IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v18y2004i4p725-747.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing: getting below the surface of the growth of ‘knowledge work’ in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Fleming

    (University of Cambridge, UK)

  • Bill Harley

    (University of Melbourne, Australiabharley@unimelb.edu.au)

  • Graham Sewell

    (University of Melbourne, Australia)

Abstract

This article critically addresses the claim that there has been a striking growth in ‘knowledge work’ in advanced economies. Using the Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Survey, we examine occupational change from 1986 to 2000 to evaluate the support for this claim. Researchers have usually relied on aggregate level data to justify the presence of a burgeoning knowledge-based workforce, but we contend that we must ‘get below the surface’ of the major occupational groups by disaggregating the data. This enables us to demonstrate that a substantial component of the apparent growth in knowledge work is accounted for by an increase in low-level information handling occupations rather than by a growth in knowledge work as it is commonly conceived. The article then develops an interpretive framework that makes sense of the data in a manner that avoids both over-estimating the prevalence of the ‘knowledge worker’ and underestimating the knowledge-related activities in jobs commonly considered to be low-skilled and bereft of important competencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Fleming & Bill Harley & Graham Sewell, 2004. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing: getting below the surface of the growth of ‘knowledge work’ in Australia," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(4), pages 725-747, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:18:y:2004:i:4:p:725-747
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017004047951
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017004047951
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017004047951?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    2. Paul Thompson & Chris Warhurst & George Callaghan, 2001. "Ignorant Theory and Knowledgeable Workers: Interrogating the Connections between Knowledge, Skills and Services," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 923-942, November.
    3. David Knights & Fergus Murray & Hugh Willmott, 1993. "Networking As Knowledge Work: A Study Of Strategic Interorganizational Development In The Financial Services Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 975-995, November.
    4. Haridimos Tsoukas & Efi Vladimirou, 2001. "What is Organizational Knowledge?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(7), pages 973-993, November.
    5. Mats Alvesson, 1993. "Organizations As Rhetoric: Knowledge‐Intensive Firms And The Struggle With Ambiguity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 997-1015, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. M. Max Evans & Ilja Frissen & Anthony K. P. Wensley, 2018. "Organisational Information and Knowledge Sharing: Uncovering Mediating Effects of Perceived Trustworthiness Using the PROCESS Approach," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-29, March.
    2. Muhammad Jahanzaib Yousaf & Qamar Ali, 2018. "Impact of Knowledge Management on Innovation: Evidence from a South Asian Country," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(03), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Till Blesik & Markus Bick & Tyge-F. Kummer, 2022. "A Conceptualisation of Crowd Knowledge," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 1647-1665, October.
    4. Li, Xiaoqing & Roberts, Joanne & Yan, Yanni & Tan, Hui, 2014. "Knowledge sharing in China–UK higher education alliances," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 343-355.
    5. Thuy Do & Frédéric Le Roy & Thuy Seran, 2021. "Cooperation between global and local firms in emerging markets: a coopetition approach The case in Vietnam," Post-Print hal-03215229, HAL.
    6. Nancy Vargas & M. Begoña Lloria & Salvador Roig-Dobón, 2016. "Main drivers of human capital, learning and performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(5), pages 961-978, October.
    7. Jamal Shamsie & Michael J. Mannor, 2013. "Looking Inside the Dream Team: Probing Into the Contributions of Tacit Knowledge as an Organizational Resource," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 513-529, April.
    8. Philippe Baumard, 1996. "Organizations in the Fog: An Investigation into the Dynamics of Knowledge," Post-Print hal-03230959, HAL.
    9. Manjusha Thorpe & Tom Ridgman, 2016. "Identifying and Sharing the Knowledge Required for Scaling Up Innovative Technologies in the Process Industry," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(06), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Ferguson, J.E. & Huysman, M.H., 2009. "Between ambition and approach: towards sustainable knowledge management in development organizations," Serie Research Memoranda 0003, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    11. Ferlie, Ewan & Crilly, Tessa & Jashapara, Ashok & Peckham, Anna, 2012. "Knowledge mobilisation in healthcare: A critical review of health sector and generic management literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1297-1304.
    12. Papadopoulos, Thanos & Stamati, Teta & Nopparuch, Pawit, 2013. "Exploring the determinants of knowledge sharing via employee weblogs," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 133-146.
    13. Philippe Chapellier, 2009. "Choix Des Medias Et Efficacite De La Communication : Le Cas De La Relation Entre L'Expert-Comptable Et Le Dirigeant De Petite Entreprise," Post-Print halshs-00459645, HAL.
    14. Alberto Blázquez Manzano, 2013. "La información y comunicación, claves para la gestión del conocimiento empresarial," Dimensión Empresarial, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, June.
    15. Teresa Carla Oliveira, 2006. "Implicit Logic in Managerial Discourse: A Case Study in Choice of Selection Criteria," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 23, pages 53-71, June.
    16. Otilia-Maria BORDEIANU, 2015. "The Role Of Knowledge Management And Knowledge Management Strategies Within Learning Organizations," EcoForum, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Public Administration - Economy, Business Administration and Tourism Department., vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, January.
    17. Chatterjee, Sidharta & Samanta, Mousumi, 2022. "Knowledge Management: A Tool and Technology for Organizational Success," MPRA Paper 115751, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Wang, Shouyang & Chin, Tachia, 2020. "A stratified system of knowledge and knowledge icebergs in cross-cultural business models: Synthesising ontological and epistemological views," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(4).
    19. Khalid Abdul Wahid & Haruthai Numprasertchai & Yuraporn Sudharatna & Tipparat Laohavichien, 2016. "Assessing Perceived Knowledge Creation: The Role of Organizational Knowledge and Market Environment," International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, International School for Social and Business Studies, Celje, Slovenia, vol. 5(1), pages 57-79.
    20. Marion Brivot, 2007. "Le Contrôle De L'Utilisation Des Connaissances Organisationnelles Dans Les Firmes De Services Professionnels," Post-Print halshs-00543210, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:18:y:2004:i:4:p:725-747. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.