The concept of knowledge work revisited

Abstract

PurposeTo identify and critically assess the most recurrent themes in the ongoing debate on knowledge work.Design/methodology/approachA representative selection of studies published since 1962 is reviewed. The review focuses on the theoretical strengths and limitations of the concept of knowledge work.FindingsThe review indicates that definitions of knowledge work abound. Although knowledge work has attracted scholarly minds for several decades and the number of publications in this area has rapidly increased in recent years, it has proved hard to come by a clear and concise definition of this term. However, certain themes, such as a high level of education and skills and the use of information technology as an integral part of the informational labour process, have become increasingly common to both the empirical and the theoretical literature.Originality/valueThe paper helps pave the way for more detailed research by providing an ideal‐typical profile of informational labour.

The Impact of Knowledge-Based Economy on Growth Performance: Evidence from MENA Countries

“…Balkyte and Tvaronavičiene (2010) and Pyöriä (2005) have emphasized the abilities of knowledge workers to act as an interface between new technology and human interactions. Glaeser (2000) and Raspe and Van Oort (2008) confirm the importance of knowledge work and knowledge worker as the engines of regional economic growth.…”

Desenvolvimento urbano baseado em conhecimento e ecossistemas de inovação urbanos: uma análise em quatro cidades brasileiras

“…Por conseguinte, esta perspectiva diz respeito ao trabalhador do conhecimento, uma vez que se dedica ao incremento do capital intelectual. Estes trabalhadores distinguem-se por terem no conhecimento seu principal instrumento de trabalho, estão acostumados a atividades não rotineiras, e são capazes de criar novas soluções ou adicionar valor às já existentes (Davenport, 2005;Florida, 2002Florida, , 2005Pyöriä, 2005). Engenheiros, físicos, matemáticos, profissionais da computação, arquitetos, cientistas, advogados são alguns dos exemplos desta classe.…”

Activity-centric support for weakly-structured business processes

“…The temporal relation between the subtasks is modeled using plans. The Concur Task Trees (CTT) [19] approach is also based on hierarchical task decomposition. It further allows task classification in different categories (abstract tasks, user tasks, interaction tasks, and application tasks) which directly hint towards a further need of task decomposition or towards the responsible stakeholder for task execution.…”

“…We follow the knowledge work description of [21] as a semiotic activity of information creation, transformation, and consumption. Knowledge work often is executed using computer desktop applications, which deliver a restricted set of functionalities [19]. For this understanding of knowledge work, Hädrich identifies a set of eight reoccurring knowledge work actions as fragments of work [9].…”

“…Task analysis describes task execution as interaction between humans and systems, i.e. human intentions result in activities that are supported by a computer system [19]. Information management is interested in the task execution with respect to information demand [13].…”