Thesis advisor: Mary Tripsas / The technologies that knowledge workers use in the ongoing production of knowledge are becoming increasingly complex, embedding assumptions that previously would have been made by workers themselves. This dissertation aims to unpack this phenomena, exploring how knowledge workers encounter and use technologies in the ongoing construction of knowledge. I present three essays – one theoretical and two empirical – that examine how patterns of interactions shape technology use and consequently knowledge outcomes. In each essay, I draw on several theoretical lenses, including status, coordination, and behavioral strategy to build new theory on how and why technologies are used and understood. The first essay presents a theoretical model of how status dynamics can shape the way new technologies are interpreted and used, including whether or not knowledge workers seek to understand the assumptions in their technologies. The second essay draws on data from a two year ethnographic study of technology use within an investment bank, comparing how different groups validate the outputs of their technologies when theoretical and physical mechanisms are absent. The third essay examines the evolution of technology adoption and use within a knowledge work group, identifying the unique mechanism of departures as prompting shifts in use. This dissertation contributes to literature on knowledge work and the social construction of technology. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

Personal training is an occupation which requires service and knowledge work. There have been some studies of personal training that have focused on the service dimension of the work of personal trainers but few on the knowledge work entailed in workplace competence. This study focused on “knowledgeable labour” in the field of personal training. A small sample of apprenticed, trained and educated personal trainers was observed at work with their clients in order to investigate whether different learning pathways lead to differences in the forms of knowledge and ways of knowing they use in their workplace practices. A first level of analysis focused on whether there were noticeable differences in the “practical competence” of the trainers -as manifest in their observable practices with their clients. A second level of analysis, explored whether there were more subtle differences in their practices by focusing on the form and content of their exchanges with their clients, and of their reflections in and on their practice. This level of analysis focused on what the South African National Qualifications framework has referred to as “applied competence’ which is grounded in foundational and reflexive competence and is not reducible to what is manifestly or visible in practical activities. It sought to establish whether there were differences in the applied competence of trainers who have qualified through the different learning pathways. The study found that access to a formal knowledge base, and a related ability to reflect explicitly made a difference to the quality of the knowledge that trainers imparted to their clients, to their decision making in practice, and to the quality of explanations and justifications they offered to their clients. These differences point to the need for vocational qualifications that develop reflective practitioners who are able to build bridges work between the science and the client in their situated practices in their workplaces and therefore think on their feet.

Liberal-democratic theories of knowledge work suggest that labour and capital are no longer at odds in the information society. This dissertation critiques such a position, proposing that knowledge worker professions, or ones it describes as involving forms of immaterial labour, are subject to new regimes of exploitation and emergent modes of resistance within post-Fordism. The study begins by surveying competing theoretical perspectives on knowledge work, and moves on to consider the ethical questions, epistemological foundations, and methodological choices involved in carrying out engaged inquiries into collective organization by immaterial labourers. The dissertation’s empirical contribution is comprised of three case studies of labour organization by knowledge workers. The first is the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, an “open-source” union formed in 1998 by contract workers at Microsoft. The second is the Aliant clerical/call-centre workers in Moncton, New Brunswick, who certified a bargaining unit through the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union in 2001. The third is the Collettivo PrecariAtesia, a self-organized group of Roman workers formed at Atesia, Europe’s largest call centre, in 2004. Drawing on these and other contemporary examples, the dissertation suggests that, in its most promising articulations, the organization of immaterial labour is occurring at the intersection of spontaneous struggles by workers and a process of union renewal underway within certain sectors of the established labour movement. These cases also point to the potential of collective organizing occurring around precarity, or the increasing financial and existential insecurity arising from the flexibilization of labour. Both of these processes, the dissertation concludes, involve a process of adaptation to post-Fordism, in which new forms of organization, new subjectivities, and new social demands are being produced. / Thesis (Ph.D, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2008-06-11 13:37:24.045

The main aim of the research presented in this thesis is to inform the design of interactive computer systems for supporting creative knowledge work. Research into creativity and knowledge work has been explored and used to develop a criteria modelling approach. The particular contribution of the author's work is the drawing together of that research and applying the findings to interaction design. The publications were selected on the basis of how well they represent the main outcomes of the work. The journey from prescribing system requirements and design goals to framing the system design process in terms of evaluation criteria may be traced through the papers presented. Interest in creativity and the role of computer technology in creative tasks has recently increased. A number of national initiatives have been set in motion in the LJK, beginning in December 1996 with the Initiative for National Action on Creative Technologies, the Creative Media Initiative: Technology Foresight, Department of Trade and Industry, National Endowment for Science and Technology in the Arts (NESTA) and the People and Computers Programme, of the Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC). Thus, the author's involvement in creativity research and computer support is proving to be timely. Amongst her recent initiatives is Creativity and Cognition, an international symposium which brings together creative people in the arts with technologists and scientists. The thesis is divided into three parts : themes and outcomes, methodology and case studies. A criteria-based modelling approach is presented which has evolved from earlier models that represent key elements of creativity and knowledge work. A model of creative knowledge work is proposed and categories of criteria identified. Underpinning the main outcomes are the case studies which were carried out in industry/academic collaborative projects. The findings were considered in relation to other studies. The thesis presents an approach to computer systems design and development that directly links the requirements definition to the application of evaluation criteria. These criteria are based upon the characteristics of the cognitive style and working practices of creative knowledge workers.

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The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how the business strategy is communicated by the senior management and interpreted by the employees at a parallel distribution company of pharmaceuticals. These knowledge intense organizations are characterized by complex and ambiguous work tasks. Traditional management control theories are based on the assumption that managers should create rules, order and norms to control their employees. But in complex organizations it is difficult for the senior management to understand the entire work flow and different form of control mechanisms are requested. Recent studies have shown that vertical directions often are questioned and translated by the employees at the horizontal level within complex organizations. This is a fairly new way of looking at management control and moreresearch is required, which this thesis aims at providing. The business strategy is often created by the senior management to control and direct the employeebehaviour, and internal communication is often used to implement the strategy at the horizontal level. Drawing from this it is interesting to focus on the business strategy from employee perspective, to analyse how the employees questions and translates the business strategy to fit their work. The thesis has a qualitative and deductive approach. 14 interviews are conducted. One with the senior manager and 13 with the employees at the horizontal level. The findings suggest that different form of knowledge work require different form of control mechanisms. Some employees interpretedthe strategy the same way the senior management did and some questioned and translated the strategy to be more suitable for their own work. The pharmacists questioned the strategy while the sale force worked according to it. The findings also suggest that in order for the strategy to act as a control tool the content is important and needs to reflect the employees work.

Organizational justice theory suggests employees are more likely to accept appraisal outcomes if they believe the process to be fair. As an increasing percentage of the workforce is made up of knowledge workers with job characteristics that are less structured and more autonomous, the shift in appraisal research from measurement accuracy to perceptions on fairness is fitting. This research investigates the relationships between justice perceptions and performance appraisal satisfaction by knowledge workers. The study extends previous research with the creation of composite measures to examine whether perceptions of fairness vary according to the characteristics of work performed. The research was conducted at a medium-sized, niche consultancy that specializes in data analytics and data science. Interviews served as an initial pilot study to obtain contextual data to identify relevant justice measures in the procedural and informational justice domains. A questionnaire survey was selected to analyze whether knowledge work characteristics moderate the relationship between justice perceptions on appraisal satisfaction. Results support the underlying premise that positive justice perceptions lead to greater overall appraisal satisfaction. Median regressions were used to model the significant effect of procedural justice and informational justice on appraisal satisfaction. Consistent with prior research, the most autonomous workers reported the lowest levels of appraisal satisfaction. This may be explained by the heightened challenge in evaluating autonomous work that is not observed directly and may be difficult to measure. However, the moderating effect of knowledge work components produced some puzzling results. As expected, the knowledge work component of autonomy correlated negatively with the knowledge work components related to structure. Yet, autonomy and structure had similar moderating effects on the relationship between procedural justice and appraisal satisfaction. Although it was speculated that more autonomous workers would place less importance on procedural justice, the results indicated greater levels of autonomy strengthened the effects between the justice perceptions and appraisal satisfaction. Justice theory as it is applied to appraisal satisfaction is limited without considering the impacts on other constructs such as job satisfaction and motivation. Herzberg’s two-factor (hygiene) theory provides an example of how knowledge work components and procedural justice might be viewed as job “satisfiers” versus job “dissatisfiers”. The theory posits there are factors that contribute to job satisfaction that are separate and distinct from factors that contribute to dissatisfaction. "Satisfiers” include factors such as autonomy and achievement. In contrast, performance appraisals represent administrative processes within the category of “dissatisfiers”, or hygiene factors. When absent, these processes cause frustration and result in dissatisfaction. Practical implications from this study include the creation of composite measures for describing the abstract nature of latent measures such as justice perceptions and knowledge work. These measures serve as a heuristic to facilitate the analysis of human resource processes such as performance management.

<p>  </p> <p>Automation, as defined by Parasuraman et al. (2000, p. 287), is a “device or system that either partially or fully, accomplishes a function that was previously, partially, or fully accomplished by a human operator.” Traditionally, automation was introduced to (physical) work environments to alleviate workload associated with tedious and repetitive tasks. Over the past few decades, automation has begun to augment knowledge work, which includes high-level cognitive activities.  As automated systems expand to perform skill-based tasks, the work required of humans is inevitably altered, potentially affecting their cognitive workloads. Years of research has shown that automation can reduce cognitive workload, but other work suggests that cognitive workload may increase or remain unchanged when automation is introduced. These conflicting results prompt the need for further investigation to better delineate the relationship between automation and cognitive workload. </p> <p>A plethora of factors may explain why the relationship between automation and cognitive workload is inconsistent. Therefore, this research takes steps toward addressing knowledge gaps within the human-automation interaction literature related to understanding how automation used in knowledge work environments affects peoples’ task completion. Specifically, this work investigates how two moderators, task complexity and age, influence the automation and cognitive workload relationship. These moderators were of interest for two reasons. First, task complexity, which occurs when the structure of a task imposes demands on a person’s cognitive processes, increases the demands of a task, which can result in the use of more cognitive resources. Second, age is of interest because advanced technologies are increasingly being utilized by a wide user demographic, particularly the rapidly-growing older adult population.  </p> <p>The goals of this dissertation were achieved by employing both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how (1) automation is assessed in knowledge work environments, (2) automation affects cognitive workload, and (3) task complexity and age moderate the relationship between automation and cognitive workload. These goals were first addressed via the construction of a conceptual framework that describes the effects that task complexity and age have on the relationship between automation and cognitive workload. Next, a systematic review of the human-automation interaction literature in knowledge work environments was performed to examine researchers’ use of cognitive workload measures. Finally, a controlled-laboratory experiment and a scenario-based survey were conducted to collect data from people of different ages about how task complexity and age influence the relationship between automation and cognitive workload. </p> <p>Findings from the systematic literature review showed that researchers primarily employ subjective and performance measures to assess cognitive workload. Results from the laboratory experiment suggested that automation improved measures of cognitive workload. Also, task complexity negatively affected the relationship between automation and cognitive workload, but age was not found to be a moderator. The scenario-based survey revealed that task performance was similar among younger, middle-aged, and older adults. However, younger adults had a more favorable opinion of automation compared to both middle-aged and older age groups. </p> <p>Overall, this research (1) enhances our knowledge of the relationship between automation and cognitive workload, (2) informs the design of future human-automation studies with strategically selected task types and measurement choices, based on patterns that emerged from the literature review, and (3) can ultimately guide designers in better developing technologies to support people in performing various activities in their work and leisure environments. </p>

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