Discovering the knowledge worker: A social, task and semantic network analysis

This dissertation moves beyond the literature definitions of knowledge work as the only descriptors that provide insight into knowledge worker's identity within the organization. Throughout the last several decades, a significant number of organizational scholars have focused on trying to understand how workers, through their interactions with other workers, identify themselves as part of a collective within their work environment. They have also tried to determine how this interaction may lead to the emergence of a distinct sub-culture through which membership could be identified.; For contemporary workers (e.g., knowledge workers), the need to identify themselves as part of a collective within their work environment is important due to the fact that they function in an organizational environment where they do not have the benefit of a traditional, formal bureaucratic structure. This environment may also be one in which they are not physically collocated with others they rely on for task and social fulfillment. In short, the questions that drive this study are: Who are these contemporary workers?; how does interaction with their peers contribute to their organizational identity?; In order to examine these questions, a study was done at SSC, an independently run division of a medical manufacturing company. The 55 employees of this division were surveyed regarding their social and task network affiliations as well as their role in the organization and their day-to-day activities. By using a combination of network analysis and semantic network analysis, it was possible to gain a clearer understanding of who knowledge workers are and how their interaction creates a sense of identity among these workers, even in a flexible organizational environment.; Through the study, it was found that knowledge workers see themselves somewhat differently then the literature predicts. The relevant elements of knowledge work are described in the dissertation. The study also found that knowledge workers do engage in interaction both to fulfill task needs as well as social needs and they are well connected beyond their focal workgroup. It was also found that this interaction leads to a shared meaning and identity across this otherwise rather disparate and autonomous group of workers.