Know-How and Knowledge Intensive Organizations - Essay Example

These are the ones who the organization relies the most for problem solving. Sveiby suggests that there comes a point in the organization’s life cycle when the professional transfer their knowledge to other system for the sake of the organization’s growth. The author suggest that at this point, the organization is not reliant so much on the professionals as their knowledge has been transferred into other systems where those who are less skilled can still be trusted to do the jobs as the system guides them.

An example is an accounting firm where the professionals pool their knowledge in an information system where the less skilled personnel will just do the heavy lifting involving inputting data and the program does the rest. Whereas this may be true for an accounting firm, the same cannot be applied in the production of a book where the professional must be on hand because what the apprentices print is not always the same. In the book ‘Human Capital and the Balance Sheet,’ the author defines the value of human capital as one that should not be underestimated.

In many ways, the author recognizes that the value of the human capital could wane meaning that the person will not be worth as much as he was but the circumstances differ with some having remedies. Sveiby notes that the pooling of knowledge in the information systems can make some experts redundant. In the same breathe, Washer and Nippani note that it is only possible in four scenarios: the death of the professional, disability, compulsory retirement and voluntary retirement (Washer & Nippani 2004, p. 16). Death and disability can be either fully or partially hedged by taking out a life insurance policy while retirement could either be accompanied by the full value of the human capital in case it is voluntary or a partial value of the capital if it is compulsory.

The authors concede that organizations do not usually recognize the full value of the human capital. While it is possible for a conventional balance sheet to reflect a decline in profits; for example from $200,000 to $100,000, the difference can be very minimal considering that the value of the human capital will inevitably have increased in this period from the experience garnered. Welcome to the Knowledge Organization versus On the Nature of Knowledge-Intensive Organizations: Strategy and Organization in the New Economy The book ‘Welcome to the Knowledge Organization’ is focused on the management of knowledge throughout the organization.

It refers to the knowledge based organizations as being learning organizations. Here, the author states that knowledge has to be shared for the organization to grow. This book clearly focuses on the need for there to be a pool of knowledge in the organization that can assist it to grow. It refers to the leaders in the knowledge intensive organizations as being in charge of learning as they ensure that the experts push themselves in the generation of better ideas while ensuring that this knowledge gained is shared with the other employees.

Most organizations hire employees and then train them in the specific line of work that they expect them to be in. the knowledge int