The Knowledge Economy and You

Mairéad  Browne

Sometimes I despair that I’ll ever get my head around the terms ‘Knowledge Economy’, ‘Knowledge Society’, ‘Information Revolution’ which are part of everyday discourse but are nonetheless ambiguous and elusive concepts. For all their familiarity they can be intimidating for those of us who feel they would like to be part of ‘it’ but don’t know where to start. It all seems so abstract in its talk of innovation, productivity, globalisation, R&D, science, creativity, ICT, global knowledge networks….. So to bring it down to something more concrete I am going to venture some ideas of how us mere mortals can understand and respond to the changes which underlie the Knowledge Economy.

To begin with, it’s important that we come to terms with the basic characteristics of this new economy since it’s said that 80% of us will be working in knowledge-based activities by 2020 with the vast majority at the upper end of the skill spectrum. In this context, perhaps the most important fact to comprehend is that nowadays economic activity (activities to do with production and consumption of goods and services) is based very much less on the production of tangibles such as coal and wool than was the case in the past. What’s more important now is the production and use of knowledge which comes from the intellectual effort of human beings. Tangibles resources do continue to be important – we will always need resources of this kind although the ways we produce and exploit these is changing dramatically. We need to focus on finding smarter ways to dig things from the ground and get them to the best markets.

But the much more valuable type of economic activity in the knowledge economy is based purely on intangibles. These are described as ‘knowledge based’ activities and include areas such as education services, financial markets, research and development programmes, cultural activities and so on. Essentially there is a new kind of capitalism - ‘Knowledge Capitalism’ – which is based on the accumulation of knowledge as opposed to monetary or physical manifestations of capitalistic activity. In knowledge economies the suppliers of knowledge become more important than, for example, the suppliers of risk capital.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are essential tools for knowledge economy workers but the mere existence of ICT is no guarantee that knowledge will be developed, or that an economy can be characterized as a knowledge economy. It’s the old story – it’s not the machines but the use by humans of the machines that is the essential ingredient notwithstanding the fact that the existence of an ICT industry itself is an indicator of an economy focused on knowledge development . It’s remarkable how often that fact is lost in the hype about technology, despite the insights gained over the past twenty years into the sheer uselessness of technology which is designed and implemented without adequate understanding or how people work or what will actually assist them in their cognitive efforts.

But to cut to the chase, what does it all mean for our daily lives and work?

People and their intellectual capacity are the fundamental ingredient of a knowledge economy. So the more we can develop that capacity the better off we are as individuals and as a society. This means hard yards of education and training for all of us and it has to be on-going, no resting on the laurels of a bachelor’s degree.

People are again being recognized as important assets (hooray!) . The era of downsizing and cutting have given way to a keen understanding that when people leave an organization, voluntarily or otherwise, they walk out the door with much of a company’s assets in their heads. This so-called ‘implicit knowledge’ and the know-how that makes things happen in the organization is a huge loss when it goes away with an individual Boundaries are blurring. In organizations there is less emphasis on internal structures and more on seeing work as part of organization-wide processes which require knowledge sharing and collaboration. Departmental loyalties and interests are challenged by the need to look at the big picture of what an organization is aiming to achieve.

Knowledge development happens everywhere and incorporates the practical and applied knowledge that emerges in the workplace. The idea that new knowledge is developed only in universities is long gone. There is now an understanding that there are many different kinds of knowledge including knowledge that develops out of the action occurring in work settings. However, capturing, managing and transferring that knowledge, especially implicit or tacit knowledge, within an organisation is a huge challenge.

Given these fundamentals, how can mere mortals respond to the emergence of this new kind of economy? I conclude by suggesting that those who want to be effective in the knowledge economy need to be able to demonstrate several attributes. Firstly, they need to show they are continuing to learn and adapt to new ways. That might be shown by acquiring formal qualifications but it could also be demonstrated by continuing education, completion of web-based learning or simply by compiling evidence of the fruits of independent reading and thoughtful analysis. Generic intellectual skills such as analysis, evaluation, interpretation are crucial for the knowledge economy.

The second attribute is understanding of the value of ‘know-how’ and being able to show results of actions taken to apply substantive knowledge gained, for example, in formal course. This could be via reports of work or community projects completed, completion of a research degree which combines theory and application. The basic idea is to show a capacity to make things happen as a result of the acquisition of knowledge. Knowing is not enough; being able to do is crucial.

The third way to become an effective operator in the knowledge economy is to be a good collaborator and team player. Compartmentalisation does not work in a knowledge economy. Multidisciplinary approaches are needed to solve complex problems so this means working with expertise from outside one’s comfort zone. Organisations cannot afford to lock away specialists in cosy corners; they need people who can move with confidence across the organization to share knowledge and know-how to tackle difficult problems. Success in this situation depends on people with teamwork, negotiation and other transferable people skills.

Finally, a way to operate in the knowledge economy is to make a career in the new field of knowledge management. This differs from information management in the extent of emphasis and techniques for facilitating exchange of knowledge, experience, values and insights which are of their nature undocumented. The main idea is to enrich the store of tangible representations of knowledge that occurs in published or at least publicly accessible resources. Many courses are now available to prepare for a spectrum of knowledge manager positions.

In conclusion, the knowledge economy is a complicated story. For those of you interested in reading about the Knowledge Economy there is a plethora of sources in libraries and on the web. Alan Burton-Jones’ Knowledge Capitalism: Business, Work and Learning in the New Economy (Oxford, 1999) is a great read despite the scary title.
 

 

---

| Issue 61 Contents |