Towards an
understanding of leading
knowledge workers – a
lit review.
ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
Who are/What are knowledge workers?
– KW first coined 50 years ago by Drucker
– IT v Humanistic definitions
– Drucker(2003)– “Information with relevance and
purpose”
– Davenport (2005)- “Information combined with
experience, context, interpretation and reflection”.
– Pepper(2002) “anyone who knows more about their
job than their boss…or any professional”
….defined
• Gray (2006) 5 Dimensions of KW
1. Finding existing knowledge (e.g. competitive intelligence
analyst)
2. Creating new knowledge (e.g. pharmaceutical and other
researchers)
3. Packaging knowledge (e.g. book or paper publisher)
4. Distributing knowledge (knowledge management professionals
and lecturers)
5. Applying knowledge (e.g. accountants)
• Drucker…Knowledge does not reside in a book, a database, or
a software programme; these may contain information.
Knowledge is always embodied in a person; applied by a
person; taught and passed on by a person or used or misused
by a person; (pg 287).
So why does it matter? – organisational level
• Cobert (2005) “knowledge and knowledge workers will
become the greatest strategic resource for an
organisation…and learning how to lead them the
greatest strategic skill”
• ….KW the key to organisations competitive advantage
and future survival (Asllani & Luthans 2003).
• Drucker 70-80% of value added comes from KW..
..why does it matter? – societal level
• OECD (2003) management of ‘knowledge’ will impact
on the economic and social development of nations…
• Cullen (2006)…future economies based on KW…role of
tertiary education in developing a knowledge
‘economy’….
• Labour market trends: aging workforce coupled with
knowledge loss and the ‘rise and rise’ of knowledge
work (Ware & Grantham 2003); knowledge based tight
labour market (brain drain international competition) and
global convergence (Horwitz, Teng Heng, Quazi (2003)
• All increase the pressure and urgency for
understanding..
What goes wrong - why is KM like Herding
Cats?
• KW….. resent traditional management styles demand
greater autonomy, dislike bureaucratic styles and
systems, have loyalty to career not organisations, own
their own knowledge and therefore organisations ca,
are motivated by own learning, work meaning and
career…
• Economist 2004 “…managing knowledge workers is
complex, difficult, requiring new skills, leadership
understanding, structures and abilities ….and is
notoriously like ‘herding cats’…”
A new paradigm – moving away from blood
letting…..How does the future look?
• The problem is however….”though we live in a Knowledge age
many of our organisational practices are ebbed in historical
principles of management” Lewis 2006, Oltra 2005.
• Pepper (2003)..what we teach our leaders of the future is the
‘mindset’ of the past.
• Industrial era paradigms still prominent today in text books.
• Mind set of … Industrial era and control is what gets passed on
from one generation of management to another .. this thinking is
built into the very structures and systems and management
processes of our organisations and our teaching in management.
Lewis (2006).
• Covey…these old world management techniques similar to blood
letting paradigms of the past..
Leading KWs the role of team based designs
• Models that ‘tap into the highest forms of human
motivation, genius of people and their talents is where
the future of that organisation will lie……(Lewis 2006)
Pearce (2004)..KW is increasingly becoming a team
based design…and argues for increased models of
shared leadership.
• Sears (2005) ‘“Effective knowledge management
requires team building and team work skills” pg 2.
Team based designs work because…
• Pearce (2004)- it has never been more difficult for any one
person to have all the knowledge and skills required for the wide
variety and contexts of knowledge work; a highly educated
workforce has greater knowledge to offer the organisation, and
today’s employees desire more from work than just a pay check
– they want to make a meaningful difference – which according
to Pearce (2004) is increasingly being made though team based
knowledge work.
• Example: research publications –
• In one study of Scientific Publications, the 195 articles published
only 3% were by Individuals, 77% shared by three or more co
authors and a number published by 100 co authors, suggesting
that team based design and the concept of ‘shared leadership’ in
the team is an important component in cutting edge scientific
discovery.
Self Managed Teams.
• Muthusamy (2005) “Increasingly organisations are moving
towards SMTS” …. they fit the framework required to better
manage KWs - workers who know more about their work than
managers, are self motivated, highly educated and require
autonomy and are self controlled.
• SMTs allow for freer communication of ideas, dissent to test
ideas, and synergy to grow innovation.
• SMTs reduce the need for close supervision of individuals while
advancing and not sacrificing organisational effectiveness and
goals.
• The advanced form of SMTs results in diminishing of distinctions
between the role definitions of higher level managers and teams
in a leadership sense – hence they are conducive to intuitive
learning, encourage dialogue, support cognitive freedom and
knowledge sharing and as such enhances organisational
effectiveness.
….team based design
• (Muthusamy et acl 2005) argue that SMTs help to build
competencies on Knowledge…and argue that SMTs is
one of the major contributions to KW landscape.
• Lawler (2001)…SMTs one bigger developments to hit
business “since the industrial revolution …”
• …but many researchers calling for further research into
the effectiveness of SMTs and KW..
…the changed role of Leadership
• MCGregor (2004) rise of “social capital” and
KW….argued for a move away from current
management practices and existing education in
management….towards individual psychology and ‘soft’
management skills.
• Australian Report - Industry Task Force on Leadership
and Management Skills ) which found that nearly half of
all Australian managers had difficulty in dealing with
people (pg 161). ..
…leaders of the future
•
•
•
•
Sears (2005) argued that ‘sensitivity training’ may be crucial for managing
knowledge workers –along with the ability to ‘tune in’ to individuals at a close
and intuitive level.
Further openness, facilitative leadership, trust, transparency and consensus
building (Maccoby 2006, Maccoby 1996) are all required for leaders of
knowledge workers .
Further Pepper (2003) and Drucker (1998), argue that organisations need a
special form of leadership that recognizes the intellectual capital as an
invaluable asset. They argue the age of managerial and leadership respect for
people and their creative potential in organisations is paramount.
Chennai (2006) supports this view by stating that since knowledge workers
are concept orientated and tend to be self reliant the leader has no need to
lead in the traditional way and that the relationship between leaders and
knowledge workers is best based on trust and integrity (Chennai 2006).
..one example – Servant Based Leadership
• Copy of handout – servant based leadership.
• Pepper (2003) leaders achieve and sustain their
position by having followers and relying on followers
support ….. based on the notion that power and
authority cannot create trust and respect…in fact power
and authority weaken mana and create
resistance…McGregor this model of leadership
consistent with KW..
• …number of researchers calling for further studies in
this area…
…does this mean the end of workplace
control?
• work meaning, and intellectual commitment are the
primary drivers of attitude and behaviour Pratt
&Ashforth (2005).
• Landcare (2004) “….motivated to perform by developing
their career …… through knowledge processes”
• hence focus falls to ‘self control’.
• Covey (2004) managers role is to shift from controller to
enabler .
….control issues and organisation issues
• These need to be in place within an
organisational context that supports
them….organic and participative…
• Role of HR ‘service provider” to ‘business
partner’ in order to build knowledge capabilities.
• Build structures that move to performance
support from performance management.
What are our current practices?
• What are we currently teaching in business
courses….? My own research on most used
texts suggest…..
• As a Knowledge Worker yourself what is your
response…..?