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Mysterious Art and Science of Knowledge-Worker Performance
Description
As far back as 1959, Peter Drucker emphasized the need to pay more attention to knowledge work and the people doing such work. More than 40 years later, the subject still lacks its Frederick Taylor or Henry Ford; at best, it was explored by approximations of William Morris and the Italian Futurists--artists who expressed an understanding of industrial developments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the spirit of the artists concerned with industrialism a century ago, but with an eye toward more scientific advances, the authors spent more than a year investigating the mysteries of knowledge worker performance. In the process, they realized that organizations can't begin to increase their understanding of what makes knowledge workers effective until they recognize the importance of such workers as a whole and how to differentiate among them as individuals. Explores five key issues that companies are struggling with and develops a framework to help organizations think more clearly about how to improve the performance of their knowledge workers.
Subjects Covered:
Employee development; Human resource management; Improving performance; Knowledge workers; Leadership
http://hbsp.harvard.edu/
As far back as 1959, Peter Drucker emphasized the need to pay more attention to knowledge work and the people doing such work. More than 40 years later, the subject still lacks its Frederick Taylor or Henry Ford; at best, it was explored by approximations of William Morris and the Italian Futurists--artists who expressed an understanding of industrial developments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the spirit of the artists concerned with industrialism a century ago, but with an eye toward more scientific advances, the authors spent more than a year investigating the mysteries of knowledge worker performance. In the process, they realized that organizations can't begin to increase their understanding of what makes knowledge workers effective until they recognize the importance of such workers as a whole and how to differentiate among them as individuals. Explores five key issues that companies are struggling with and develops a framework to help organizations think more clearly about how to improve the performance of their knowledge workers.
Subjects Covered:
Employee development; Human resource management; Improving performance; Knowledge workers; Leadership
http://hbsp.harvard.edu/
10 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2002
2 people want to read
About the author
Thomas H. Davenport
87 books132 followersTom Davenport holds the President's Chair in Information Technology and Management at Babson College. His books and articles on business process reengineering, knowledge management, attention management, knowledge worker productivity, and analytical competition helped to establish each of those business ideas. Over many years he's authored or co-authored nine books for Harvard Business Press, most recently Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning (2007) and Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results (2010). His byline has also appeared for publications such as Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Financial Times, Information Week, CIO, and many others.
Davenport has an extensive background in research and has led research centers at Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Company, CSC Index, and the Accenture Institute of Strategic Change. Davenport holds a B.A. in sociology from Trinity University and M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. For more from Tom Davenport, visit his website and follow his regular HBR blog.
Davenport has an extensive background in research and has led research centers at Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Company, CSC Index, and the Accenture Institute of Strategic Change. Davenport holds a B.A. in sociology from Trinity University and M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. For more from Tom Davenport, visit his website and follow his regular HBR blog.
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