People-focused knowledge management

Knowledge-Intensive Work
The Misunderstanding of Knowledge-Intensive Work
The degree of knowledge intensity of work may often be quite 
misunderstood. Many distinguish between manual work (which they
indicate is not knowledge-intensive) and knowledge-intensive work
as if work that results in manipulation of physical objects does not
require intensive application of high levels of expertise. To provide a
different view, consider the machining center operator who is prepar-
ing the final metal cuts on a high-technology part in which hundreds
of thousands of dollars of work have already been invested. One
error by the operator may destroy that piece. Or consider the 
European aircraft company that started a new carbon fiber compos-
ites plant and planned to train new workers by only transferring 
engineers (the “knowledge workers”) from the old plant. In this case,
it took six months and the transfer of expert manual laborers before
the new plant could produce a single part that passed inspections.
And consider that the roustabouts on North Sea oil platforms spend
more than 60 percent of their time on paper and computer work.
We find high degrees of knowledge intensity in work performed
by effective and high-performing people everywhere. Often, these
people are not consciously aware that they apply deep knowledge
since it is tacit and highly automatized and has been acquired through
implicit learning over long periods. A clear example is the master
blacksmith who has learned his craft over a decade or more.
Researchers who analyze how intellectual work is performed are
appalled by the general lack of understanding of how people use their
minds to work. “How people work is one of the best kept secrets 
in America” is a statement that expresses this sentiment (Suchman
1995). Only in the last few years have we started to understand and
focus on the intellectual functions performed by knowledge workers
when they perform knowledge-intensive work. As a result, in many
instances we are now just starting to understand the complexity,
power, and business value of how proficient knowledge workers
apply the knowledge they possess to analyze and interpret challenges
and deliver high-quality work products. We are also learning more
about how we can support knowledge workers to be more versatile
by providing them with additional knowledge when needed and how
we can reduce the need to educate or train them to become profici-
ent in many rarely encountered or lower-level tasks that can be 
automated to assist them or be executed autonomously. These are 
Competing in the Global Economy Requires Effective Enterprises
7
ch01.qxd 5/3/04 2:27 PM Page 7

---

the knowledge-related functions that we often complement with
knowledge-based system (KBS) applications.