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184 MANAGING KNOWLEDGE WORK AND INNOVATION

pursuit of ‘best practice’ in managing knowledge that remains a feature of much
existing work. What is more useful to think about is the particular purpose
that the practice of managing knowledge needs to serve over the varied and
sometimes discontinuous life cycle of an innovation process (i.e. what are we
trying to manage knowledge for?). We argue for a need to understand the relation
between knowledge and innovation as both processual and deeply embedded in
social practice – a theme running throughout this book.

>> THE IMPORTANCE OF MANAGING KNOWLEDGE
WORK FOR INNOVATION

It has been recognized for a very long time that innovation is crucial for economic
performance and governments worldwide have put major efforts into develop-
ing their innovative capabilities. However, it is also argued that innovation in the
current era poses much greater challenges for managing knowledge work. This is
because the knowledge economy is also a service economy. Hence we have seen
massive growth in the service sector and major changes in the ways knowledge
is applied to new service delivery. The pressures to develop, not just new prod-
ucts and technologies, but also new ways of dealing with shifting user needs and
demands, often on a global scale, are, it is argued, significantly greater now than
in years past (Dankbaar, 2003). In insurance and financial services, for example,
forms of service delivery have changed drastically with the World Wide Web pro-
viding much greater information to consumers and online service providers. This
means, more knowledgeable customers can ‘shop around’ much more easily.
It is also the case that the boundaries traditionally seen between services and
products are blurring. Read carefully the case of Medico (Box 9.1) and you will
see that this innovation involved, not just the development of a new product
(a new suture containing radioactive seeds), but also a fundamental reorga-
nization of the delivery of cancer treatment and of the professional roles and
responsibilities that this incurred.

BOX 9.1 Case example – innovation in Medico
Medico was a large multinational biosciences company with a major
part of its business devoted to the manufacture and delivery of imaging
products for medical diagostics (e.g. radioactive isotopes for the diagnosis
of cancer). Its European business comprised geographically dispersed
divisions with high degrees of autonomy. The Prostate Cancer Therapy
(PCT) project began as a small ‘spin-off’ to develop and market
Healthco’s ‘brachytherapy’ products. Put simply, brachytherapy involves
the implantation of radioactive iodine seeds directly into a prostate (in this
case) tumour to kill cancer cells from within. The PCT project was headed
by a Vice President of Global Manufacturing.

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