T echnology and the K now ledge Workers

W ith reg ard to the earlier u n d erstan d in g s on know ledge, know ledge w ork, know ledge-based com panies, know ledge w orkers an d their characteristics, there is still som e confusion about the defining characteristics of know ledge w orkers. D ue to the fruits of technological grow th, m any people are of the opinion th at all know ledge w orkers m u st be high-tech w orkers or p e rh ap s at least have som e inform ation technology

background. To them , know ledge of com puters m u st be the m ain requirem ent. Based on the literature review , it ap p ears th at inform ation technology is n o t the m ain req u irem en t for being a know ledge w orker, alth o u g h som e people have suggested th at this is the case (Newell et al. 2002; D av en p o rt an d P rusak 1998 an d Solim an an d Spooner, 2000). Therefore, this section aim s to reduce the am biguity su rro u n d in g this m atter. A clarification of the difference betw een know ledge w orkers and high tech w orkers needs to be m ade before w e proceed fu rth er w ith a discussion of k n ow ledge m anagem ent in the next section.

The confusion arises w h en people ad m it th at inform ation technology is a "m u st" in k n ow ledge m an ag em en t (D avenport an d Prusak, 2000). This w as asserted by G rayson an d O 'D ell (1998: p. 85) w ho said:

"It is no coincidence that information technology (IT) has blossomed at the same time that knowledge is becoming recognized as the most valuable of a company's assets. There is a

powerful synergistic relationship between knowledge

management and technology; that relationship drives increasing returns and increasing sophistication on both fronts. As information technology has become our personal desktop tool and our link to each other, we have grown to covet even more access to information and other people's knowledge. In turn, we demand ever better and more effective IT tools, ones that become part of the way we work..."

This q u o tatio n illustrates the im p o rtan t role of inform ation technology in know ledge m an ag em en t practice, in th at know ledge m an ag em en t is considered as the form al system th at links to others an d encourages know ledge explanation. Hence, an o th er query arises th at relates to the u n d ertak en research. C ould it be concluded th at since the MSC status com panies are all high-tech com panies (see for fu rth er details on MSC com panies' back g ro u n d in C h ap ter 4, Section 4) then their w orkers are really know ledge w orkers? This scenario could be u n d e rsto o d better by looking at the w o rk carried o u t by Rogers (2001: p. 40), w ho stated that:

"High-tech companies are noted for their high level of intellectual work (Kelley and Caplan, 1993). The nature of the work is often cutting edge or a 'fresh from the lab' approach. High-tech employees are highly educated, many with advanced degrees in science, engineering, or computers. High-tech companies have a large proportion of their assets tied up in intellectual human assets, i.e., they often do not own much in the way of equipment or property."

The above illustrates th at high-tech w orkers p erform m any intellectual jobs, w hich is sim ilar to the situation of know ledge w orkers, as described in the earlier discussions. It also suits the definition of know ledge w orkers p ro v id ed by the M ultim edia D evelopm ent C orporation in M alaysia th at all know ledge w orkers m u st be highly educated an d possess know ledge of high technology.

H ere, A m ar (2002), D avenport an d Prusak (2000), D rucker (1988 an d 1998) an d Sveiby (1997) em phasised th at know ledge w o rk carried o u t by know ledge w orkers in know ledge-based com panies is in d eed influenced by inform ation technology. Thus, these w orkers m ay n o t discrim inate them selves from hig h technology. It is the tool a n d /o r system th at enables know ledge w orkers to leverage their know ledge an d com plete their tasks faster an d in the m ost efficient m anner. R eturning to the arg u m en t of w h eth er know ledge w orkers should possess high-tech know ledge or not, the an sw er sh o u ld be ''y es an d no". This is because looking back at the earlier definitions of know ledge w orkers, high technology sh o u ld not be the m ain req u irem en t for being one. The overall u n d e rstan d in g show s th at all high tech w o rk ers are know ledge w orkers, b u t on the other hand, and from a b ro ad er p o in t of view , not all know ledge w orkers m u st have high technology know ledge. Finally, having an overview of the theoretical aspects th at u n d e rp in this study, the concepts of k n ow ledge and k now ledge w orkers have been introduced. This th en leads to the next crucial issue of m an ag in g know ledge, also k n o w n as know ledge m anagem ent.