ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN CAPITAL VALUE ADDITION AMONG KNOWLEDGE PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

The last decade has seen the growth of knowledge based industries and knowledge work. It has also witnessed the ever-increasing onslaught of competition and change.Intangibles have become increasingly important factors in determining organizational effectiveness. The changing business scenario and the role of information technology has made it imperative to take a new look at existing business systems, policies and structures. Today we speak of networked innovation, knowledge work and knowledge value added. Stewart (1998) and Barley (1994) reported the increasing content of knowledge in work and increasing numbers of people doing knowledge work.Davenport (1994) and Bhat (1998) spoke of the importance of managing social interactions in the firm to create competitive advantage. The Dow Jones Index and the Fortune list of companies increasingly showed a growth in the knowledge industry.While organizations from the old economy struggled the new fangled knowledge industry was here to stay. Intellectual Capital and Intangibles accounting became a buzzword. Organizations began to demonstrate how effective management of these factors led to increased profits, reduced cycle time and brought about greater innovation. New accounting techniques were being designed and influx of information technology solutions for Knowledge Management found their way into the market. It became imperative to build Knowledge Management into business strategy and to concentrate on human capital. Late 1990’s saw a proliferation of studies and exercises in this direction. Yet, if people were to be recognized and if competitive advantage was dependent upon the effective management of human capital, this was not being done in the realm of understanding knowledge worker perceptions. A need was perceived to conduct a behavioral study of human capital value added. To understand which of the organizational and knowledge management factors were perceived as being essential for Human Capital Value Addition.