.[ vague ] These new knowledge workers value lifelong learning over lifelong employment. [21] "They seek employability over employment [and] value career over self-reliance" (Elsdon and Iyer, 1999)[ full citation needed ]. Where baby boomers are proficient in specified knowledge regarding a specific firm, generation X knowledge workers acquire knowledge from many firms and take that knowledge with them from company to company (2002). [21]
Knowledge workers bring benefits to organizations in a variety of ways. These include:
These knowledge worker contributions are in contrast with activities that they would typically not be asked to perform, including:
There is a set of transitional tasks which include roles that are seemingly routine, but that require deeper technology, product, or customer knowledge to fulfill the function. These include:
Generally, if the knowledge can be retained, knowledge worker contributions will serve to expand the knowledge assets of a company. While it can be difficult to measure, this increases the overall value of its intellectual capital. In cases where the knowledge assets have commercial or monetary value, companies may create patents around their assets, at which point the material becomes restricted intellectual property. In these knowledge-intensive situations, knowledge workers play a direct, vital role in increasing the financial value of a company. They can do this by finding solutions on how they can find new ways to make profits. This can also be related with market and research. Davenport (2005) says that even if knowledge workers are not a majority of all workers, they do have the most influence on their economies. [1] He adds that companies with a high volume of knowledge workers are the most successful and fastest growing in leading economies including the United States.
Reinhardt et al.'s (2011) review of current literature shows that the roles of knowledge workers across the workforce are incredibly diverse. In two empirical studies they have "proposed a new way of classifying the roles of knowledge workers and the knowledge actions they perform during their daily work." [2] : 150 The typology of knowledge worker roles suggested by them are "controller, helper, learner, linker, networker, organizer, retriever, sharer, solver, and tracker": [2] : 160
| Role | Description | Typical knowledge actions (expected) | Existence of the role in literature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Controller | People who monitor the organizational performance based on raw information. | Analyze, dissemination, information organization, monitoring | (Moore and Rugullies, 2005)[ full citation needed ] (Geisler, 2007)[ full citation needed ] |
| Helper | People who transfer information to teach others, once they passed a problem. | Authoring, analyze, dissemination, feedback, information search, learning, networking | (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) [22] |
| Learner | People who use information and practices to improve personal skills and competence. | Acquisition, analyze, expert search, information search, learning, service search | |
| Linker | People who associate and mash up information from different sources to generate new information. | Analyze, dissemination, information search, information organization, networking | (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) [22] (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)[ full citation needed ] (Geisler, 2007)[ full citation needed ] |
| Networker | People who create personal or project related connections with people involved in the same kind of work, to share information and support each other. | Analyze, dissemination, expert search, monitoring, networking, service search | (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) [22] (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)[ full citation needed ] (Geisler, 2007)[ full citation needed ] |
| Organizer | People who are involved in personal or organizational planning of activities, e.g. to-do lists and scheduling. | Analyze, information organization, monitoring, networking | (Moore and Rugullies, 2005)[ full citation needed ] |
| Retriever | People who search and collect information on a given topic. | Acquisition, analyze, expert search, information search, information organization, monitoring | (Snyder-Halpern et al., 2001)[ full citation needed ] |
| Sharer | People who disseminate information in a community. | Authoring, co-authoring, dissemination, networking | (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) [22] (Brown et al., 2002)[ full citation needed ] (Geisler, 2007)[ full citation needed ] |
| Solver | People who find or provide a way to deal with a problem. | Acquisition, analyze, dissemination, information search, learning, service search | (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) [22] (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995)[ full citation needed ] (Moore and Rugullies, 2005)[ full citation needed ] |
| Tracker | People who monitor and react on personal and organizational actions that may become problems. | Analyze, information search, monitoring, networking | (Moore and Rugullies, 2005)[ full citation needed ] |
Drucker (1966) defines six factors for knowledge worker productivity: [23]
The theory of Human Interaction Management asserts that there are 5 principles characterizing effective knowledge work:
Another, more recent breakdown of knowledge work (author unknown) shows activity that ranges from tasks performed by individual knowledge workers to global social networks. This framework spans every class of knowledge work that is being or is likely to be undertaken. There are seven levels or scales of knowledge work, with references for each are cited.
The hierarchy ranges from the effort of individual specialists, through technical activity, professional projects, and management programs, to organizational strategy, knowledge markets, and global-scale networking.
This framework is useful for positioning the myriad types of knowledge work relative to each other and within the context of organizations, markets, and the global knowledge economy. It also provides a useful context for planning, developing, and implementing knowledge management projects.
Loo (2017) investigates how a particular group - creative knowledge workers – carries out their jobs and learns within it. Using empirical data from advertising and software development in England, Japan and Singapore, it develops a new conceptual framework to analyse the complexities of creative knowledge work. The framework draws from four disciplines of business and management, economics, sociology and psychology (Loo, 2017, p. 59). Focusing uniquely on the human element of working in the knowledge economy, Loo explores the real world of how people work in this emerging phenomenon and examines the relationships between knowledge and creative dimensions to provide new frameworks for learning and working. This research identified three levels of creative knowledge applications. They relate to intra-sectoral approaches, inter-sectoral approaches (where jobs require different styles of work depending on the sectors), and changes in culture/practices in the sectors. With the intra-sectoral work, they refer to the roles and functions of specific jobs in each of the two sectors of advertising (e.g. copywriting and creative directing) and software development (e.g. software developing and software programme managing). With the inter-sectoral work, it may include software programme managers having different functions when working in different organisations – e.g. a computer software company and a multinational financial organisation. With the last type of creative working, it may include aspects such as the culture of 'good practice' in technical problem-solving and the 'power of expression' in software programming. All the three types of micro-level of creative knowledge work offer a highly contextualized understanding of how these workers operate in the knowledge economy. This approach is different from that taken by Zuboff (1988), Drucker (1993), Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) and Reich (2001) who sought to provide a more generic understanding (Loo, 2017).
Finally, complex creative knowledge work needs a supportive environment. One such environment relates to the supporting technical base. Based on the findings, information, communications and electronic technologies (ICET) are viewed as an organisational tool, a source of ideas (such as the Internet), and a way of modelling a concept. It may also be applied to inter-sectoral activities such as software for cross-disciplinary applications. This organisational tool enables creative knowledge workers to devote their energies to multi-faceted activities such as analysis of huge data sets and the enabling of new jobs such as webpage designing. ICET enables workers to spend more time on advanced activities, which leads to the intensification of creative applications. Lastly, it was noted from the findings that a supportive environment focused on training, work environment, and education (Loo, 2017 Loo, S. (2017) Creative Working in the Knowledge Economy. Abingdon: Routledge).
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include manpower, labor, labor-power, or personnel.
Knowledge management (KM) is the set of procedures for producing, disseminating, utilizing, and overseeing an organization's knowledge and data. It alludes to a multidisciplinary strategy that maximizes knowledge utilization to accomplish organizational goals. Courses in business administration, information systems, management, libraries, and information science are all part of knowledge management (KM), a discipline that has been around since 1991. Information and media, computer science, public health, and public policy are some of the other disciplines that may contribute to KM research. Numerous academic institutions provide master's degrees specifically focused on knowledge management. As a component of their IT, human resource management, or business strategy departments, many large corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations have resources devoted to internal knowledge management initiatives. These organizations receive KM guidance from a number of consulting firms. Organizational goals including enhanced performance, competitive advantage, innovation, sharing of lessons learned, integration, and ongoing organizational improvement are usually the focus of knowledge management initiatives. These initiatives are similar to organizational learning, but they can be differentiated by their increased emphasis on knowledge management as a strategic asset and information sharing. Organizational learning is facilitated by knowledge management. The setting of supply chain may be the most challenging situation for knowledge management since it involves several businesses without a hierarchy or ownership tie; some authors refer to this type of knowledge as transorganizational or interorganizational knowledge. industry 4.0 and digital transformation also add to that complexity, as new issues arise from the volume and speed of information flows and knowledge generation.
Remote work is the practice of working at or from one's home or another space rather than from an office.
The knowledge economy, or knowledge-based economy, is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to advancement in technical and scientific innovation. The key element of value is the greater dependence on human capital and intellectual property as the source of innovative ideas, information, and practices. Organisations are required to capitalise on this "knowledge" in their production to stimulate and deepen the business development process. There is less reliance on physical input and natural resources. A knowledge-based economy relies on the crucial role of intangible assets within the organisations' settings in facilitating modern economic growth.
Peter Ferdinand Drucker was an Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of modern management theory. He was also a leader in the development of management education, and invented the concepts known as management by objectives and self-control, and he has been described as "the champion of management as a serious discipline".
Work design is an area of research and practice within industrial and organizational psychology, and is concerned with the "content and organization of one's work tasks, activities, relationships, and responsibilities" (p. 662). Research has demonstrated that work design has important implications for individual employees, teams, organisations, and society.
A business process, business method, or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks performed by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product for a particular customer or customers. Business processes occur at all organizational levels and may or may not be visible to the customers. A business process may often be visualized (modeled) as a flowchart of a sequence of activities with interleaving decision points or as a process matrix of a sequence of activities with relevance rules based on data in the process. The benefits of using business processes include improved customer satisfaction and improved agility for reacting to rapid market change. Process-oriented organizations break down the barriers of structural departments and try to avoid functional silos.
Scientific management is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes in management. Scientific management is sometimes known as Taylorism after its pioneer, Frederick Winslow Taylor.
Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process, i.e. output per unit of input, typically over a specific period of time. The most common example is the (aggregate) labour productivity measure, one example of which is GDP per worker. There are many different definitions of productivity and the choice among them depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and data availability. The key source of difference between various productivity measures is also usually related to how the outputs and the inputs are aggregated to obtain such a ratio-type measure of productivity.
Agile software development is an umbrella term for approaches to developing software that reflect the values and principles agreed upon by The Agile Alliance, a group of 17 software practitioners in 2001. As documented in their Manifesto for Agile Software Development the practitioners value:
The creative industries refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information. They may variously also be referred to as the cultural industries or the creative economy, and most recently they have been denominated as the Orange Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a process of collecting information that a person uses to gather, classify, store, search, retrieve and share knowledge in their daily activities and the way in which these processes support work activities. It is a response to the idea that knowledge workers need to be responsible for their own growth and learning. It is a bottom-up approach to knowledge management (KM).
Competence is the set of demonstrable personal characteristics or KSAOs that enable job performance at a high level with consistency and minimal difficulty. Competency in human resources is an organizational criterion for excellence that encompasses the behaviors, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities that enable employees to perform their roles effectively and reliably.
Workforce productivity is the amount of goods and services that a group of workers produce in a given amount of time. It is one of several types of productivity that economists measure. Workforce productivity, often referred to as labor productivity, is a measure for an organisation or company, a process, an industry, or a country.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to business management:
An electronic performance support system (EPSS) is any computer software program or component that improves user performance.
A knowledge market is a mechanism for distributing knowledge resources. There are two views on knowledge and how knowledge markets can function. One view uses a legal construct of intellectual property to make knowledge a typical scarce resource, so the traditional commodity market mechanism can be applied directly to distribute it. An alternative model is based on treating knowledge as a public good and hence encouraging free sharing of knowledge. This is often referred to as attention economy. Currently there is no consensus among researchers on relative merits of these two approaches.
Programming productivity describes the degree of the ability of individual programmers or development teams to build and evolve software systems. Productivity traditionally refers to the ratio between the quantity of software produced and the cost spent for it. Here the delicacy lies in finding a reasonable way to define software quantity.
Collaborative workflow is the convergence of social software with service management (workflow) software. As the definition implies, collaborative workflow is derived from both workflow software and social software such as chat, instant messaging, and document collaboration.
Knowledge-intensive services, abbreviated as KIS, are services that involve activities that are intended to result in the creation, accumulation, or dissemination of knowledge, where knowledge-intensiveness refers to how knowledge is produced and delivered with highly intellectual value-add. Knowledge intensive business services are the knowledge-intensive service activities for developing a customized service or product solution to satisfy the client's needs and they are provided mainly for other companies or organizations. These concepts are continuously discussed, formulated, and developed as a part of the constantly evolving academic discipline of knowledge management.
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