A research participatory approach to managing knowledge workers

ABSTRACT

Management of end-user computing has gradually evolved into the management of knowledge workers following the advent of the knowledge-intensive environment in organizations. This new environment, characterized by a dissemination of relational knowledge among the knowledge worker community, warrants a new approach to managing knowledge workers as an alternative to the traditional functional approach. The limitations of a functional approach are highlighted from a double perspective, the first is the subdivision of the organization into thinkers and doers, and the second is its inadaptability in non-western contexts. A participatory research approach is introduced as a suitable alternative befitting the knowledge-intensive environment. Its implications for managing knowledge workers are also provided.

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INDEX TERMS

General Terms:
Human Factors, Management, Theory

Keywords:
IT management, end-user computing, knowledge workers, participation, user involvement