Abstract
This research presents a critique of interpretations and management of information and knowledge as operative in the architecture of our modern global economy. Given the transformation of this economic infrastructure, we state that there is a concomitant need to examine and clarify the operative logic of expert systems and networks of knowledge. The case example we use is the nature of the knowledge-based economy as it appears in the Canadian Federal Civil Services. Archival research and interviews with a range of Federal Government Departments and Agencies on a number of topics including employment management practices and knowledge management were conducted. The archival research reveals profound yet articulated changes in the infrastructure of the work force. It became clear that there is a concomitant but disturbingly unarticulated change in the processes involving the operations of information and knowledge. We distinguish and contrast these with definitions derived from semiotic and information science frameworks. We argue for the importance of the collective and processual nature of knowledge. Our conclusions allow us to specify the shortcomings of existing knowledge management approaches and to identify a necessary and specific focus for future knowledge initiatives in organizations.
The updated original online version for this book can be found at DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35611-2_22
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen B. (1999) Stepping Beyond Lean to Agile: Work Reorganization in the Auto Industry, Praxis Publications.
Bakhtin, M. (1981) The Dialogical Imagination, Holquist, M. (ed) University of Texas Press, Austin.
Bauman, Z. (2000) Liquid Modernity, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Bauman, Z. (2001) Community, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Sage Publications, London.
Beck, U. (2000). The Brave New World of Work, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Bell, D. (1973) The Coming of Post-Indusrtial Society, Basic Books, New York.
Bell, V. (1999) “Performativity and Belonging: An Introduction”, Theory, Culture and Society, 16 (2), 1–10.
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK.
Carnoy, M., M. Castells, and C. Benner (1997) “Labour Markets and Emploment Practices in the Age of Flexibility: A Case Study of Silicon Valley”, International Labour Review, Vol 136, No 1, pp 27–48.
Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell.
Chodos, P., Sulzner, G. (1995) “The Public Service Reform Act of Canada and Federal Labor Relations”, Journal of Collective Negotiations in the Public Sector, Vol 24, No 2, pp 97–109.
Clark, C., Heilman, J., Johnson, G. (1996) “Privatization: Moving Beyond Laissez Faire”, Policy Studies Review, Vol 14, Nos 3 /4, pp 395–406.
Conrad, M. (1996) “Cross-scale information processing in evolution, development and intelligence”, BioSystems Vol 38, pp 97–109.
Deleuze, G. 1981 Difference and Repetition, Columbia University Press, New York.
Gadamer, H-G. (1977) Philosophical Hermeneutics, Lings, D. (ed): University of California Press, Berkeley.
Gilsinan (1984) “Information and Knowledge Development Potential: The Public vs. Private Sector Jobs Demonstration Project”, Evaluation Review, Vol 8, No 3, pp 371–388.
Hunter, G. (1999) “Some `Do’s’ of Knowledge Management”, Report, Health Canada, Ottawa.
Latour, B. (1993) We Have Never Been Modern, Harvester-Wheatsheaf, Hempstead Herts.
Lyotard, J-F (1993) Libidinal Economies, Bloomington, Indiana University Press.
Maffesoli, M. (1993) “The Social Ambiance”, Current Sociology, Vol 41, No 2, pp 1–15.
Meade, L. and J. Sarkis (1999) “Analyzing Organization Project Alternatives for Agile Manufacturing Processes: An Analytical Network Approach”, International Journal of Production Research, Vol 37, No 2, pp 241–61.
Meltsner and Bellavita (1983) The Policy Organization, Sage, Beverly Hills.
Miller, P. and N. Rose (1997) “Mobilizing the Consumer: Assembling the Subject of Consumption”, Theory, Culture and Society, Vol 14, No 1, pp 1–36.
Morley, M., P. Gunnigle, and N. Haraty (1995) “Developments in Flexible Working Practices in the Republic of Ireland”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol 16, No 8, pp 38–58.
Nelson, R., Winter, S. (1982) An Evolutionary theory of Economic Change, Belknap Press, Cambridge.
OECD (2001) Draft Issues Paper: “Knowledge Management in the Public and Private Sectors: Similarities and Differences in the Challenges Created by the Knowledge-Intensive Economy”, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Organization fro Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris.
Ofstead, C. (1999) “Temporary Help Firms as Entrepreneurial Actors”, Sociological Forum, Vol 14, No 2, pp 273–94.
O’Connor, D. (2002) Mediated Associations: Cinematic Dimensions of Social Theory, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal
Ormerod, P. 1998. Butterfly Economics, Faber and Faber, London.
Patton, P. (1996) “Concept and Event”, Man and World, Vol 29, pp 315–326.
Peirce, C. S. (1931) Collected Papers, Hartshorne, C., Weiss, P. and Burks, A. (eds.), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.. Citations are by volume and paragraph number.
Peirce, C. S. (1955) Philosophical Writings of Peirce, Justin Buchler (ed), Dover, New York.
Podolny, J., Page, K. (1998) “Network Forms of Organization,” Annual Review of Sociology, Vol 24, pp 57–76.
Richards, C.W. (1996) “Agile Manufacturing: Beyond Lean?”, Production and Inventory Management, Vol 37, No 2, pp 60–64.
Rose, N. (1999) Powers of Freedom: Refraining Political Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Rosen, R. (1991) Life Itself: A Comprehensive Inquiry into the Nature, Origin and Fabrication of Life, Columbia University Press, New York.
Shields, R., Taborsky, E., Jones, K., O’Hara, C., (2000) “A Critical Analysis of Knowledge Management Initiatives in the Canadian Federal Public Service”, Report, Innovation Management Research, Carleton University, Ottawa.
Sulzner, G. (1998) “The Implementation of the Labor-Management Sections of the 1992 Public Service Reform Act and the Future of Federal Labor-Management Relations in Canada”, Journal of Collective Negotiations in the Public Sector, Vol 27, No 2, pp 131148.
Tsoukas, H. (1994) (ed) New Thinking in Organizational Behaviour, Butterworth, Heinemann.
Warrian, P. (1996) Hard Bargain: Transforming Public Sector Labour-Management Relations, McGilligan Books, Toronto.
Wilson, F. (1999) “Cultural Control within the Virtual Organisation”, Sociological Review, Vol 47, No 4, pp 672–694.
Zeytinoglu, I. and J. Muteshi (2000) “Gender, Race and Class Dimensions of Nonstandard Work, Industrial Relations”, Vol 55, No 1, pp 133–67.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
O’Connor, D., Shields, R., Ilcan, S., Taborsky, E. (2002). Information and Knowledge Economies. In: Liu, K., Clarke, R.J., Andersen, P.B., Stamper, R.K., Abou-Zeid, ES. (eds) Organizational Semiotics. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 94. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35611-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35611-2_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-6111-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-35611-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive