Schutze, Ulrike
--Schultze, 2003, On Knowledge Work--
He describes an emerging consensus on what is knowledge worker. ...
their inputs and outputs are high in information content, they apply
skilled mental labor, and ply their trade through their intellective
abilities and their specialized knowledge rather than their physical
abilities. Other attributes include mobility, flexibility, empowerment,
teamwork, computer-mediation, application of esoteric and theoretical
knowledge.
I am not sure if the definition above will be useful for me. It is too specific.
He mentions three main approaches to explain knowledge work. His conclusions are not clear... Must dig further in the article.
Economic perspective
- He says the economic perspective emphasizes the difference
between knowledge work and other types of work (but don't all other
approaches do the same? Try to differentiate it? It is not clear).
- Perspective concerned with creating classification schemes of
occupations to address policy issues and competitive advantage ones.
- Criteria for differentiating are the type of knowledge that workers possess and differences in the nature of their work.
Machlup (1962) was one of the first to define knowledge work. His classification was arbitrary.
OECD (Arnal, Ok and Torres, 2001) divided occupations in:
- non-information: produces goods and personal services.
- Services are personal interactions with customers. Include
sales representatives, entertainers, artists and customer service
representatives.
- Goods-producing is physical labor and the manipulation of
physical objects. Include farmers, precision production craftsmen and
factory workers
- information workers (generates and manipulates information)
- Knowledge. Occupations that produce original knowledge or
possess expertise that is not easily transferable. Include engineers,
scientists or computer scientists.
- Management. Include business owners, executives, legislators and senior oficials.
- Data work. Manipulate information, but do not produce new
knowledge. Include librarians, administrators, office clerks and
counselors.
Drucker (1993) suggests that not all work with information qualifies as
knowledge work. Some of it is service work, which relies on established
procedures and have clearly defined deliverables. Clerical jobs such as
data processing, billing, and answering customer queries.
Leidner (1993) Service work is fairly well defined, bounded, and
frequently scripted, which makes it possible to establish quantifiable
productivity measures for them. Do not require high levels of education.
This perspective links knowledge work to the knowledge-based view of
the firm: firms hold knowledge (Foss, 1996), firm's boundaries are
explained by differences in knowledge, or asymmetries in the economics
of knowledge (Grant, 1996). Firms provide an environment in which
specialist knowledge can be brought together and cooperate, instead of
behave opportunistically (Kogut and Zander, 1996).
Not all knowledge is valuable. Competitiveness, core competencies,
resource-based approaches consider only privately held, distinct and
valuable knowledge as the source of competitiveness. Knowledge must be
valuable, difficult to imitate, rare among competitors, and have few
equivalents (Barney, 1991; von Krogh and Roos, 1995).
Thus, service workers, whose work is scripted, are less valuable than
knowledge workers who possess tacit knowledge (this is kind of
elitist, I must deal with this). Knowledge work also involves choice, makes room for creativity, requires thinking agents.
Frenkel et al (1993). What kind of knowledge and skills are valued.
Three dimensions: form of knowledge (theoretical vs. contextual),
creativity (high vs. low), and intellective, social and action-centered
skill (high vs. low). They differentiate between knowledge work
(theoretical knowledge, high creativity, high social and intellectual
skill) and routine work (opposite).
Schultze summarizes:
- nature of knowledge the worker possesses: mostly abstract, theoretical, and esoteric, requires high levels of formal education.
- nature of knowledge the worker produces: new knowledge, instead
of just manipulating existing knowledge. Knowledge workers are more
empowered and able to use intellective and social skills in creative
ways.
I wonder, why he puts all those authors as belonging to an economic
perspective? Because the authors are economists? Drucker is not an
economist. Because they focus on the economic meaning of knowledge?
Does not seem to be. Confusing, I didn't understand.
Knowledge workers are elite, privileged, valued.
Labor process perspective (better social relations, relations of production)
Worried with the social meaning of knowledge work. Starting with labor and capital, identifies the rise of white collar workers.
Chamot (1987) divides white collars among:
- executives and managers. supervisory authority, set policies.
- professional employees. college degrees, frequent use of judgment and application of specialized knowledge
- clerical and support. staff.
Some include professionals and technicians as knowledge workers.
- professionals: systematic, scientifically-based theory, long
formal education, autonomy, ethical rules, distinct occupational
culture, client-orientation, social sanction and authorization
(alvesson, 1993). physicians, lawyers, priests, accountants,
consultants.
- technicians: deal with instruments and machines. work in
medicine, engineering, auto repair and computers. require training in
both science and technology and work on machines.
The key question in this perspective is whether this group will form a
third class, a service class. This middle grouping, composed of
professionals, technicians and managers, and apart from workers and
owners of capital, may form or not a separate social class. Thus, the
focus is on ideological affiliations of the occupational groups that
make up the knowledge work class, rather than on what knolwedge they
possess or what they do.
Work practice perspective
Stehr (1994) classifies knowledge work into knowledge
production and knowledge re-production. Scientists and intellectuals
are knowledge producers who contribute to the public fund of knowledge.
Application and transfer of scientific knowledge is typically left to
advisors, experts and counselors.
Disciplines vs. professions. Fuller (1992) also distinguishes between
knowledge generation and application. Scientists take care of
disciplines and create knowledge, using theories, methods and
instruments. Lawyers and doctors represent the professions, applying
knowledge and passing it on.
Wikstrom and Norman (1994) add a third category. Besides generating
knowledge and making it productive, they add representing knowledge so
it can be transferred and shared. Schultze also cites Davenport et al.
(1996) and Snyder-Halpern et al. (2001).
Schultze (2000) separates between production and re-production of
information. Knowledge workers are expected to add value to the firm.
They need to add their own understanding, personal knowledge and
subjective view, to the informational objects they produce. He mentions
three practices of knowledge workers:
- Ex-pressing. Extracting knowledge and experience out from individual worker's mind and body.
- Monitoring. Uninvolved bystander and objective observer.
- Translating. Renders information from one realm recognizable to another.
Knights et al. (1993) define knowledge work as networking, highlighting social capital.
In summary, this perspective focus on what knowledge workers do, no on
what they know. A common theme is that knowledge work is the production
and reproduction of knowledge.
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