Comparing Managerial Leadership in Knowledge Intensive Context: How Leadership Skills and Styles Differs Among Organizational Levels?

Abstract

In today's globalized world, being innovative has become a top priority for many organizations. The knowledge-oriented sectors have started to gain much power and attention for the competing economies. Such developments give rise to new form of organizations named as “knowledge intensive firms (KIFs)” along with a new type of employee called as “knowledge worker.” Such workers use their brain power and think for a living unlike manual workers whose work is mostly based on physical tasks. Knowledge workers are generally work in knowledge intensive firms and use their theoretical and analytical skills to find creative solutions to complex problems and dealing with uncertainty of knowledge creation through new product or service development. İn fact, the new knowledge and the products they create is not easy to replicate both inside and outside of organization. These workers are the most valuable assets of knowledge intensive organizations. Being expert and skillful gives knowledge workers the autonomy and control power on their job. Traditional approaches and leadership styles of managers are questioned and not welcomed in such settings. Therefore, the changing focus and the nature of these contemporary organizations unearthed new leadership styles and approaches for the executive officers. Interviews with managers and knowledge workers revealed that different managerial skills and leadership styles are favored depending on the organizational levels of managers doing leadership in knowledge intensive setting.