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NEW ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS THAT SUPPORT KNOWLEDGE WORK 55

>> INTRODUCTION
In Chapter 2 we identified some of the defining characteristics of knowledge-
intensive firms (KIFs). We also noted that not all knowledge work takes places
in KIFs. Rather, organizations of all kinds – even those that continue to apply
Scientific Management principles to the organization of work (such as call
centres) – have workers who deal extensively with information and knowledge
and/or workers whose main output is information and knowledge. However,
it is also the case that some organizational forms appear to be more conducive
to knowledge work than others. Hence, in this chapter we look more broadly
at new organizational forms that are often associated with knowledge work.
We look, in particular, at how these can be supported by ICT. In doing this it
is important to explore, in general terms, the relationship between technology
and organization and, perhaps more importantly, reflect on the processes of
change since, as we will see, adopting some form of new technology does not,
in any straight-forward sense, automatically lead to conditions conducive to
knowledge work.
Early accounts of the relationship between technology and organization were
somewhat simplistic, suggesting that technology per se would ‘revolutionize’ the
nature and, perhaps more importantly, the location of work. Thus, the advent
of the Internet, the World Wide Web, the mobile phone, teleconferencing,
groupware and so on was presumed to mean that people would naturally start
to work virtually (many from home), and that geographical distance would no
longer be a barrier to communication and work. This has led many to assume that
knowledge work will automatically be enabled by ICT. Others argue, however,
that technology per se cannot affect change. Rather, new technologies provide
constraints on, and opportunities for, human action. Moreover, this human action
is embedded in a particular social and institutional context. This institutional
context simultaneously empowers and controls behaviour because it legitimizes
some forms of behaviour while simultaneously ‘prohibiting’ other forms.
Once we have understood this, it becomes clear that organizations should not
simply expect that the adoption of technology per se will successfully promote
knowledge work, especially where knowledge workers (such as professionals)
have significant power to resist technology. Rather, change needs to be negotiated
through time as users come to learn, though participation, how they might use
the technology (or not) to support (or not) their daily work practices. This is
illustrated in the case at the end of the chapter, where we find a university strug-
gling to get knowledge workers to adopt an enterprise system when the needs of
users had largely been ignored during the design phase. The system is eventually
accepted, but only after significant change is made in the post-implementation
environment, that is, once the system is actually being used in practice. All this
said, it is clear that technology does have an important role to play in managing
knowledge work, especially as organizations and markets become more widely
distributed, often on a global basis.
In this chapter, then, we explore the relationship between technology
and new organizational forms that can potentially support knowledge work

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