Cutting through the confusion of contemporary work

Week 6 Presentation & DQ/Cutting through the confusion of contemporary workk

Steve Paton

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nature of contemporary work. There is much

discussion surrounding the meaning of the term knowledge worker and the value these workers

generate for the organisation. This paper agrees that the value to organisations of workers who possess

knowledge is increasing but argues that the nature of the knowledge worker is unclear within current

literature. It acknowledges that there is a high level of knowledge in contemporary work and that many

workers can claim to be knowledgeable, however these workers while necessary to the firm do not

provide it with competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper argues that there are four tensions running through the

literature on the nature of the knowledge worker and proposes that the elements that comprise

knowledge work fall into three groups that are knowledge possession, knowledge activity and

knowledge context. First, the nature of contemporary work and its relationship to traditional

categorisations of work is discussed; second, worker types that have been proposed in the literature

are discussed; third, the factors within work types that are relevant to knowledge are discussed; and a

summary of the main points of contention and a proposal for the research direction that should be taken

to progress this debate are presented.

Findings – This paper proposes that knowledge work should not be automatically associated with

service work or new forms of work; the nature of knowledge work cannot be defined by one specific

attribute; the elements that comprise knowledge work fall into three groups, knowledge possession,

knowledge activity and knowledge context.

Practical implications – Based on these findings organisations must rethink their approach to

identifying the characteristics that define the valuable activity that is knowledge work within their industry

sector.

Research limitations/implications – Further study must be carried out into the nature of the worker, not

only in their embodiment of skill and knowledge but also into how they use it, what their work context is

and the support they should be given while engaging in their activities.

Originality/value – The value of the knowledge worker lies in combining these elements in a specific

way and applying this formula to further our understanding of the nature of the knowledge worker.

Keywords Knowledge management, Manual workers, Skills

Paper type Conceptual paper

Introduction

Future prosperity is likely to hinge on the use of scientific and technical knowledge (Barley, 1996,

p. xvii).

The effective management of human and intellectual capital to facilitate the creation and

dissemination of scientific discoveries and techniques within the firm is perhaps the ultimate

determinant of effective product development and competitive advantage (Cardinal et al., 2001,

p. 201).

The opening quote by Barley is echoed by many others including Frenkel et al., 1999;

Nonaka, 1991, 1994; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; and typifies present day thinking on the

position and worth of knowledge in contemporary work. The second quote by Cardinal et al.

PAGE 88 j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT j VOL. 13 NO. 1 2009, pp. 88-97, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1367-3270 DOI 10.1108/13673270910931189

Steve Paton is based at

Strathclyde University,

Glasgow, UK.

Received: 23 August 2007 Accepted: 18 January 2008

shifts the emphasis from knowledge itself to its embodiment in workers and their effective

management. Despite this increased focus within the literature on the value of worker

knowledge it is still unclear what constitutes the knowledge-rich human resource at the heart

of this debate.

From the historical position where it has been argued that knowledge had been removed

from work (Braverman, 1974) there seems to have been a shift to a proposal that all work

requires knowledge (Warhurst and Thompson, 1998). This shift has been supplemented by

further debates on the changing nature of the knowledge and skill that inhabits the gap

between the extremes represented by these positions (Gallie, 1991).

The phrase ‘‘knowledge worker’’ (Zuboff, 1988) up to now has been coined as something of

a catchall term to describe this supposedly valuable type of worker but more recently

Blackler (1995) has noted that this term is being applied more generally to represent many

emerging types of work.

There are a number of sometimes conflicting views in the literature on the nature of the

knowledge worker. The concern of this paper is to untangle the various threads within this

confusion and create a clear picture of the elements that are relevant. This will reveal the real

tensions that are present in the current thinking and generate recommendations for research

directions to progress this debate to a useful conclusion that will define the nature of the

knowledge worker.

This paper broadly supports the position that there is a high level of knowledge present in

many forms of contemporary work and that many types of workers can claim to be

knowledgeable however these workers, while necessary to the organisation, do not

provide the valuable competitive advantage that is sought by the firm. This paper will

argue that there are four tensions running through the literature on the nature of

knowledge worker. These can be summarised in the following assertions drawn from the

current literature:

B The term knowledge worker should be automatically associated with those in service or

customer-facing work.

B Those workers that possess knowledge in the form of qualification to practice a body of

knowledge should be considered knowledge workers.

B The use of knowledge in completion of the activities of work is enough to warrant

association of the term knowledge worker.

B The methods of management used to control the worker determine whether the individual

can be called a knowledge worker.

This paper will argue that these assertions while representing certain aspects of the nature of

the knowledge worker are not in themselves determining factors in identifying the valuable

knowledge worker sought by organisations. It will propose that the elements that comprise

knowledge work fall into three groups that are knowledge possession, knowledge activity

and knowledge context. However the value of the knowledge worker lies in combining the

elements within these groups in a specific way while allowing the potential for knowledge

generating activities to take place.

This paper will proceed by: first, discussing the nature of contemporary work and its

relationship to traditional categorisations of work; second, analysing worker types that have

been proposed in the literature; third, discussing the factors within work types that are

relevant to knowledge; and lastly, concluding with a summary of the main points of

‘‘ There are a number of sometimes conflicting views in the literature on the nature of the knowledge worker. ’’

VOL. 13 NO. 1 2009 j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENTj PAGE 89

contention and a proposal for the research direction that should be taken to progress this

debate.

Knowledge types

While much has been written about the management of data, information and knowledge

(Bohn, 1994; Fowler and Pryke, 2003; Boisot and Canals, 2004) from the perspective of IT

and organisational systems (Myers, 1996; Carayannis, 1999; McAdam and McCreedy,

1999; Hendricks and Vriens, 1999) and more generally knowledge management as an

organisational concept (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Alvesson and Karreman, 2001;

Tsoukas and Vladimorou, 2001; Wilson, 2002; Wilcox King and Zeithaml, 2003), this literature

deals mainly with organisational knowledge or, to describe it in labour process terms,

knowledge that has been assimilated from the worker into the organisation by methods

employed in the pursuit of the scientific management of work (Taylor, 1911; Braverman,

1974).

However in addition to this ‘‘codifiable’’ knowledge there are other types of knowledge

including tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1958, 1967; Berry and Broadbent, 1984; Nonaka, 1994;

Sparrow, 1998) and embodied/embrained knowledge (Ryle, 1949; Blackler, 1995) that

cannot be extracted from the worker for incorporation within an organisational knowledge

management system. If it is accepted that knowledge exists that cannot be extracted from

the worker but is critical to the operation of the organisation then it can be proposed that the

key element in the effective management of the human knowledge resources of the firm will

be the understanding of the type of worker that embodies this knowledge.

While there have been attempts to define the characteristics of knowledge workers these

attempts have resulted in confusion with many contradictory views and much conflation of

terminology. A sample of these views includes Drucker’s (1989) definition of knowledge work

as professional, managerial and technical while Kochen (1984) defines it as knowledge

generating, information handling, and knowledge intensive. From another perspective

Starbuck (1992) defines a knowledge worker as someone with formal education and

experience equivalent to a doctoral degree. These varied definitions, although including

some relevant points, approach the subject from differing perspectives and do little to further

our understanding of the nature of knowledge work to the point where it can be used to more

effectively manage our knowledge resources.

The historical context

As a starting point it is useful to consider why knowledge in work has reached its present

level of importance. Drucker (1992) suggests that as technology advances, industry

diversifies and society becomes increasingly complex the concept of knowledge in work has

become more relevant. In support of this position Scharmer (2001, p. 68) states that:

‘‘Throughout the twentieth century, industry in the so-called developed economies was

transformed from one that largely processed raw materials and conducted manufacturing to

one that largely processes information and knowledge.’’ Scharmer then goes on to suggest

that industrial evolution can be divided into periods defined not only by technology or

industrial type but also by knowledge management philosophy.

Exploring this further, historically there existed two main types of worker. The more common

manual worker employed in industries such as agriculture andmanufacturing using physical

effort to complete activities, and the less common non-manual worker employed in activities

such as clerical and administration work. The introduction of Scientific Management (Taylor,

1911) and the accompanying effects of deskilling and assimilation of knowledge into the

organisation (Braverman, 1974) that occurred in the late ninteenth and early twentieth

centuries together with the growth of mass production led to the association of

manufacturing work with task repetition, detail division of labour and the perception of the

manual worker as knowledge-less and process-driven. More recently (Barley, 1996)

proposed that a ‘‘new world of work’’ has emerged characterised by the decline of

manufacturing and the growth of service, professional and knowledge intensive jobs

(Friedman, 2000). Here we see the term knowledge intensive used in association with the

PAGE 90 j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENTj VOL. 13 NO. 1 2009

growth of the new industries. Due to this shift new types of non-manufacturing worker have

emerged who carry out more complex tasks and, it is perceived, require greater knowledge.

Kumer (1978) proposes this change occurred initially in the 1950’s in the USA with the other

Western societies following closely behind.

Tension 1 – manual versus service work

This increase in number of work types that are linked neither to manual nor manufacturing

activity coupled with the emergence of more complex types of work has, due to timing, been

linked with the appearance of knowledge work. This coincidence has resulted in conflation of

the term knowledge work with the terms non-manual and non-manufacturing work, or more

directly with the terms service and front-line work. As an example Frenkel et al. (1999)

propose service or front-line workers as the embodiment of the knowledge worker, citing the

non-routine nature of the work and interaction with the customer as evidence of the

knowledge element. Indeed the growth in some types of occupation has been directly linked

with the growth in knowledge work (Barley, 1996; Frenkel et al., 1995, 1999) – again defining

the nature of knowledge work at a very broad level and erroneously linking it with newer

forms of work.

It is proposed that this historical sequence has resulted in the misconception that the term

‘‘manual’’ describes the worker that carries no knowledge and non-manual describes the

knowledge worker. This position is not supportable from the perspectives of both

manufacturing and service work. First, from a manufacturing perspective this position relies

on the assumption that all manual work has been deskilled to the point of removal of all

knowledge. Smith (1987) has challenged this assumption with his suggestion that manual

work and mental work are not mutually exclusive. Second, in relation to service work,

Menzies (1996) has proposed that one form of work that is increasingly being taken as the

archetype of service work, but that demonstrates much in common with scientifically

managed manufacturing work, is call centre work. Here, although interaction with customers

is present, the work has been systematised to a point where the activities are bound by

procedures that increase routine and decrease discretion.

Call centre work has been termed the electronic sweatshop (Menzies, 1996) and has been

described by Kumer (1978) as deskilled and monotonous, sharing many of the

characteristics of repetitive manufacturing work. This position is echoed by Bain et al.

(2002) in their study of the management of call centres where it was concluded that

management that tended towards Taylorism was clearly evident. These comments on call

centre work have been expanded to other parts of the service sectors by Ritzer (1993, 1997)

in his proposal that Taylorism is alive and well today in many forms including customer facing

work that is increasingly organised at the lowest common denominator. Baldry et al. (1998)

adds that much of the infrastructure and standardisation associated with mass production

and scientific management is now increasingly evident in the work of service employees.

To add further confusion to this situation it is also argued that owing to advances in

technology and societal sophistication, a more complex world of work has emerged with a

number of types of workers claiming the title knowledge workers (Applebaum and Batt,

1994; Mathews, 1994). However Fleming et al. (2004) in their study of the growth of new work

types take the view that it is misleading to apply the term knowledge work to occupations

purely based on emerging general occupational trends.

This historical primacy of manual work and more recent emergence of service work has

therefore led to the first major tension within the literature that is represented by the views

‘‘ The nature of knowledge work does not lie in any of the distinctions between manual and non-manual work. ’’

VOL. 13 NO. 1 2009 j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENTj PAGE 91

that; first, manual work is the antithesis of knowledge work due to its emphasis on physical

rather than mental work and its links with the labour process effects of deskilling and

assimilation of worker knowledge into the organisation; and secondly, new types of work,

mainly due to their association with the service sector and its customer facing aspects, can

all be considered knowledge work.

It is argued here that the term knowledge worker cannot be automatically associated with

either service or emerging work types or automatically divorced from manufacturing or

traditional work types. In support of this Thompson et al. (2001) observed that the worker

with knowledge is not just a post-industrial phenomenon but rather as Jacques (1996) notes

an integral part of the development of industrial capitalism.

Tension 2 – knowledge possession

Recognising the problems that arise in attempting to define knowledge work by historical

sequence or general classification of work types some writers have tried to create definitions

based upon the internal characteristics or qualities of the worker. Augier et al. (2001)

suggests the making of the knowledge worker is the undertaking of education and training

leading to a qualification and the associated possession of knowledge. Starbuck (1992)

goes further defining the formal educational level required to be a knowledge worker as

equivalent to a PhD.

While this reliance upon education and attainment of knowledge seems a simple and logical

criterion, Alvesson (1993) argues that formal education is overestimated andmany knowledge

workers are not dependant on it because the skill a worker has can be esoteric and difficult to

obtain through formal education. Expanding on this point he claims that the esoteric

knowledge that must be possessed by a knowledge worker can only be obtained out with the

realms of education by practicing the occupation and engaging in experiential learning.

In addition on this point, Ahantu (1998) observes that a graduate may not work in a

profession that requires him to use his knowledge and thinking skills. This is echoed by

Hassan and Warhurst (1999) in the observation that being more highly educated does not

necessarily indicate a higher level of knowledge inherent in the jobs in which people are

employed.

Kumer (1996) proposes a different view on this subject in his argument that the attainment of

formal qualifications is increasingly leading to a rise in credentialism rather than the practice

of knowledge work. This position has been updated by Hudson (2006) who contends that in

much contemporary work credentialed workers are being matched with mundane jobs

within what, at first glance, would seem to be ‘‘sexy’’ and creative industries.

In summary these points oppose the possession of formal qualifications as a criterion for

claiming the label knowledge worker because first, formal education is insufficient to create

the valuable worker required, second, the educated worker may not work within the area of

his expertise and, lastly, even simple jobs are difficult to get without possession of some form

of credential represented by an educational qualification.

This debate can be partially resolved by acknowledging that education and formal

qualifications are important for attainment of knowledge but the possession of knowledge

results merely in workers who are ‘‘knowledgeable’’. It has been observed that all workers

are knowledgeable about their work therefore the possession of qualifications as evidence

for knowledge alone cannot be the type of valuable worker that companies seek.

This leads to the second tension within the literature as it must be deduced that possession

of knowledge is not in itself the defining feature of the knowledge worker. The introduction of

the term ‘‘knowledgeable’’ worker both simplifies and complicates this position. It makes

possible the inclusion of many types of work requiring workers who possess knowledge but

also suggests that to provide the true advantage that companies seek the knowledge worker

must be rarer and more sophisticated than purely the knowledge carrier or information

handler we have discussed so far. This would suggest there are some other traits in addition

to the possession of knowledge that define the knowledge worker.

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Tension 3 – work activity

Another suggested avenue of investigation is in the use rather than the possession of

knowledge. Thompson et al. (2001) have defined knowledge workers as workers with

‘‘thinking skills’’ who while identifying and solving problems manipulate symbols and ideas.

This definition is complemented by their model of the traditional knowledge worker who has

access to, learns and is qualified to practice, a body of knowledge that is formal, complex

and abstract. Thompson et al. further add that the body of knowledge is not a collection of

abstract theories and facts, but resides partly in the body (embrained) and partly in the

literature.

Expanding on this idea of thinking skill, Frenkel et al. (1999) suggest characteristics such as

flexibility and creativity as the defining traits of knowledge workers while Reich (1993) adds

that problem solving and analytical abilities are important. Zuboff (1988) expands this to

include all skill both manual and intellectual as required by knowledge workers and Starbuck

(1992), adds experience as a knowledge source in addition to education and training.

Scharmer (2001), states that importance should be placed on thought process rather than

information so shifting the emphasis from the possession of knowledge itself to the use of

knowledge by utilisation of the intellective skill of the worker.

To address the utilisation of knowledge using thinking skills, Garrick and Clegg (2000) have

proposed a shift to performance-based ways of defining a knowledge worker, again

emphasising the point that to participate in knowledge work the worker has to be practising a

body of knowledge within an occupation and doing so in a specific way. Blackler (1993))

support this position by proposing knowledge workers should not be defined in terms of

what they know but what they do. While this seems a reasonable way to progress this debate

Quinn et al. (1996) suggests a form of work he terms ‘‘repeatable perfection’’ where

knowledge must be present and used to perform sophisticated activities but in a process

driven way. This is a type of work activity most exemplified by surgeons and airline pilots.

Another example of this is suggested by Lyon (1988) who proposes the term

information-handling workers as those workers that are engaged in the transfer or

manipulation of data or information – accountancy is typical of this type of work.

Tension 3 is therefore illustrated by the existence of work types that could, through the

criteria of possession and use of knowledge, claim to be knowledge work but for the fact that

those workers engaged in them carry out tasks that can be likened to the repetition of a

production line. These workers it is proposed do no therefore bring competitive advantage.

Tension 4 – method of management

Shifting the focus of the discussion from the worker to the working environment, it has also

been suggested that knowledge work should be defined by contextual factors such as the

way workers are managed. Root-Bernstein (1989) proposes that characteristics of

knowledge workers are dislike for bureaucracies and resentment for administration and

suggest they work most creatively when satisfying curiosity. Rosenbaum (1991) proposes

knowledge workers like to work autonomously and have a stronger affiliation with a

profession than a company. Despres and Hiltrop (1995) conclude that knowledge workers

will resist the authoritarian impositions of rules and structures and thrive upon empowerment

and self-management and accept a more collegial leadership style.

The theme of empowerment and freedom from constraint is strong here and is best

summarised by Freidman (1977) in the term ‘‘responsible autonomy’’ where the worker is

allowed to work under his own supervision and is empowered to complete the work the way

s/he sees fit.

However it is argued here that definition of a worker type by the way they seek to be

managed is flawed. Methods such as autonomy and empowerment are a consequence of

the type of work and are a way of managing a type of worker rather than features of the work

or of the worker.

VOL. 13 NO. 1 2009 j JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENTj PAGE 93

This represents the fourth tension in the literature as it is proposed here that a worker should

not be defined as a knowledge worker based upon the way in which s/he is managed.

Summary and proposals for research

The nature of knowledge work does not lie in any of the distinctions between manual and

non-manual work. Service work or front-line work is not automatically knowledge work. New

forms of work cannot immediately be called knowledge work.

Education and training may only lead to knowledgeable workers who may not work within

their area of knowledge or who, in the course of their work, may engage purely in

data-handling or manipulation. Workers that do engage in calculation or more sophisticated

tasks may only be carrying out symbolic analysis or work that requires repeatable perfection.

It is proposed that workers with these characteristics are not the knowledge workers that are

the sources of competitive advantage that organisations seek.

Methods used in managing the job, such as autonomy and empowered, are irrelevant as

these are management practices and not features of worker or task. In addition these

practices can be applied to a number of work types and industries.

As a starting point in solving this problem and by combining elements of the previous

discussion it is proposed that workers possessing knowledge and intellective skill,

employed within a work type that allows the practice of the body of knowledge, engaged in

pursuit of knowledge generating objectives may be part of the solution to defining the nature

of the knowledge worker.

One further aspect of this debate that may lead to a more satisfactory solution is found in

Kochen’s (1984) definition of knowledge work as knowledge generating, knowledge based,

and knowledge intensive. This is supported by the definition of knowledge work as

‘‘creativity’’. Creativity is defined as the creation of new knowledge through a process of

innovation or as proposed by Milgram (1990) a process of problem solving where an original

thought is the result. There seems to be merit in this idea as a defining feature of knowledge

work as it requires all previously discussed elements to be present and in addition

introduces an aspect that would increase the value of the knowledge worker to the

organisation.

To further our understanding it is proposed that possible discriminators that may help in

defining the nature of knowledge work and therefore should be part of the ongoing research

agenda can be grouped into the following categories.

First, in terms of knowledge possession, more needs to be understood about the

contribution that the embodied and embrained knowledge that the worker carries makes to

the process of work and ultimately to the competitive advantage of the organisation. This

includes research into what type of knowledge is possessed and how this knowledge was it

gained.

Second, in relation to knowledge activity, more needs to be understood about how

knowledge is used in work. What is the difference between a job that involves purely

information handling or symbolic analysis activities done by workers who are knowledgeable

and the truly value creating activities that are carried out by knowledge workers? If the key

factor is creativity then what combination of knowledge possession and activity-set will lead

to the creative practice that companies ultimately desire?

‘‘ The one distinguishing feature that should be considered as one definitive criterion is the ability to add value to the organization. ’’

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Finally, knowledge context, what are the attributes that are inherent in the job that allows the

practice of the worker to generate value for the company? Are the opportunities for continual

learning and knowledge generating activity the key factors? Does the system used to control

work enable or suppress the ability of the worker to engage in creative activity?

The nature of the knowledge worker is not clear but it is proposed here that it is not defined

by any single element. It may be defined by a combination of characteristics that are internal

to the worker and contextual factors that are external to the worker. It is further proposed that

based upon the previous analysis the one distinguishing feature that should be considered

as one definitive criterion is the ability of the worker to add value to the organisation.

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Week 6 Presentation & DQ/Rightsizing and human resource development Learning from a simulation model of the Thai public sector.pdf

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understand issues concerning public sector human resources. By using the model, public service officers gained a wider understanding of their own workplace within the Thai public sector at large; that is they are able to see the larger framework in which their own departments and units operate. This helps officers to appreciate better their work and contribution within the wider organisational context. In this paper, we begin by reviewing salient literature on rightsizing. We set out the rationales underpinning the rightsizing project and describe the benefits to the organization and to individuals within the organization. In particular, we reflect on the rationales for employing the methodologies and practices of rightsizing, and describe how using a simulation model contributed to the learning and human resource (HR) development of Thai public service officers. In so doing, we draw lessons from our discussions for managing rightsizing for competence development of an organisation’s human resources. We conclude with a discussion of how rightsizing can be introduced into organisations as a strategic approach to HRM development and organisational re- design.

Recent research suggests that downsizing continues to be a preferred strategy for rectifying organisational deficiencies and improving their performance (Tyler & Wilkinson, 2007). Downsizing has been defined as “an organisation’s conscious use of permanent personnel reductions in an attempt to improve its efficiency and/or

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effectiveness” (Budros, 1999, p70). In essence, downsizing is “a strategy that views people as costs to be cut” (Cascio, 2002, p 39). Long used as a means of seeking cost benefits in organisations, downsizing is now a “firmly established” option for management (Wilkinson, 2005, p 1079). Organisations that view employees as costs are likely to calculate that more efficient management of resources can be readily achieved by reducing the number of employees. However, organisations can gain cost efficiencies in one area of work while increasing costs in another part of the organisation (Davison, 2002). Downsizing can herald negative aspects for an organisation. Davison (2002) suggests that reducing the size of the workforce to gain reduction in costs is a flawed decision, especially if management is ignorant of how many employees the organisation needs for its operations. Perhaps most importantly downsizing by reducing numbers of employees flies contradicts the view that people are an organisations greatest asset and can provide the wherewithal for sustainable competitive advantage (see, for example, Pfeffer & Viega, 1999; Pfeffer, 2005). Downsizing leads to a loss of knowledge and skills embedded in an organisation’s workforce (Fisher & White, 2000; Littler & Innes, 2003; An essential difference between downsizing and rightsizing an organisation is that rightsizing is part of a strategic plan while downsizing is a reaction to earlier errors in HR planning (for discussions see: Hitt, Keats, Harback & Nixon, 1994; Martell & Carroll, 1995; Davison 2002). It is suggested that downsizing be used for the purposes of “strategic intervention”, which involves

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seeing the phenomenon in a broader scope to include the goals and objectives of the organisation and its planned strategies for growth and renewal, these latter shared with employees (Mirabel & De Young, 2005, pp 39-41). Writing in the McKinsey Quarterly, Guthridge, McPherson and Wolf (2008) advocate that organisations should use cost-cutting initiatives to “seek an opportunity to redesign jobs so that they become more engaging for the people undertaking them” (Guthridge et al, 2008, p1). In this way, suggest the authors, organisations can demonstrate the attractiveness of the workplace to both current and potential employees. Needless to say, this view of rightsizing an organisation perceives that employees can make key contributions to the organisation through development of their skills, intellect and competencies. McCann, Selksy and Lee (2009) suggest that organisations need to build agility while investing in resiliency (i.e. the ability to adapt) and to manage these attributes simultaneously – especially in turbulent business and social environments (McCann et al, 2009; also see: Littler & Ines, 2003; Pfeffer, 2005). For organisations key issues are not only to preclude losing valuable skills and competencies in short-term cost- cutting exercises of redundancies, but also to ensure that the necessary skills and competencies are developed. The development of resilience in employees is seen as a necessary part of an organisation’s human resource development (HRD) (Luthans, Vogelgesang & Lester, 2006).

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For some time authors have advocated sustainability of an organisation through a proactive approach to human resource development (HRD) and through judicious management of the human resource capabilities (see: Miles & Snow, 1984; Hitt et al, 1994; Pfeffer & Veiga, 1999; Morrell, 1998; Wilkinson, 2005; Gandolfi, 2006; Gandolfi, 2009). This approach to the development of organisational and human capabilities seeks to focus on the positive effects of organisational decisions and actions, as opposed to negative attributes of organisational behaviours (see, for example, Luthans, 2002; Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008). For example, in a downsizing initiative, this would focus on positive ways to ensure that employees survive what is often a traumatic, stress-intensive experience (see, for example, Armstrong-Stassen & Schlosser, 2008). We now present details of the Rightsizing project conducted within the public sector in Thailand. The project was somewhat unusual in using a Rightsizing simulation model to develop in public service officers the skills and competencies to identify the optimal size and shape of their organisation efficiently to deliver effective public services. Thus the officers participating in the project developed a range of skills and competencies immediately transferable to their own areas of responsibility. They also developed skills and competencies predicted to be useful for future development of the human resource capacity and capability the public sector.

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THE THAI RIGHTSIZING PROJECT: BACKGROUND AND RATIONALES From 1992-1993 the Office of the Thai Civil Service Commission (OCSC) engaged in a collaborative research and training project. The collaborating partners were the Swedish Institute for Public Administration (SIPU), which provided technical assistance and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), which financed the initiative. One of the current authors (TI) was consultant to this project. The project conducted a comparative study of the public sector workforce throughout the region through close analysis of socio- economic data up to and including the year 1990. An intended feature of the project design was to develop the decision-making skills of public sector officers using actual data about public sector work and institutions. However, during this project, it had proved difficult to obtain reliable comparative data in sufficient quantity to study changes over time and differences between countries. This was frustrating for the participants. This meant either that, to make sense of their organisations, officers needed to learn skills for decision-making by extrapolating from incomplete data. Either way, the officers were being educated in skills to enable them to manage their own HR issues for future delivery of public services. A subsequent study, ‘Right Sizing of the Thai Public Sector’ focused on the implementation of Human Resource planning at the regional level. OCSC hosted this study, again with support from SIPU and SIDA. This project was part-funded by the World Bank from part of its development loan to Thailand. One of the current

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authors (TI) again acted as project consultant and was responsible for producing the final report (see Ivergard, 2003). Planning for this latter project began in 1997 and the project was completed in 2003. In the course of this project the participants investigated the structure and related size of the public sector at the macro-level. This investigation was carried out through combined action research and action learning. As part of a process of familiarization, training, and development the officers developed a Rightsizing simulation models. Senior officials felt that this focus would be a helpful means of encouraging their officers to see the Thai public sector as a whole, rather than just the perspective of the “silo” of their own workplace. Officers needed to be aware of the national situation; not merely that of the centre or the individual region. Concurrently, officers participating in the project would become familiar with the data needed to make decisions affecting HR resource needs in their own workplace, while considering the national picture. The format for this was an action research model in which the officers investigated attributes of their own organisation, collected salient data and used these data to help address HR issues of their own departments. The officers would learn to make organisational HR decisions based on their own data. Part of the learning and skills development was from collaborative investigation of issues and group-based decision-making. In the current context, action research is defined as participative involvement of both central and regional officers as active contributors to the work processes. Here, action learning is defined as involving participants from both

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the central and regional administrative functions to reflect and learn from each other about the de- centralised process of change management. The chosen process for the Rightsizing project was based partly on lessons learned from the study undertaken 1992-1993. Participants in this project had been frustrated by the difficulties encountered in locating suitable data. The aim of the later study was to compare public sector changes over time from 1992-2001 (inclusive) at a regional level. There were three rationales. Firstly, it was expected that for this later 10- year period more accurate data would be readily available than had proved to be the case in the 1992- 1993 project. In the period between these two projects, the various constituent departments of the Thai public sector were using computers for their daily work and had become more computer-aware. Secondly, it was desired to engage participants in a practical change project where they themselves were part of the change; and to stimulate learning through participative activity. Participative involvement is a key feature of action learning. Thirdly, as a combined process of action research and action learning it was important to create active participation from central and regional officers in a process that would engage their intellect and expertise and also encourage mutual cooperation and exchange of views. A key plank of the Thai government’s public sector reform initiatives is to devolve decision-making from the centre to the regions. With the increased use of computers in their workplaces officers had become mindful that data generated as a

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matter of administrative routine were important for decision-making. A corollary was that these data should be carefully checked for accuracy and be used to underpin clear, accessible records keeping. By using more accurate, more recent data, it was expected that synthesis and analysis of data would provide sensitive indicators of the changes in size of the public sector, particularly between the different sub-sectors. To provide a source of external comparison the Thai data were compared with other countries (where it was possible to obtain reliable data from public sources and where data were based on the same definitions as the Thai data). This would give richer data and offer a fuller comparative picture of the evolving shape of the public sector in Thailand. An awareness of the evolution of their organisation would help the public sector officers better to understand the changing needs and focus of public services delivery and thereby allow them to make better- informed decisions (for example, about the changing needs of citizens, staffing levels, and public service needs). Additionally, an awareness of the comparative size and shape of similar organisations elsewhere would allow Thai officers to benchmark their own data. However, comparative national statistics of this nature are “very rare indeed, and not very compatible either” (personal communication from a serving official of the UN, cited in Ivergard, 2003, p 20). PUBLIC SECTOR RIGHTSIZING: THE NATURE OF THE TASK In calculating optimum size of a public sector there are two key issues: the size of the public sector overall and the relationship of the overall size of the sector to the work it is tasked to do. Here, size means the number of

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suitably qualified people and the number of departments needed to deliver public services in a timely and effective manner. We differentiate between the public sector and the government sector. The government sector administers the key levers of the state and includes bureaux such as ministries, government departments and units whose responsibilities cover sub-parts of ministry work. Local government is treated as a separate entity but still is a part of central government. In the current context the local government has its own elected legislative/governing bodies. The de-centralized part of the central government is counted as a part of the ordinary government sector. The government sector is thus subsumed in the public sector. The public sector includes such organisations as utility companies, the emergency services, education institutions and other bodies whose products and services contribute to the functioning, well-being and development of a society. Other important factors to be considered are total public revenues and expenditures, the roles of the public sector workforce, and the purposes that the public sector is intended to fulfil (such as managing change in the macro economy). Political ideologies and national philosophies also influence public sector roles and thereby the size of the public sector (in terms of employee headcount) deemed necessary to carry out its assigned work tasks. To be able to make any type of projections about the optimal size of a public sector infrastructure from a general macro perspective it is critical to have comparative data regarding developments over time as well as the current situation. Without these inputs, decision-making – whether tactical or strategic – makes

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little sense. To give a purpose to public sector development, it is necessary to have some sense of strategic vision and direction for the public sector and its work and roles in national development. This will help ensure that the developments stay ‘on track’ over time. This is important as developments can be ‘derailed’ in the face of newer initiatives that capture the attention of leaders and engage valuable resources. This is not uncommon: in the public sector there are often competing drivers for change (Wise, 2002). For the purposes of benchmarking, it is also helpful to compare the public sector with public sectors in other countries. Thus the design of the Rightsizing project incorporated this feature of data gathering and analysis. PUBLIC SECTOR RIGHTSIZING: ISSUES FOR THAILAND In Thailand, in rightsizing the public sector, the main issue is not the total size (numbers) of resources. Rather, the key issue is how these resources are distributed and utilized. Resources include both the human resources (such as suitably qualified and experienced dentists, doctors and teachers) and physical resources (such as equipment, clinics, and resource materials). Of crucial importance is the geographic distribution of the public sector workforce. Thailand is a country with a concentrated capital city, Bangkok. Greater Bangkok (and its environs) is home to almost 20 percent of the total population. Current data suggests that of a total population of over 64 million the population of Bangkok is approaching 12 million. This figure may be an underestimation as not everyone working and residing in the capital cares to register their presence with the relevant authorities. (A thriving black economy ensures

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that people have places in which to hide and reasons for wishing to remain out of sight of officialdom). In spite of some strong efforts for improvements over the past few years there remains a sizeable inequity in the distribution of public sector personnel (in e.g. the healthcare sector and – to some extent – in education). Bangkok and the surrounding urban and semi-urban areas are very well equipped with personnel while many rural areas suffer an acute shortage of public services. The gap between Bangkok and the rest of the country is also increasing, particularly in the area of public health. For example, official (1998) data from the Ministry of Public Health suggests that the residents in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA) have access to 8,212 physicians out of a national total of 17, 510 (Ivergard, 2003, p 49). For a country such as Thailand such inequity is a major problem; socially, economically and politically. And, somewhat ironically, methods chosen to alleviate the problem are likely to aggravate it. For example, compulsory work contracts oblige young, inexperienced, healthcare professionals (particularly dentists) to work, often alone, in outlying regional locations. This is less than efficient. Not only does this system misuse human resources and neglect the continued need for supervision, it is also dangerous for patients as well as for the medical professionals themselves. Traditionally, in Thailand, key medical professionals such as doctors are mainly recruited from upper-class families in Bangkok and other urban areas. Their knowledge and experience of remote rural areas may be very limited, sometimes non-existent. In this situation, healthcare problems are also very demanding. Ideally, the remote rural areas

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need healthcare professionals who are well experienced and whose medical training has been broad in scope (including primary care, healthcare promotion and disease prevention). In Thailand, the rural culture often differs greatly from the urban culture. Especially needed are healthcare professionals who have insights into the rural culture and can thus empathise with local needs without seeming to be patronising or superior. In this situation, ministry-level debate should focus on how to provide the appropriate educational, social and medical competencies to those areas where these services are lacking. There is sufficient information about the number of healthcare professionals in different regions, the changes over time and the drastic increase in the numbers of specialists. However, the need is arguably for increased numbers of highly qualified generalists. RIGHTSIZING THE THAI PUBLIC SECTOR: A SIMULATION MODEL The decision to use a simulation model to replicate the Thai public sector in terms of shape and size was driven by three rationales. Firstly, it was proving extremely difficult to gauge the shape and size of the Thai public sector from extant data. Long-serving officers, fully aware of and knowledgeable about their own units and departments, lacked a complete picture of the whole. Data were often missing or inconsistent. This was revealed when participants, tasked to gather specific data about their work areas, discovered contradictory data on the same topic but collected from a different record source. Secondly, lacking an accurate picture of the current situation, assessing the optimal size and shape of the Thai public sector was likely to be fraught

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with difficulty and any direction was likely to be frustrated by lack of data. This was the case both in the whole and in the part of the whole. The project work conducted from 1992-1993 showed this to be the reality. Thirdly, it was considered helpful to design a simulation model that would have action research and action learning as integral parts of its function in use. Action research and action learning were deemed to be key components of the project in the interests of ensuring concerted personal involvement in the data and its uses for planning and policy development. The simulation model was thus designed to illustrate the profile of the Thai public sector and intended to aid the process of rightsizing by addressing key issues concerning provision of salient data and processes of data synthesis and interpretation. Figure 1 shows the Rightsizing simulation model. Figure 1: Public Sector Rightsizing – A Simulation Model

(1) Government

Policies

(3) Key

Indicators

(2) National

Demographic Data

Policies

(4) HR

Gap

(5) Strategic Resource

Decision(s)

TIME

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The simulation model comprises five components: (1) government policies, (2) national demographic data, (3) key indicators, (4) the HR gap, and (5) strategic resources decision(s). For ease of explication, this first diagram shows linear (step-by-step) processes. Figure 2 (below) shows a more dynamic model of these processes. Government policies (1) provide the initial ‘raw’ inputs to the model and are the key drivers of public sector work. Government policies are supplemented by national demographic data (2). National demographic data includes current data about the population (for example, national census data, data from school, workplace and accommodation records as well as predictions of the future possible profile of the population and its possible needs extrapolated from current known data (from e.g. figures for live births, deaths, and life expectancy rates). Taken together, government policies and national demographic data provide inputs to inform the key indicators and inform the subsequent stages of the model. Key indicators (3) relate to contributory factors that affect the delivery of state products and services such as national revenues, budgetary decisions, costs associated with national resource development, and policy frameworks that guide national expenditure (such as proportions of national expenditure allocated to specific items in the national balance sheet). An audit of national needs balanced against costs (tempered by political decisions on national expenditures) reveals the HR gap (4). The HR gap is the shortfall of needs against human resources or the oversupply of certain human resources

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(e.g. a scarcity or profusion of science teachers, a shortage of pre-natal clinicians). Such an audit provides a government with data to make strategic resource decisions (5) to plan national development (including human resource development and training) to meet predicted future national needs. Empirical research in Sweden in the area of Social and Healthcare has helped draw up a list of guidelines for the definition and selection of key indicators (Socialstyrelsen, 2001). According to this study, key indicators should be:

1. Relevant and Important 2. Valid 3. Measurable and Reliable 4. Possible to Influence (impact factors) 5. Interpretable – clear-cut, unambiguous.

Reflections on the work of the Rightsizing project indicate a further guideline: key indicators should have a known weighting (relative value) in relation to each other. Efficient working of the model requires accurate data. Each step of the model is sensitive to error. In common with other process models inaccurate data fed into the model at the early stages render the later stages imprecise. Imprecise data is likely to cause error. And errors compound over time. Erroneous data fed into the early stages of the model increase the likelihood of error in the later stages of the model. Incomplete data, or data based on ‘guesstimate’ or poor prediction, skews data used for decision-making. Flawed decisions may lead to

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Figure 2: Data Confirmation for HR Decision-making

TIME

(1) Government

Policies

(3) Key

Indicators

(2) National

Demographic data

(4) HR Gap

(5)

Strategic Resource

Decision(s)

Feedback processes (A) (evaluation and checking)

Feedback processes (A)

(evaluation and checking)

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poor resource allocation with costly repercussions for quality of life and the national economy. Figure 2 shows the basic simulation model with the addition of feedback loops. The ostensible purpose of feedback loops is to aid accuracy of data inputs. An additional purpose of the feedback loops is to indicate the data needed for decision-making. In the model, feedback loops are part of the progression of data and interpretation through the model process. The generation of data and its interpretation are thus the raw material for an officer’s decision-making concerning his own area of the overall public sector body. Sensitive evaluation of data inputs for accuracy is therefore critical. A preliminary evaluation of congruity of current data with future plans is by comparison of current national demographic data (2) with government policies (1). Systematic analysis of the desires of government for policy implementation and comparison with current demographic data should clarify over- or under-supply of required skills and competencies (or perhaps both). A further check is provided by the feedback loops from the key indicators (3) to the requirements needed to fulfill government policy desires and the predicted taxonomy of required skills and competencies extrapolated from national demographic data. The double-headed arrows, Feedback processes (A), encourage checking between the various components of the model. For example, checking between Key indicators (3) and the HR gap (4) ensures assessment of the accuracy of needs and the ability of the human resources to meet these needs.

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Sensitive interpretation of national demographic data acts as a counterweight to data from alternative sources and is a check to help prevent error. The final stage of the simulation model, Strategic Resource Decisions (5), is the stage where the cumulative data from the various inputs informs national policy decisions. Hence data accuracy throughout the model is critical if policy decisions are to accord with reality. The strategic nature of such decisions, for example concerning current investments to create future resources, means that errors are likely to be expensive and risk squandering precious national resources. Priorities for resource investment can be made according to the interplay between government policies and national demographic data. Thus, at this stage of the model, it is important to ensure both data accuracy (of inputs) and precision of interpretation (of cumulative data). The margin for error is high. The price of error will be costly in terms of human lives and economic cost (including opportunity cost). Arguably, all but the most insensitive or foolhardy governments are wary of making too many grandiose errors. This first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of Thai and international data concluded that the size of the Thai public workforce is comparatively small and relatively compact. These data were surprising for a number of reasons. Traditionally, the Thai public sector has been perceived as cumbersome and overly large (for example by outside agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank). This has been in terms of the total number (headcount) of public sector employees

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and also in total size of the organisation in terms of its allotted tasks. That is the Thai public sector has been regarded as not fit for purpose (i.e. that it is inefficient in terms of the number of human resources needed to produce accountable outputs). This suggests that the Thai public sector is hostage to inherent operational inefficiencies in relation to the Thai economy and its current stage of development. The data shown above gainsay this perception. While the Thai public sector may not be particularly lean, it is certainly slimmer than most. A discussion of public sector outputs is outside the scope of this present paper. However, recent governments have focused their policies (particularly those relating to public sector reforms) on monitoring public service deliverables and assessing the impact on society and the citizen. This is on-going and seems to be gathering momentum. From recent experience teaching on a Masters in Management degree designed for future leaders of the Thai public sector, we have become aware of many examples of workplace initiatives which focus on improvements in productivity in public sector work. THE SIMULATION MODEL AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT The simulation model proved to be a valuable tool for learning. Firstly, it helped sensitise the government officers to their own working environment (the equivalent of showing fish the water they swim in). Additionally, the officers were able to learn from the collaborative working environment. This helped to break some of the tension between officers based centrally, perhaps with responsibilities nationally, and those undertaking local responsibilities and based regionally

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but with channels of reporting and communication to the central bureaucracy. Left to their own devices, officers have a strong inclination to work from a standpoint of “them and us” – especially when dealing with departments in outlying regions or in the labyrinthine maze that is the central bureaucracy. One intended outcome of the Rightsizing simulation project was to change this mindset. These are surely valuable skills and competencies for all organisations to develop in their workforce, as they will help encourage employees to coordinate effort and collaborate in work processes. Equally useful in the learning process were the mutual tasks designed within the framework of action research/action learning. Focus on the task rather than the processes of learning helped project participants learn with a purpose. Where tasks were difficult or problematic (for example, obtaining specific data from government records) these uncovered a two-fold benefit. On the one hand, project participants focused their intellectual effort towards resolving the task, including proposing reengineering work processes so that the perceived problem could be eradicated. Concurrently, the difficulties of the work tasks for the project created a greater sense of inclusion for what had been a relatively diverse group of officers. Taken together, the component parts of the Rightsizing project revealed learning synergies that participants took back to their public sector workplaces. This form of training is learning by doing. By participating jointly, local and central officers had an increased understanding of each other’s concerns. Mutual empathy was one payback of the project. This project thus addressed key issues in

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preparing public service officers for combined sensitive HR policy-making, planning, and decision-making. In this project, as in many organisations (in both the private and public sectors) HR planning and development requires decisions to be made for the right reasons. This is particularly important when deciding the future strategic direction of an organisation, and the various resources (including human resource capabilities) needed to move forwards. When rightsizing an organisation, deciding why and how to rightsize is as important a decision as what to rightsize (Davison, 2002, p32). Human resource development (HRD) is a core part of setting and implementing strategic goals (Miles & Snow, 1984; Boxall, 1998; Grattan & Truss, 2003; Chatman, O’Reilly & Chang, 2005). It is recognized that collective learning through, for example, communities of practice, aids individual learning and personal development (Wenger, 1998, 2002; Akkerman, Petter & de Laat, 2008; Garavan & McCarthy, 2008; Jorgensen & Keller, 2008; Hemmasi & Csanda, 2009). Similarly, as was evident from the Rightsizing project described above, a key issue is not the total size (numbers) of resources but rather how these resources are mobilized and managed. Valuable members of an organisation’s are employees (including HR specialists) who possess the knowledge and skills to help their organisation discover its optimal size and shape for continued survival and prosperity

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NOTES The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable help and assistance of Khun Sima Simananta, Secretary General of the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) and the staff of OCSC who cooperated in some of the projects described in this paper. We also thank the large numbers of Thai public service personnel who participated in the various projects described here, without whose enthusiasm, commitment and effort the projects would not have been possible and this paper would not have been written. In developing this paper we have included new information and cited relevant references. Apart from the publications that we cite, we were able to consult a number of internal documents. These helped us put isolated events into perspective – in effect, helping us to see the large picture. Our reflections and observations stem from our work (as civil servants and consultants in the public sector in several ASEAN countries) and from our experiences from living and working in Thailand. One of the present authors (TI) has for many years been an advisor to Thai government and, in this capacity, has carried out a number of extensive studies. The observations and experiences from this work have helped shape our ideas and we have related our ideas to our more theoretical work (published elsewhere). Our overarching aim has been to create a more holistic understanding of and insights about the learning processes we observed and in which we participated. Needless to say, the ideas and opinions expressed in this paper are our own.

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Relations Association (University of Technology, Sydney) and its content may not be copied or emailed to

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Week 6 Presentation & DQ/The long term effect of doing more with less Doing less.pdf

M A N A G E M E N T A C C O U N T I N G

CGMA cgmamagazine.org

The Long-Term Effect of Doing More With Less: Doing Less

*hose who have worked for a company that struggled during the recent financial crisis know the scenario all too well: To

cut costs, the business lays off workers. The survivors are grateful to keep their jobs and assume extra duties to keep things hum- ming. Experts are now taking a closer look at the long- term effects of doing more with less. And some, including Ron Rael, CPA, CGMA, founder of the High Road In- stitute leadership consulting firm, are finding that the new pace can’t last forever.

“We’ve been running so lean for so long that it’s starting to hurt compa- nies profitability-wise, morale-wise, culture- wise,” said Rael, an author whose published works include The Traits of Today’s CFO: A Handbook for Excelling in an Evolving Role. “And, more importantly, employees are starting to get burned out.”

Many employees can’t physically sustain the pace at

which they have been working during the downturn, and productivity is bound to fall as a result, he predicts. In addi-

tion to decreased productivity, companies may be facing increased medical costs to repair the

bodies of weary employees who have worked too many 50-, 60-, and 70-

-””’ f hour weeks. Hiring new employees to

relieve overburdened work- ers can be difficult to justi-

fy because growth still seems uncertain for many businesses. Exec- utives participating in the CGMA Global Eco- nomic Forecast survey for the third quarter predicted in aggregate a staffing level increase of just 0.7% over the 12 months following

the survey. So in the meantime,

fear of layoffs—not hope for hiring—may continue to drive

productivity trends in the near term, and that adds another wrinkle

to this contmdrum. Excessive workloads are top drivers of

stress. Stress can breed sickness. But the fear that keeps people productive also keeps them from staying home when they have the sniffles.

Sick and anxious workers are, not surprisingly, less produc- tive. Companies that fail to emphasize at-work Wellness, a

24 Journal of Accountancy January 2013 wvvw.journalofaccountancy.com

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

broad topic that includes telling sick employees to stay home, are shown to have higher health care costs and lower productivity.

MISMATCHES.,, AND AN EXODUS? In addition to heaping more responsibil- ities on workers, layoffs often saddle em- ployees with duties that do not match their skills—duties that previously were handled by their downsized colleagues. And where there’s a mismatch, there’s more stress, unhappiness, and the po- tential for less productivity.

“You’re going against what’s natural for you to do, and along with possibly not liking it, the employees are thinking, ‘I can’t lose my job. I’ll do whatever they want,’ ” said Cathy Sexton, owner of The Productivity Experts consulting firm. “And you just can’t sustain that for a – long period.”

,The most dedicated,.valuable work- ers are the ones who suffer the most when companies try to do more with less. When companies choose not to hire to save money, Rael said, they are deferring a cost.

“The cost is the.impact on their ex- isting employées,” he said. “And that cost is starting to catch up with them in terms of the toll on health, in terms of productivity, and in terms of their employees’ willingness to seek out new ideas, embrace new technology, [and] embrace new concepts. … Because they don’t have the time or the interest to do it.”

For more, including tips on how to prevent workforce bumout and how to best do more with less, please read:

• “Can Productivity Rise When Em- • ployees Already Are Stretched Thin?” by Ken Tysiac, at tinyurl.com/

cwzx9pd.

• “Fewer Workplace Absences, More Sick Workers, More Trouble for Em- ployers,” by Neil Amato, at tinyurl. com/bjc3njm.

—jack Hagel, editorial director

CGMA Magazine

VISIT CGMAMAGAZINE.ORG

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in conjunction with the AlCPA’s

and CIMA’s Chartered Global

Management Accountant designa-

tion. The magazine offers daily

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www.journalofaccountancy.com . January 2013 Journal of Accountancy 25

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Week 6 Presentation & DQ/Transferring corporate knowledge via.pdf

Transferring corporate knowledge via succession planning: analysis and solutions – Part 2

Steven H. Appelbaum, Christina Benyo, Heidi Gunkel, Said Ramadan, Fadi Sakkal and Damian Wolff

Abstract

Purpose – The focus of the paper is a large, national, publicly traded company. As a large number of its

workforce consists of ‘‘baby boomers’’, 50 percent of its employees will be of retirement age within the

next five years. Having acknowledged the company’s concerns about efficiency of new employees and

the loss of morale in senior employees, this two-part article sets out to provide motivational tools for

management and to suggest solutions to restructure and reorganize in a way to prevent the inevitable –

i.e. the loss of corporate knowledge – via succession planning.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey and individual interviews were conducted within the

company to measure current job satisfaction and company culture as well as how the different

generations of employees view each other and themselves. Employees were also questioned about their

legacy in the organization and their thoughts about transferring corporate knowledge from one

generation to another. This is a two-part article. Part 1 covers the background to the case under

investigation, a review of relevant literature and the hypotheses to test the problem to be studied and

solved. Part 2 describes the methodology and data related to demographics, the testing of the

hypotheses and conclusions and recommendations.

Findings – The study found a correlation between job satisfaction and effective communication and a

negative correlation between pre-retirees and their lack of motivation as they approach retirement. Also,

it was found that senior employees possess a willingness to share and transfer knowledge to younger

generations.

Research limitations/implications – The article relies on limited survey and interview data of one

particular regional department within a large organization. Certain demographic questions were omitted

to preserve confidentiality. The selected department and interview subjects were chosen by the

organization and therefore the occurrence of sampling error is possible.

Practical implications – This study monitored the impact that recent retirees will have on the remaining

staff of a company. The act of effective succession planning is of paramount importance since the ‘‘baby

boomer’’ generation is comprised of 76 million North Americans and the threat of the loss of corporate

knowledge will inevitably increase as the population ages. The article offers recommendations as to how

an organization can better manage the impact of a large number of retirees on the remaining workforce

and what it can do to maximize efficiency.

Originality/value – The article offers practical solutions for dealing with the impact of retiring baby

boomers and identifies models for a proactive approach in dealing with an issue that will affect the North

American economy within the next five years.

Keywords Baby boomer generation, Succession planning, Continuity planning, Motivation (psychology), Knowledge transfer, Knowledge management, Organizational culture

Paper type Research paper

The methodology

Part 1 of this article covered the background to the case under investigation, a review of

relevant literature and the hypotheses to test the problem to be studied and solved. Part Two

will describe the methodology and data related to demographics, the testing of the

hypotheses and conclusions and recommendations.

DOI 10.1108/00197851211267956 VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012, pp. 379-388, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0019-7858 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING j PAGE 379

Steven H. Appelbaum,

Christina Benyo,

Heidi Gunkel and

Said Ramadan are all

based at John Molson

School of Business,

Concordia University,

Montréal, Canada.

Fadi Sakkal is a Full-time

Student in Montréal,

Canada. Damian Wolff is a

Graduate Student in the

Department of

Management, John Molson

School of Business,

Concordia University,

Montréal, Canada.

Data were collected through a questionnaire comprising pre-existing work-related

psychometric measures. Quantitative data were collected through closed-ended

questions that required participants to choose from a limited number of responses. We

used a blend of multiple-choice, numerical and Likert-scale-questions. The questionnaire

was submitted to the IT department of Millennium Dynamics, Inc.’s headquarters in a major

metropolitan city in North America. The surveyed workforce is comprised of regional IT

Service Representatives and End-User Support Analysts working in the following positions:

Customer Service, IT Support, Supervision, Group Lead, and other Professionals. Though

only employees from this specific department were eligible to participate in the study, the

survey was established as a sample intended for future use in other departments. In total, 46

(92 percent) of the department’s 50 employees responded. The IT department was chosen

as a stratified sample of the organization population: approximately 50 percent of retirees

will be leaving Millennium Dynamics, Inc. company-wide within the next five years. The

surveyed IT department is composed of 50 people, seven of whom are currently eligible for

retirement, one within the next year, three within the next two years and four within five to ten

years.

The survey was submitted electronically through a website that allowed access with log-in

and password information. Participation was voluntary and confidentiality was ensured.

The survey was divided into sections as follows:

B basic demographics;

B questions to help understand the perception of employees with respect to company

culture;

B questions pertaining to communication satisfaction;

B questions addressing job satisfaction, questions evaluating personal preferences and

job climate; and

B questions pertaining to the employees’ perception of the organization’s continuity

planning.

Section 1 – Demographics

Respondents were asked to provide information relating to the following demographic

variables in form of multiple-choice and numerical questions: age, education, type of

position, and tenure – subdivided into tenure within the organization and tenure in current

position. We chose to exclude gender because of the question’s potential to compromise the

confidentiality (or perception of confidentiality) of the survey participants due to the

department size and the ratio of female to male employees in this particular department.

Section 2 – Company culture

Questions to understand the perception of the company’s culture were developed in two

directions: initially in order to identify the employees’ perception of the company’s rules and

values and secondly to identify how the two groups of interest, i.e. senior and junior staff,

perceive their interaction. This two-level approach was used to examine both vertical

structures and horizontal structures within the organization. Our model consisted of a total of

15 questions and responses were rated using a five-point Likert scale with the following

verbal anchors:

B 0 ¼ “I prefer not to answer’’; B 1 ¼ “I completely disagree’’; B 2 ¼ “I disagree’’; B 3 ¼ “I am neutral’’; B 4 ¼ “I agree’’; and B 5 ¼ “I strongly agree’’;

PAGE 380 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012

Section 3 – Communication

Nine questions were adapted from the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ),

developed by Downs and Hazen (1977) and used to assess the employees’ level of

satisfaction with communication between management and staff as well as among staff

members. As suggested by Clampitt and Downs (1993), CSQ is ‘‘arguably the best measure

of communication satisfaction in the organizational arena’’. Responses were measured

using the same five-point Likert scale as described in the previous section.

Section 4 – Job satisfaction

Twenty-two questions, partly adapted from Bellingham’s (2004) Job Satisfaction Survey,

were used to construct a general satisfaction indicator. Responses were measured using the

same five-point Likert scale as described in the previous sections.

Section 5 – Personal preference and job climate

Thirteen questions were established. Responses were measured using a four-point Likert

Importance scale with the following verbal anchors:

B ‘‘I prefer not to answer’’;

B ‘‘Not important’’;

B ‘‘Neutral’’; and

B ‘‘Important’’.

Section 6 – Continuity planning

Eleven questions were developed. The response rating consisted of a mixed format

between the above described five-point Likert scale and four-point Likert importance scale.

In addition to the questionnaire, six people from the department were video interviewed —

the interviewed staff were selected by the organization according to the following criteria:

five of the interviewed employees are less than five years from retirement and one person

was representative for staff undertaking the knowledge transfer process as a new team

member who needs to be trained. The selection was limited due to the availability and

willingness of staff to participate. The results and analysis of this undertaking will follow.

Results and analysis

Based on the methods introduced above, we measured the responses with the common

interpretation of statistical analysis and put the theory to the test by performing a statistical

analysis and recommendation based on the data that was received from Millennium

Dynamics, Inc. employees in the survey and interviews. In this section an analysis of the

results will be presented for the 46 participants as follows:

B data related to demographics;

B company culture, personal preferences, and job climate;

B organization’s continuity planning and transfer of knowledge; and

B communication and job satisfaction.

Data related to demographics

For our evaluation of the results, we divided the respondents into two major age categories:

1. ‘‘seniors’’, merging the age group of ‘‘45 to 54’’ years and ‘‘55 years and over’’; and

2. ‘‘juniors’’, merging the three categories ‘‘under 25’’, ‘‘25 to 34’’, and ‘‘35 to 44’’.

The seniors (45 years of age and older) represented 18 out of our 46 respondents

(approximately 40 percent) and juniors (44 and under) represented 28 out of the total

respondents (approximately 60 percent). Initially, we planned to divide junior employees into

early career employees (under 34 years) and mid-career employees (35-44 years); however,

VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj PAGE 381

in order to be concise with our analysis, we decided to concentrate on the differences

between those who are about to retire and the remaining employees. We chose this method

to emphasise our main concern: the motivation of pre-retirees and knowledge transfer to

junior employees.

After having divided the sample into the two described age groups, we looked at the

education level of those surveyed and began by taking the sample as a whole. Since the

sample size was large enough (.30), we were able to use the central limit theorem, which

allows us to assume a normal distribution.

With this assumed normality, we were able to calculate a 95 percent confidence interval for

the education level of the entire population of employees, and the results demonstrated that

at this particular level of confidence, the true population mean of education is between

‘‘some college’’ and ‘‘specialized professional degree’’.

With our initial segregation of the data between senior and junior employees we were able to

better analyze the results, and found that the cluster of percentages was reversed between

the two age groups. For junior staff, 85.72 percent of the sample occupied the third, fourth

and fifth education levels representing the higher education ranks; whereas senior staff

occupied 83.33 percent of the sample at first, second, and third education levels

representing the lower education layers. These findings clearly illustrate a gap in education

level between the two age groups, specifically since none of the senior staff members has a

graduate-level degree versus juniors, of whom only one possessed high-school education

or less.

After having evaluated the different education levels within the organization, we proceeded

with the tenure of the employees at Millennium Dynamics, Inc. Our findings were as follows:

approximately 95 percent of senior employees have been in the organization for over ten

years, most of them over 20 years. These results support the fact that senior employees

prove to be loyal to their employer which was additionally supported by the video interviews

(see Figure 1).

Naturally, juniors have been found to be in the organization for a shorter period:

approximately 70 percent have been with the company for less than ten years; 50 percent of

the juniors even less than five years. Approximately 80 percent of the senior employees have

been in their current position for over five years and are therefore considered to be highly

experienced in their current job position, whereas the junior age group is divided as follows:

approximately 40 percent of junior employees have been in their current position for less

than two years and 40 percent between two to five years, and only 18 percent have been in

their current position for over five years.

Figure 1 Tenure in organization and current position

PAGE 382 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012

Data related to the perception of employees with respect to company culture, personal

preferences, and job climate (H1)

This section of the questionnaire is concerned with examining how the employees view their

relationship with management and their work environment. When asked if the employees

perceive their well-being as being important to the organization, we found that 40 percent of

senior employees agree that the company cares about their well-being and the rest are

neutral. However, we found that 57 percent of the juniors agree that the company cares

about their well-being.

The question related to motivation delivered the following results with respect to senior staff:

even after an average of over 20 years of work, sometimes in the same position, 66 percent

confirm that they are still motivated to arrive to work on Monday mornings. Also, the

perception of fairness within the organization delivered similar results: 50 percent of seniors

agree that everyone is treated equally in the organization, in comparison to 60 percent of the

junior employees who agree or even strongly agree with the statement that everyone is

treated fairly. Keeping in mind that the younger colleagues have been working in their

current positions for a significantly shorter amount of time compared to their senior

colleagues, the results prove that the levels of motivation in both groups are fairly equal.

These findings lead us to our first hypothesis (H1). Most of the seniors care about what

happens to the company after they retire – 66 percent care about leaving a lasting

contribution and about 55 percent of the seniors believe that this is of major importance. We

can deduce that they feel this way since they have been treated fairly over the years and

have always had a positive relation with their fellow peers and upper management.

In summary, our results show that pre-retirees are in fact not less motivated than their junior

counterparts, hereby rejecting H1.

Data related to the perception of employees with respect to the organization’s continuity

planning and transfer of knowledge (H2)

Both junior and senior staff agree that there is a good relationship among the employees of

both age groups as outlined in the following findings:

In the survey, younger employees responded that they agree that the more experienced

colleagues are regarded as mentors, organized and detail-oriented, understanding, patient

and knowledgeable. We can deduce that junior staff are willing to learn from senior

employees and consider the information these seniors provide useful and important. Senior

employees do not consider the younger generation of colleagues to be under-qualified or

over-qualified. They feel that the juniors are on average innovative and risk takers. Junior

employees are perceived to be willing to take directions from older colleagues, when

needed. This result relates to our second hypothesis as well.

The seniors view themselves as mentors/role models as well as being organized and

knowledgeable. Being understanding and patient seems to be a neutral point when seniors

were asked about themselves.

Juniors do not consider themselves under-qualified or over-qualified, but more as risk-takers

and willing to take directions from seniors when needed.

‘‘ We decided to concentrate on the differences between those who are about to retire and the remaining employees to emphasise our main concern: the motivation of pre-retirees and knowledge transfer to junior employees. ’’

VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj PAGE 383

These findings relate back to H2, which claims that employees nearing retirement are

inclined to share/transfer their knowledge to younger/junior employees in the following way.

When dealing with continuity planning, both senior and junior employees agree that

knowledge transfer to fellow peers is important. Working flexible hours post retirement is of

high importance for the groups in addition to the extra health care benefits that come along

as well as the seasonal leaves of absence. Seniors are more interested in staying in the job

market post retirement than the younger ones.

Based on our analysis, we can accept H2 and conclude that seniors are inclined to transfer

knowledge to the younger peers post retirement within certain flexible structures.

Data related to employees’ perception with respect to communication and job satisfaction

(H3)

Our third hypothesis, dealing with communication and motivation, prompted an inquiry as to

how the company understands the values and interests of its employees. Both generations

seem to feel that there is good vertical communication and that everyone knows what is

expected of them. They also claim that they are encouraged to express their ideas amongst

each other. Both groups feel that their opinions are valued by upper management; however,

it seems that juniors agree with this statement more than seniors do.

From this section, we found that overall internal communication is good and that hands-on

practical learning is preferred over theoretical. We found that employees are motivated and

that their job satisfaction is in part, related to their comfort they have in communicating with

each other and to their superiors.

In terms of work environment we found that both juniors and seniors enjoy doing their jobs

and are content with their current positions. Juniors, however, have more energy by ‘‘the end

of the day’’ as opposed to the seniors. All of the employees feel that they work in a positive

environment and that there is mutual respect amongst each other. Half of the seniors are

satisfied with their current salaries and the other half are neutral. Juniors, however, reported

as being neutral or somewhat satisfied with their pay. Juniors would like to be assigned more

tasks but do not fully believe that they are receiving the necessary training needed to

perform their assigned tasks to perfection – whereas seniors are somewhat neutral as to

whether they should be assigned more tasks or not. Both believe that their performances

have not really suffered over the years, especially seniors, who agree with the latter

statement. However, seniors do believe that they have reached a career plateau in terms of

career advancements but are not yet feeling bored with their current jobs – juniors also do

not seem to be bored with their jobs. Again, this part of the survey proves that

communication between the groups is very important and as a result impacts the overall job

satisfaction leading to positive motivation.

In summary, based on the quantitative data gathered, we can accept H3.

Overall, we found that both groups are satisfied with their jobs. Employees have

demonstrated that they will care about the company after they retire and look forward to

possibly work as consultants post-retirement to benefit the company and transfer

knowledge. The employees are interested in leaving a contribution to the company post

retirement and they believe that this is important and it is a type of self-recognition and work

they can be proud of. Recommendations and some related solutions will follow this analysis

of data.

Recommendations and solutions

Our survey and interviews have demonstrated that both Millennium Dynamics, Inc.’s junior

and senior employees view internal communication – horizontal and vertical – as

satisfactory and that the overall work environment is perceived in a positive manner. These

results demonstrated that Millennium Dynamics, Inc. realizes the potential difficulties that

could arise from the high retirement rate at an early stage. The generation change has not yet

affected daily operations at least in that particular department. We conclude that the best

PAGE 384 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012

way to address the problem and minimize potential undesirable future effects is to

proactively work on solutions a priori.

Our recommendations will focus on the improvement of retiree involvement in

post-retirement structures that allow for maximization of knowledge transfer. The survey

revealed that pre-retirees are motivated and willing to work hard during their final years of

full-time employment and that they also feel a responsibility to give back to the company

insofar as sharing the knowledge they have acquired over the years with successors. We

found that younger employees also believe that knowledge transfer is important for the

organization and that both age groups would be eagerly willing to participate in the process.

For the purpose of the analysis of this initiative and for this article, the data was collected in

the IT department. The recommendations and solutions that are presented would have more

of a positive impact and offer more resolve, if implemented on a larger scale – that is, by the

organization and not simply at one department. We feel that a large-scale intervention is

necessary as the entire company is affected with a rate of retirement of 50 percent within the

next five years. There are certainly no quick and ‘‘one-size-fits-all’’ solutions to the issue: in

our recommendations we address mainly the lack of knowledge transfer; we will propose

activities that enhance both transfer of knowledge with positively affects both age groups in:

B motivation for pre-retirees in providing them with additional teaching tasks; and

B smoother and easier access to corporate knowledge.

In light of the above mentioned issues, the following recommendations and solutions are

suggested for Millennium Dynamics, Inc., to solve the initial problem(s) in the following order

of priority:

1. focus training followed by a mentoring program;

2. detailed procedure manuals;

3. job rotation; and

4. phased retirement.

Focused training followed by a mentoring program

The concept of continuous training is not new to Millennium Dynamics, Inc., but the field of

specific training for pre-retirees has not been fully exploited. Often, companies overlook the

potential of older employees and choose to overlook the development of new skills since

they are considered to have a very low return on human resource investment to the company.

An oversight such as this is bound to prove problematic since it overlooks valuable

resources already found in the company.

By providing employees with tailored training in skills that can be applied to knowledge

transfer, like communication, public speaking and teaching, these employees can leverage

their potential and prove themselves as great sources of information to everybody in the

company. This newly developed skill set will show baby boomers that, although their careers

may be coming to an end, they continue to be assets to the company. This will keep their

minds open to new ideas and has the potential to keep loyal Millennium Dynamics, Inc.

employees on for a longer period of time while performing a whole new set of tasks directly

related to knowledge transfer.

Senior employees who feel they possess a certain skill set could also lead training sessions

and seminars to share their knowledge and provide an interactive forum for sharing ideas.

By getting specific training, we believe that employees will have an updated and improved

set of skills and the lacking tools in their arsenal to move forward with a mentoring program.

As seen by the survey and through the interviews we have compiled, we believe that

mentorship is the best way to capture and transfer corporate knowledge. From the data

tabulated from the survey there is an overwhelming percentage of employees who would be

inclined to engage in this practice – approximately 90 percent of each (both seniors and

juniors) agree with that. Each individual from the company that was interviewed (senior or

VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj PAGE 385

junior) expressed an interest and desire to pass on acquired knowledge to fellow employees

who had more recently joined the organization. Some employees were already engaged in

different forms of mentoring, but no formal program has yet been implemented. Many senior

staff members stressed that theoretical knowledge was not enough and that junior

employees would benefit from shadowing or being mentored by someone who had

compiled many years of work experience. In our quickly evolving information age, books can

easily become out-dated and learning one-on-one from someone working in the field can be

greatly beneficial.

We found that it would require little incentive to implement this sort of program since the

pre-retirees are naturally willing and actually enjoy sharing their experience with others. Our

personalized interviews illustrate that employees who have been working for the company

for 30 þ years are looking for a social incentive rather than a monetary one. They seek recognition from peers and superiors, a reward perfectly attainable through mentoring.

Mentoring may not be for everyone, so key players need to be identified and participants

need to be voluntary. Otherwise the program could prove to be counter-productive and a

waste of resources. As an extension of the ‘‘buddy program’’ already in practice at

Millennium Dynamics, Inc., which includes all new employees, junior level employees who

show potential should be paired up with mentors to ensure a higher commitment to the

company. In this way, the younger employee will be more involved in various aspects of the

company and the older employee will feel valued as an important member to the team who is

crucial in the development if the next generation of workers. It must be noted that this

process will be a lengthy one and will not conclude after a few months. As we will detail in the

following segment, this should be an on-going process that will manifest itself over the

course of several years and across several fields.

Detailed procedures manuals

Creating a Wiki, or online info-share, would be of great use to all employees. This type of

resource already exists at Millennium Dynamics, Inc. to some extent but is not fully utilised.

The company could benefit from stressing the formal implementation of this resource so that

there are constant updates in the system. We learned from the survey that young employees

as well as older ones are less-inclined to embrace ‘‘traditional’’ teaching methods. One

senior employee specifically mentioned in an interview that while teaching a seminar they

were forced to throw out a manual since it was completely out-dated. By having access to a

constantly evolving resource, the online ‘‘manuals’’ pose less risk of becoming obsolete.

According to the survey, 75 percent of juniors and 62 percent of seniors would be willing to

create procedure manuals and 86 percent of juniors and 78 percent of seniors would be

interested in having detailed procedure manuals available for everyday tasks.

Job rotation

The survey and interviews both showcased an eagerly motivated and loyal senior workforce.

What seemed to motivate this demographic was their variety of experiences and types of

knowledge. The majority of employees reaching retirement age did not start at the company

in their current department and seemed eager to share their experiences about their

previous roles in the company. In contrast to newly hired employees who come to the

company highly specialized and seem to get bored easily, the employees who have been

working at Millennium Dynamics, Inc. for 30 þ years, have spent those years learning a variety of different tasks and utilizing different tools. Most of them were hired by Millennium

Dynamics, Inc. with little or no post-secondary education and have spent their work life

developing in the ‘‘Millennium Dynamics, Inc. way’’. As opposed to having specialized skills

in a specific field that could be applied in a number of companies, these employees have not

only mastered their current roles but also understand the intricacy of the corporation at large.

One interviewee in particular stated that he worked at the garage, in the terminal, in finance

and in IT. A case such as this is extremely rare in our day and age.

Many of the pre-retirees interviewed stated that the younger employees were eager to learn

and possessed overwhelming technical knowledge but had little practical experience. It

PAGE 386 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012

would be greatly beneficial to these new employees to have some grasp of the company

outside of their department. Through this program, pre-retirees and retired employees can

be of great help in hosting visits and training coworkers company-wide. Millennium

Dynamics, Inc. stands to benefit as a whole by taking the talent they currently employ and

using their highly experienced employees to explain the workings of different sectors to

younger employees eager to understand the complicated structure of this massive

company.

Phased retirement

We have found that the ideal scenario for corporate knowledge transfer would be through a

phased retirement program. In this way, part-time senior employees would pass on their

knowledge to new employees in a way that would ensure the culture, growth and prosperity

of the company.

We have found evidence that employees usually do not feel like ‘‘shutting down their engines

overnight’’, but they do eventually want to scale down their working hours. According to the

survey, 72 percent of the senior employees showed interested in a phased retirement.

Employees also feel the need to feel productive, and this feeling seems to grow as

employees get older. Even when they feel like working less hours, they still feel the need to

get things done. As an ongoing process, mentoring could account for a smaller percentage

of the employee’s responsibilities and gradually increase as they near retirement or settle in

to part-time employment. Eventually the mentoring aspect could take over their job

description and as their hours are reduced; their mentoring becomes their primary focus.

Study limitations and extensions

This study’s aim was to examine the impact of a large number of senior staff leaving an

organization and the process of passing on corporate knowledge. It relied on limited survey

and interview data of one specific regional department within the organization. The surveys

were distributed in an attempt to obtain a representative sample, but sampling bias may

have skewed the results. Certain demographic questions were omitted to preserve

confidentiality. The surveyed department was chosen as a stratified sample of the

organization’s population which carried the following risks: for unbiased results, a stratified

sample requires similar subgroups within the population. In the present case however, the

surveyed department only consisted of the IT call center which deals with internal technical

support and helpline.

Another potential survey error could arise from a population that is not accurately reflected

by the sample: In our case approximately 50 percent of retirees will be leaving Millennium

Dynamics, Inc. company-wide within the next five years. However, surveyed department has

a lower percentage of 20 percent pre-retirees. The selected department was chosen by the

organization and therefore the occurrence of a sampling error is probable; the margin of

error could have been reduced by taking a larger sample, which was presently not possible

to due to the company’s policies and cost-related issues.

‘‘ Mentoring may not be for everyone, so key players need to be identified and participants need to be voluntary. Otherwise the program could prove to be counter-productive and a waste of resources. ’’

VOL. 44 NO. 7 2012 j INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAININGj PAGE 387

References

Bellingham, R. (2004), ‘‘Job satisfaction survey’’, Absolute Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 5.

Clampitt, P.G. and Downs, C.W. (1993), ‘‘Employee perceptions of the relationship between

communication and productivity; a field study’’, Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 30 No. 1,

pp. 5-28.

Downs, C. and Hazen, M. (1977), ‘‘A factor analytic study of communication satisfaction’’, Journal of

Business Communication, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 63-73.

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