A Soft Systems Approach to Knowledge Worker Productivity—Analysis of the Problem Situation

Abstract

Low knowledge worker productivity is an important problem that needs to be addressed. Current research addressing this problem is fragmented and deals with different isolated elements of the problem. There is a need for a holistic approach to knowledge worker productivity. This paper takes the first steps of a holistic approach to knowledge worker productivity by using soft systems methodology to describe the problem situation. The main challenge of this research was the abstraction of the results from two literature reviews into simple rich pictures and specific root definitions to identify the fundamentals of knowledge worker productivity. The problem situation was explored from the perspective of two problem owners, the organization and the individual knowledge worker. The rich picture from the perspective of the organization highlighted that the organization must communicate what they perceive as value and create a work environment that promotes collaboration, encourages knowledge sharing, motivates and fulfills the needs of their knowledge workers. The rich picture from the perspective of the individual knowledge worker highlighted the fact that knowledge workers need to manage their personal resources, be effective and efficient to maximize their own productivity. This paper attempts to integrate these two perspectives into a holistic view.

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

“…The aim was to explore what is value in knowledge work and these three concepts: competencies, knowledge, and personal resources. They were identified as important to the activities of the knowledge worker (KW) when creating value (Óskarsdóttir and Oddsson 2017). This section provides an overview of the results of this literature review.…”

“…The workers in these jobs are called knowledge workers (KWs). KWs have high degrees of expertise, education, or experience and use this to acquire, create, share, or apply knowledge in their jobs (Óskarsdóttir and Oddsson 2017). We are dependent on KWs not only to maintain and keep our economy strong, but also for innovations that will change the world.…”

“…This will cause a mismatch in the individual KW's perception of his/her productivity and the organization's perception of his/her productivity. Óskarsdóttir and Oddsson (2017) found two factions of current research that view the problem of managing and improving KWP from the ideas of their solutions. Both factions assume that effectively working with knowledge is the main factor influencing KWP.…”

“…If managing and improving KWP is looked at from the viewpoint of the individual knowledge worker, both the problem description and solutions change. Óskarsdóttir and Oddsson (2017) detected in a literature review of a proxy for industry that individual knowledge workers experience the following challenges as influential to their productivity: too much demand and insufficient resources, choosing what to do and how to do it, self-development, self-awareness, successful relationships, tapping into their full potential, collaboration, the productivity of their thinking, and motivation. Solutions to these challenges have been proposed and used with varying degrees of success.…”

“…Purposeful activity models are therefore built by assembling and linking the activities relevant to acquiring the input, the activities to transform it, and the activities to do something with the output (Checkland 2011). Once a purposeful activity model from the viewpoint of the individual has been created, the next step, according to the path set by Óskarsdóttir and Oddsson (2017), is to formulate a purposeful activity model of the system owned by the organization. Only after both of these viewpoints have been explored can the situation be debated and actions for improvement identified.…”