Drucker (1989) to describe individuals who carry knowledge as a powerful resource which they, rather than the organisation, own. Knowledge work can be said to be of an intellectual nature and where well qualified employees form a significant part of the workforce (Alvesson, 2000). There is, nonetheless, an acknowledged ambiguity in attempting to conclusively define the notion of a knowledge worker and knowledge intensive firms (KIFs) (Alvesson, 1993). Ulrich (1998) posits that, with knowledge work increasing, intellectual capital is a firm's only appreciable asset. Vogt (1995) defines a knowledge worker as a person with the motivation and capacity to co-create new insights and the capability to communicate, coach and facilitate the implementation of new ideas. The work is non-repetitive and results-oriented, using both 'traditional' scientific methods and the need for continuous learning, intuition, new mindsets and imagination. But some of these concepts may be contradictory and somewhat idealised, according to Alvesson (1993Alvesson ( : 1000Alvesson ( -1004. He notes that the work of knowledge workers is more aptly characterised as 'ambiguity intensive' than 'knowledge intensive'. These workers may have both a traditional knowledge type linking science and rational analytical problem solving and requisite knowledge, as well as a particular subjectivity requiring an ability to deal with complexity and uncertainty. The latter requires intuition, creativity, flexibility and social skills.There is an emerging literature and research evidence on specific HR strategies, practices and organisational blueprints for attracting, motivating and retaining these Finders, keepers? Attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers workers Hannan, 2002, Hewitt & Associates, 2001). Alvesson and Karreman (2001), drawing from a review of the literature and case studies, argue that 'knowledge management is as likely, or more so, to operate as a practice for managing people or information than as a practice attuned towards facilitating knowledge creation ' (2001: 1). The knowledge worker has individual and personal knowledge, and organisations are increasingly seeking ways of transforming this into shared social knowledge deployed for organisational goals.Our research investigates effective HR strategies and practices for attracting, motivating and retaining knowledge workers. Our work considers multinational and local knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) in six sectors and has two key aims:• to determine the best or the most effective HR practices for managing knowledge workers, for proposing a schema for attracting, motivating and retaining these workers; and • to explore the notion whether there is a distinctive set of HR practices for managing knowledge workers and other workers in general. Secondary aims are: • to provide a generic definition of knowledge-based firms acceptable to most respondents;• to compare the acceptable and unacceptable turnover of knowledge workers in relation to other employees and the suite of HR p...

Literature review highlights the importance of TQM for SMEs to improve their current business practices as well as quality of products and services, to ensure long‐term survival. However, there are several barriers to effective implementation of TQM in such organizations, namely, the apparent lack of business experience and knowledge, and limitation of financial as well as human resources. Singaporean SMEs account for a large share of its economy, however, little has been written on how TQM has been applied in these companies in Singapore and the region. This paper reports the results of a pilot study conducted among a sample of local SMEs. The findings are compared to an earlier work done in Singapore. Furthermore, this paper reports the findings of follow‐up interviews with some local SMEs regarding the perceived benefits of and barriers to ISO 9000. Based on the experience in Singapore, ISO 9000 certification has provided significant benefits for SMEs. The journey towards TQM will, however, require not only full commitment of the company management, but also a quality culture created externally by the government which is crucial to the progress beyond ISO 9000.

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Total quality m anagement has evolved beyond its roots in statistics and the quality control function. Today, it is believed to be a framework for`com petitive' managem ent. T he quality measurem ent instr uments for ser vice organizations developed by Parasuraman et al. have been successfully applied in many such organizations. Saraph et al. developed an instr um ent to m easure the overall organizational quality managem ent practices for both manufacturing and ser vice ® rm s. This instrum ent was tested for consistency and validity using data from US ® r ms, United Arab Em irates ® rm s and Indian ® rm s. The present study attempts to corroborate the results of the studies just m entioned. U sing data from 33 m anufactur ing and ser vice ® rm s in Singapore, inter nal consistency, criter ion-related validity and constr uct validity are tested. Additionally, the study shows how this instr ument could be used as a self-assessment tool by quality managers for continuous monitoring of quality-related perform ance . In conclusion, the instr ument developed by Saraph et al. appears to be reliable and valid for the measurem ent of the quality managem ent practices of an organization. A framework for self-assessment is also discussed.

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