Kazuo Ichijo, Ikujiro Nonaka Oxford University Press 2007 ISBN 0195159624 Buy

This book contains chapters from leading academics in the field of Knowledge management.  As such it provides a good academic overview of the field and is very readable for an academic text.  From the perspective of knowledge workers, there are a few areas of particular interest.

Several chapters address issues of knowledge transfer, covering how knowledge workers network including social capital, physical proximity and the nature of the knowledge transferred.  Unsurprisingly transfer works best when the knowledge is explicit, proximity is close and relationships are deep.  Examples given include UPS, W. L. Gore and Associates, Costco and Toyota.

One chapter covers knowledge teamwork and how to manage issue where the worker is the expert and it is hard to judge their contribution (or lack of it).  The author (Margit Osterloh) argues that there are two approaches to managing teams.  Structural approaches change the rules of the game to make cooperation attractive for selfish employees., for example by using bonuses.   Motivational approaches focus on changing the preferences of employees so that they cooperate, for example by making the job intrinsically enjoyable.  Osterloh argues that the motivational approach works better, proposing increases in autonomy, competence and social relatedness.  In particular she emphasises:

• Fixed pay perceived as procedurally fair
• Selection of intrinsically and prosocially motivated employees
• Supportive feedback
• Emphasis on building competence through training
• Opportunities for personal contact and communication
• Giving instructions on appropriate social behaviour

She also explicitly states the problems of performance based pay in a knowledge worker context.

All in all, this book provides a good starting point in understanding knowledge management.

Dr Ian Gregory, 2009