DeFillipi, Robert D.; Arthur, Michael B.; and Lindsay, Valerie J. (2006). Knowledge at Work: Creative Collaboration in the Global Economy. Reviewed by Dan Jacoby, University of Washington, Bothell

DeFillipi, Robert D.; Arthur, Michael B.; and Lindsay, Valerie J. (2006). Knowledge at Work: Creative Collaboration in the Global Economy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Pp. xix + 276         ISBN 1-4051-0756-1 Reviewed by Dan Jacoby University of Washington, Bothell August 26, 2007 No longer reserved as a subject for educators, the study of knowledge has become increasingly important in the economic and business literatures. This text focuses on knowledge in the world of work. As such it is especially suitable for business-oriented students whose interests relate to the management of knowledge or learning. The manuscript throws significant light on the way knowledge is planted, nourished, and harvested in a business environment, while also establishing helpful understandings of the kinds of knowledge that are interwoven with creative work. Educators who pursue academic studies of knowledge or the knowledge economy are likely to find value in the text. However, only indirectly, will this book inform teachers about the skills and subjects they should be teaching. Knowledge at Work is a highly informative introductory text that integrates a substantial number of valuable case studies with related theories to describe how various kinds of knowledge are informed by or applied within work settings. The authors develop a conceptual framework they entitle, “the knowledge diamond, which consists of interactions among individuals, the organization, the industry and community.” While distinctions between these entities are not always crystal clear, nonetheless this framework is workable and helps illustrate important properties of knowledge-based work. In the second half of the text, readers gain deeper insights and secure a stronger feel for the most important aspects of work and issues in our so-called “new” or “knowledge economy.” It is in these chapters that the authors explore how project-based work, open source environments, global collaboration, and other networked approaches to sharing and expanding human productivity are reshaping the economic landscape. The authors intersperse boxed comments involving a number of important and fascinating case studies to illustrate how these new approaches succeed or fail to cultivate and share knowledge in ways that span the traditional boundaries of the firm to geographically dispersed communities, individuals, and participants in their industries. It is this aspect of the text that yields readers the greatest insights and uses. For example, in one case study involving the “homebrew club,” we learn of the informal arrangements by which knowledge communities come into existence. It was in through this informal Silicon Valley gathering that many of young amateur computer enthusiasts met, and years later became the industries brightest engineers giving birth to firms like Apple Computer. Other case studies illustrate tensions between proprietary knowledge systems and more free-ranging approaches that allow for the cross-fertilization and free dissemination of knowledge. Such alternatives to the direct commoditization of knowledge (e.g. patents or copyrights) vary widely, ranging from completely networked systems such as Linus Torvald’s open-source software(Linux) in which there is virtually no hierarchical supervision of the work and the development of related products, to a number of corporate attempts by firms like GE, Toyota, or Ericsson to break down the barriers that separate owners and users of knowledge. Such firms have constructed a wide range of creative innovations involving supply networks, learning cultures, and formation of long-lived teams of outsourced workers to harvest and consolidate knowledge. The fluidity of knowledge work and the organization responses it generates occupy central stage in the authors’ narrative. At the end of the day, readers will achieve a greater appreciation for the challenges of developing and sustaining knowledge cultures. The ten chapters that comprise Knowledge at Work lend themselves to classroom use. While instructors will need to assess for themselves whether this particular text fits their classrooms, its principal themes are of great significance and build on foundation works that range from Joel Best’s studies of competitive advantage to Manuel Castells’s understanding of networked society. Educators with a more speculative bent will also find the text useful as an aid in understanding our changing business environment and its relationship to schooling. Unfortunately, this text makes few references to schools or universities, implicitly suggesting instead that useful knowledge is generated through problem-centered practice involving creative application of ideas. Although the authors assume workers typically do bring specialized knowledge with them to their places of employment, a systematic exploration of knowledge production by schools seems largely beyond the scope of their mission. Nonetheless, they at least provide some passing references to “high-skill ecosystems,” as these have developed in Singapore and elsewhere through interactions between universities and workplaces. In this area, at least, the challenge is left open for readers to contemplate what the vital structures of knowledge are and what roles formal education should and must play in sustaining them. It is a partial picture of a knowledge ecosystem—one that operates largely independent of schooling--that emerges from the text and begs us to consider how formal and informal structures nourish and sustain investments in knowledge. What forms of protection are necessary to secure the varieties of knowledge production considered essential to the “new economy?” As Soskice and Hall illustrate in Varieties of Capitalism, The Institutional Foundation of Comparative Advantage (Oxford University Press, 2001), there are likely to be tradeoffs as we choose the kinds of knowledge that must be protected. In particular, the dynamism inherent in intellectual property likely undermines the security of investments made in human capital. On the other hand, extensive labor protections may have the potential to cut the ground from under a technologically dynamic capitalism. Knowledge at Work implicitly pays respects to these questions, but does not formally articulate them. Though this text is not policy oriented, readers will find here a healthy and clearly written introduction to the large subject of knowledge work. It is one that is well grounded in both theoretical and applied literatures, and it is particularly enhanced by the authors’ obvious familiarity with a diverse set of industries, whether these be filmmaking, banking, manufacturing, or information technology. This is an excellent primer which will enable novices to enter into intelligent discussions regarding knowledge work in the new economy. About the Reviewer Dan Jacoby holds the Harry Bridges Chair in Labor Studies at the University of Washington. He teaches Economics, Education and Labor at the UW Bothell campus. His current research examines the effects of contingent academic labor practices.