The Mutual Shaping of Work, Vocational Competence and Work-Process Knowledge

Abstract

The definition of work-process knowledge (Boreham, Samurcay & Fischer, 2002; Fischer, Boreham & Nyhan, 2004) is based on empirical research into the compe- tence requirements of modernized workplaces, especially those that have undergone a transition from Taylorism (strong hierarchy, top-down decisions, segmented work roles and fixed working procedures) to more organic structures (wider participation in decision-making, flexible labour processes and the involvement of all grades of employee in continuous improvement). The essential claim that underpins the theory of work-process knowledge is that, in the latter kind of working environment, em- ployees need system-level understanding of the work process in the organization as a whole in order to fulfil their responsibilities for participating in decision-making, working across boundaries and contributing to continuous improvement. The reason is that their extended role requires them to understand how their own immediate tasks interconnect with operations carried out in other parts of the organization. This claim is based on empirical studies of the ways of knowing that underpin flex- ible work in modernized workplaces. Work-process knowledge was defined by the EU Framework IV project WHOLE (Work Process Knowledge in Technological and Organizational Development, see Boreham et al., 2002) in terms of four main attributes: 1. It is a systems-level understanding of the work process in the organization as a whole. Here, 'work process' is a portmanteau expression which includes the business process—the overall configuration of the commercial and/or produc- tive capacity of the company that enables it to respond to market demands; the production process—the range of commercial and/or industrial tasks performed across the company, such as design, machining and quality inspection, and how these interrelate to each other; and the labour process—the ways in which the workforce is deployed in order to carry out these tasks; for example, who is responsible for which decisions, and the roles carried out by different members of the organization. This aspect of the definition of work-process knowledge focuses on its breadth of purview. However, the empirical research conducted by the WHOLE project