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INTRODUCTION 17

An important point, however, is that this is not a one-way relationship – the
design of material objects (e.g. the layout of the meeting room) influence human
activity but also result from it. This is an issue we will return to in Chapter 3.
Third, practice perspectives remind us that knowledge work actually takes
place in a broader ‘field of practices’ (Schatzki, 2001). For example, the practices
of medical professionals are part of the broader field of scientific practice. This
includes ‘epistemic practices’ (or ‘knowledge cultures’) that govern how knowl-
edge is created and legitimated – in science via the rules of scientific method, for
example (Knorr-Cetina, 1999). Therefore, to manage knowledge work, we also
need to be sensitive to the broader institutional contexts and interconnected sets
of practices in which that knowledge work is located. The notion of ‘the field of
interconnected practices’ reminds us that change in one area of practice poten-
tially disrupts a wide range of other practices. It is for this reason that creating
and using knowledge in interdisciplinary settings can be so challenging. As Drex-
ler noted at the first conference on nanotechnology (in 1989), ‘unfortunately,
interdisciplinary subjects have a way of escaping from any discipline whatever’
(Drexler, 1989).
Fourth, practice perspectives emphasize not just the socially situated nature
of knowledge, but also the investment of knowledge in peoples’ practice (Car-
lile, 2002). In other words, practices often take considerable time and effort to
establish and, once established, can be reinforced by a whole range of other,
interconnected practices. For this reason they are difficult to change, even where
there is good evidence to do so. For example, new integrated IT systems are
notoriously difficult to introduce into organizations because people find it very
difficult to change from their current ‘legacy’ systems. Moreover, even if one
group is willing to change, they may face challenges in introducing the system
because other groups can not (or will not). As we shall see in Chapter 7, this
applies equally when introducing Knowledge Management systems.

>> PERSPECTIVES COMPARED
Table 1.1 provides a summary of the distinctions between structural, process
and practice perspectives on knowledge and managing knowledge work. In the
chapters that follow we want to understand knowledge work – that is, where
people work with knowledge in order to accomplish things – not knowledge for
its own sake. Because of this, we draw more heavily from the process and practice
perspectives as these: (a) take closer account of the core aspects of knowledge
work – knowledge processes, purposes and enabling contexts; and (b) balance atten-
tion to the social and the material/technological aspects of knowledge work.
Having identified core concepts and approaches to knowledge work, in the
next section we look at historical approaches to managing knowledge in organi-
zations. This historical overview, albeit brief, is important in understanding why
knowledge work is so important today and why formal Knowledge Management
programmes sometimes repeat the mistakes of the past.

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