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Knowledge management through the developmennt of knowledge repositories: Towards work degradation

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Taskin, Laurent [UCL] Van Bunnen, Gabriel [Institut Universitaire du Luxembourg]

This paper questions the consequences of the use of electronic knowledge repositories for work and employment. Drawing on critical research suggesting that knowledge management associated with such tools presents similarities to scientific management principles, it proposes to examine the following key research question: how do employees experience the transformation of the employment relationship when a knowledge repository is introduced to the workplace? The inquiry is grounded in an exploratory qualitative case study of a knowledge management system designed to foster knowledge-sharing in a Belgian public administration. The findings illustrate two complementary outcomes: this system resulted in employees experiencing deskilling and work degradation, and was met with resistance. Significantly, this paper considers work degradation as a reflexive phenomenon in the context studied, where knowledge-sharing systems produced deskilling and resistance as part of a specific re-regulation process.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès interdit
Publication date 2015
Language Anglais
Journal information "New Technology, Work & Employment" - Vol. 30, no.2, p. 158-172 (July 2015)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ((United Kingdom) Chichester)
issn 0268-1072
e-issn 1468-005X
Publication status Publié
Affiliation UCL - SSH/LouRIM - Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations
Keywords knowledge repositories ; work degradation ; knowledge management ; critical management studies ; resistance ; deskilling ; paradox ; re-regulation.
Links
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Bibliographic reference Taskin, Laurent ; Van Bunnen, Gabriel. Knowledge management through the developmennt of knowledge repositories: Towards work degradation. In: New Technology, Work & Employment, Vol. 30, no.2, p. 158-172 (July 2015)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/164883