The Ecosystem of Business Education in a Technology Environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
Jane Hartman Frankel
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Positive Direction ◽  
Individual Knowledge ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sustainable Organizations

: The Knowledge Economy is the environment within which we live and work today. It impacts all work, both within organizations and the emerging workforce. The Knowledge Economy relies on workers’ expertise (individual knowledge) and the informed integration of this knowledge to move an organization in a positive direction. This article describes a Knowledge Economy program (Project-based Internships) that enables organizations and new workforce members to experience and grasp the importance of knowledge work in sustaining and growing organizations. This is especially applicable to the technology domain as the founders in this area are focused on their individual knowledge of science and technology. They often need to build sustainable organizations with knowledge work to deliver and sustain their expert inventions and/or discoveries. : Knowledge work has two distinct attributes that define its orientation and operation. Knowledge workers are autonomous in their work and they are asset-thinkers, meaning that all work is focused on a result, which will create value for an organization. Within these two attributes, knowledge workers also must recognize the difference between quality and quantity, use project structures, and continuously evaluate for learning and innovation. : Our current education system does not recognize the individual knowledge perspective in shaping students’ experiences. Project-based work is structured to empower and enable students’ experiences to be knowledge work to foster this thinking and its best practices and to create the environment that supports knowledge work within the organizations that the knowledge worker serves. : Various current-day methodologies are built into the structured project work, such as The Lean Startup, the recognition of invisible capital and growth mindsets, building knowledge work capabilities, and, finally, building an organizational environment in which success will thrive.

Optimizing Knowledge-Work Through Personal Knowledge Management

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-48
Author(s):  
Rezvan Hosseingholizadeh ◽  
Hadi El-Farr ◽  
Somayyeh Ebrahimi Koushk Mahdi
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Personal Knowledge Management ◽  
Individual Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Discretionary Behavior

Knowledge-work is a discretionary behavior, and knowledge-workers should be viewed as investors of their intellectual capital. That said, effective knowledge-work is mostly dependent on the performance of individual knowledge-workers who drive the success of knowledge-intensive organizations. Therefore, the study takes the perspective of personal knowledge management in enforcing the effectiveness of knowledge-work activities. This study empirically demonstrates that knowledge-workers' behaviors are dependent on their motivation, ability and opportunity to perform knowledge-work activities. This study provides insights and future directions for research on knowledge-work as a discretionary behavior in organization and the factors influencing it. Scholars can investigate the effect of empowerment of individuals on their tendency to knowledge-creation, knowledge-sharing and knowledge-application. Since personal-knowledge often raise the issue of knowledge ownership, further attention to ethical issues may bring valuable insights for KM in organizations.

The Dilemmas of Design Thinking in Innovation Projects

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Hölzle ◽  
Holger Rhinow
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Common Language ◽  
Experience Based Learning ◽  
Innovation Projects ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Specific Learning ◽  
Specific Working

Organizations have discovered Design Thinking as a promising framework or language for innovation-focused project teamwork. The goal is to develop new products and services by being customer-centric and working iteratively and in an interdisciplinary way, using specific working principles and methods to create a common language among all stakeholders. The empirical results in this article show that Design Thinking teamwork is different from other forms of teamwork. The difference in Design Thinking team-based project work is that the teams go through a specific learning process that poses individual challenges but also provides the individual with experience-based learning. We show that teams going through this learning process repeatedly find themselves in seemingly insolvable conflicts—so called structural dilemmas—within the framework of project deadlines and under the influence of strategic guidelines of the organization. We explore these structural dilemmas and develop ways to overcome them.

scholarly journals The Relation Between Work and Thumos. A Critical Interrogation of the Motivation Behind Knowledge Work Compulsion

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benda Hofmeyr
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Neoliberal Governmentality ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
To Come

In this paper I attempt to come to a critical understanding of an intriguing phenomenon at the heart of a broader question, i.e. what are we today – as knowledge workers – in relation to our present understood as the globalising neoliberal governmentality in which life is reduced to constant work under conditions of comprehensive control? Previous attempts to interrogate the nature of knowledge work and the knowledge worker have led me to conclude that these workers do not work to live, but live to work. An important reason seems to be that the neoliberal knowledge worker works all the time because s/he paradoxically wants to. This presents a paradox since the overinvestment in knowledge work does not appear to generate proportionate gains for the working subject. In my attempt to arrive at some kind of explication for this phenomenon of compulsive work, I critically interrogate Fukuyama’s contention that work has a thumotic origin. To this end I briefly discuss Plato’s conceptualisation of thumos and Hegel’s understanding of the significance of labour.

scholarly journals An Analysis Of Perceptions Regarding Knowledge-Worker Instructional Needs In Graduate Management Programs

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Scully ◽  
John W. Russette ◽  
Robert Preziosi ◽  
Francisco De Cossio
Keyword(s):  
Literature Search ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Item Questionnaire ◽  
Global Commerce ◽  
Instructional Needs

Relevance in Management programs has become a major issue for colleges and universities. The literature posits that proactive educational institutions need to retool and refocus their programs to be consistent with business organizations which have been transformed by technology and global commerce. This study addresses the reliability of contemporary perceptions and postulates expressed in the literature related to effectively managing knowledge-work professionals. A literature search of knowledge-worker writings was collected and perceptions were extracted for further evaluation. These extracted attributes were set into a thirty-five item questionnaire and administered to three demographic groups including: (a) knowledge-workers, (b) knowledge-worker managers, and (c) knowledge worker educators. Results indicate that if such a validated perception-based program were offered it would raise fulfillment of needs for knowledge-workers, managers, and educators and offer a unique, identifiable program related to teaching and researching related to this new management paradigm.

scholarly journals Neoliberal governmentality, knowledge work, and thumos

2021 ◽  
Vol Volume XIV Issue 1-2 (Articles) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benda Hofmeyr
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
The Self ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
Neoliberal Governmentality ◽  
Collège De France ◽  
Gary Becker ◽  
Smart Technologies

Research has shown that the knowledge worker, the decisive driver of the knowledge economy, works increasingly longer hours. In fact, it would appear that instead of working to live, they live to work. There appears to be three reasons for this living-to-work development. First, the knowledge worker ‘has to’ on account of the pressure to become ever more efficient. Such pressure translates into internalized coercion in the case of the self-responsible knowledge worker. Secondly, working is constant, because the Internet and smart technologies and mobile devices have made it ‘possible’. It gives the worker the capacity and management omnipotent control. In the final instance, the neoliberal knowledge worker works all the time because s/he paradoxically ‘wants to’. It is a curious phenomenon, because this compulsive working is concomitant with a rise of a host of physical, emotional, and psychological disorders as well as the erosion of social bonds. The paradox is exacerbated by the fact that the knowledge worker does not derive any of the usual utilities or satisfactions associated with hard work. Elsewhere I have ascribed this apparent contradiction at the heart of the living-to-work phenomenon to the invisible thumotic satisfaction generated by knowledge work. In the present article, I argue that neoliberal governmentality has found a way to tether thumos directly to the profit incentive. I draw on Foucault’s 1978-1979 Collége de France lecture course in which he analysed neoliberal governmentality with specific emphasis on the work of the neoliberal theorist of human capital, Gary Becker.

Knowledge Worker Performance in a Cross-Industrial Perspective

2012 ◽  
pp. 297-321
Author(s):  
Rainer Erne
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicator ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Alternative Definition ◽  
Worker Performance ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Business Sectors

Knowledge workers in specific professional domains form the fastest increasing workforce in OECD countries. Since this fact has been realised by management researchers, they have focussed on the question of how to measure and enhance the productivity of said workforce. According to the author’s cross-industrial research undertaken in five different knowledge-intensive organisations, it is, however, not productivity in the traditional meaning of the term which is to be regarded as the crucial performance indicator in knowledge work. There rather exist multiple performance indicators, each of which is, moreover, differently graded as to its importance by different stakeholders. These findings, firstly, indicate the need for an alternative definition of productivity when the term is applied to knowledge work. Secondly, they indicate the need for alternative definitions of the specific challenges that might be involved in making knowledge workers productive. Thirdly, they imply different consequences for the management of knowledge workers. This chapter closes abovementioned research gaps by summarising the indicators employed in five knowledge-intensive organisations from different business sectors for the assessment of knowledge workers’ performance, by subsequently deducing the specific challenges involved in the management of knowledge workers and by further delineating consequences for the management of knowledge workers – consequences affecting various knowledge-intensive industries.

HRM and Knowledge Workers

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juani Swart
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Practice Development

This article develops a definition of the knowledge worker and discusses the characteristics of knowledge workers and their work. It then shifts to the organizational level and takes a closer look at the characteristics of knowledge-based organizations and the management of knowledge work. Several managerial and theoretical challenges arise when we combine individual and organizational knowledge perspectives. Each of these challenges, together with relevant knowledge-focused HR practices, is discussed and presented in a table, which serves as a summary to the article. The final section looks toward the future and explores possible avenues for research, theory-building, and HRM policy and practice development.

scholarly journals Who is a “knowledge worker” – clarifying the meaning of the term through comparison with synonymous and associated terms

Management ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Surawski
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
University Education ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Level Statistics ◽  
Popular Language ◽  
High Level

Summary The term “knowledge worker” has entered the language of management and economics, becoming popular or even fashionable. Consequently, its definitions are varied and often ambiguous or provisional – which makes it difficult to identify and research such employees. Deeper understanding of the term “knowledge workers” is required. One of the ways of defining a term is to define its semantic area through borders and overlaps with synonyms and “adjoining” terms. Such comparisons can help to deepen understanding of the central term and reveal its defining features. Therefore, two objectives were set in this study: 1) to compare “knowledge workers” and synonymous and associated terms specifying similarities, differences and areas of overlap, in order to find defining features of “knowledge workers”; and 2) to specify the synonymous and associated terms closest to knowledge workers and useful as proxies for research purposes. A group of 15 synonyms was selected, including historical and presently applied terms, proposed by various researchers or used in popular language. These terms were first characterized, and then compared to knowledge workers in terms of similarities, differences and areas of overlap. Comparison pointed to a number of features strongly related to knowledge work. Based on them, a sketch definition was proposed: Knowledge workers work mainly on symbols (representations), transforming them in cognitive processes, which is the main source of added value. To do that, they must command a large body of knowledge equivalent to university education, understood and internalised, grounded in experience and consequently updated. They perform complex tasks, focus on problem-solving, creating knowledge, distributing it and applying to achieve results. They broadly use documents and ICT, and require high level of autonomy. With respect to the second aim of the study, there are several terms closer in meaning to knowledge workers. Terms with most similarities and least differences include specialists and experts. Of these, specialists have most similarities, while experts are a narrower, more advanced type of specialists. In terms of overlap, categories closest to knowledge workers seem to be specialists/ professionals (wider) and professionals (narrower) – both are large sub-sets of knowledge workers, with specialists leaving fewer remainders. As far as identifiability is concerned, terms related to classifications of occupations are those better defined. Among them, “white-collars”, knowledge producers and distributors, and information workers were measured in older classifications, while specialists/ professionals and managers are categories measured today. Both are defined in detail in ISCO-08, making them identifiable also at the organisational level. Statistics of specialists and managers are gathered regularly in most countries belonging to ILO and are easily accessible. Concluding, specialists/ professionals (wider) are the best proxy group for researching knowledge workers: they possess almost the same key features, overlap closely, leaving smallest remainder, and are defined in detail in an international classification used worldwide to measure their national populations. Selecting a random member of the group, one is practically certain to find a knowledge worker.

scholarly journals A Soft Systems Approach to Knowledge Worker Productivity: A Purposeful Activity Model for the Individual

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Helga Guðrún Óskarsdóttir ◽  
Guðmundur Valur Oddsson ◽  
Jón Þór Sturluson ◽  
Rögnvaldur Jóhann Sæmundsson
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems ◽  
The Individual

This research attempted to find and define holistic systems that affect the productivity of the knowledge worker (KW), using the soft systems methodology (SSM). It is not enough to look at the management and improvement of knowledge worker productivity (KWP) from the viewpoint of the organization. The viewpoint of the individual KW needs to be considered as well. The KW owns the means of production; they carry their knowledge in their heads and take it with them when changing jobs. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that describes the process in which the KW uses resources to execute actions to create tangible or intangible artifacts with the intention of generating value. It was based on interpretations and inferences made from an extensive literature review using the snowballing method. This paper highlights what implications the lessons learned from the conceptual framework have on managing and improving KWP and delves deeper into four key concepts: value in knowledge work, knowledge, personal resources, and competencies.

Knowledge management, organizational commitment and knowledge-worker performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 923-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahid Razzaq ◽  
Muhammad Shujahat ◽  
Saddam Hussain ◽  
Faisal Nawaz ◽  
Minhong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Knowledge Workers ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose Knowledge management in the public sector is relatively an ignored avenue of research and practice that has recently been given attention. Knowledge management initiatives in the public sector are now not limited to the developed countries anymore. The public sectors of various developing countries including Pakistan have developed knowledge management functions to address the problems of low organizational commitment (higher turnover rates) and knowledge-workers’ performance. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediation role of organizational commitment in the relationship between knowledge management practices and knowledge-worker performance. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered from 341 knowledge workers of the public sector health department of Punjab Province, Pakistan, where knowledge management unit initiative has been taken. It was then analyzed using the structural equation modeling. Findings Organizational commitment partially mediates the relationship between knowledge management practices and knowledge-work performance. Practical implications The public sector policy makers are strongly advised to implement knowledge management units and practices in order to enhance knowledge-work performance as well as organizational commitment. Originality/value First, the model on the mediating role of organizational commitment has never been examined before. Second, the data collection from the public Health Department of Pakistan, a developing country, is relatively rare because the public sector knowledge management studies have mostly been conducted in developed countries. Finally, this study extends the literature on knowledge management in the public sector that is the developing theme in knowledge management discipline while adding knowledge management as a toolkit to enhance knowledge-workers’, organizational commitment and knowledge-work performance.

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