A very modern professional: the case of the IT service support worker

The IT profession has retained a reputation as a ‘privileged area of the labour market’ (Webster, 2005, p.4; Bannerji, 2011). Workers practicing IT skills have been at the forefront of the competitive drive for innovation and efficiency gains promoted by a neoliberal enterprise ideology (Blackler et al, 2003). In the last two decades, as systems thinking (e.g. Ackoff, 1999) and customer-centric practices (e.g. Levitt, 2006) have converged in a globally powerful IT service management (ITSM) ‘best practice’ discourse (Trusson et al, 2013), the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Aside from keeping organizational information systems operative, when such systems fail these workers are called upon to rapidly restore the systems and thus head-off any negative commercial or political consequences. Yet these workers are acknowledged only as objectified resources within the ITSM ‘best practice’ literature (e.g. Taylor, Iqbal and Nieves, 2007) and largely overlooked as a distinctive contemporary worker-type within academic discourse. This paper, through analysis of salary data and qualitative data collected for a multiple case study research project, considers the extent to which these workers might be conceived of as being ‘professionals’. The project approached the conceptual study of these workers through three lenses. This paper focuses on the project’s consideration of them as rationalised information systems assets within ‘best practice’ ITSM theory. It also draws upon our considerations of them as knowledge workers and service workers. We firstly situate the IT service support worker within a broader model of IT workers comprising four overlapping groupings: managers, developers, technical specialists and IT service support workers. Three types of IT service support worker are identified: first-line workers who routinely escalate work; second-line workers; and ‘expert’ single-line workers. With reference to close associations made with call centre workers (e.g. Murphy, 2011) the status of IT service support workers is explored through analysis of: (i) salary data taken from the ITJOBSWATCH website; and (ii) observational and interview data collected in the field. From this we challenge the veracity of the notion that the whole occupational field of IT might be termed a profession concurrently with the notion that a profession implies work of high status. Secondly, the paper explores two forces that might be associated with the professionalization of IT as an occupation: (i) rationalisation of the field (here promoted by the British Computer Society); and (ii) formalisation of IT theoretical/vocational education. A tension is identified, with those IT service support workers whose work is least disposed to rationalisation and whose complex ‘stocks of knowledge’ (Schutz, 1953) have been acquired through time-spent practice laying claim to greater IT professional status. Thirdly, consideration is given to individuals’ personal career orientations: occupational, organizational and customer-centric (Kinnie and Swart, 2012). We find that whilst organizations expect IT service support workers to be orientated towards serving the interests of the organization and its clients, the most individualistically professional tend towards being occupationally orientated, enthusiastically (re)developing their skills to counter skills obsolescence in an evolving technological arena (Sennett, 2006)

Agents of the network society: spatial mobility patterns among managerial and professional workers

Agents of the network society: spatial mobility patterns among managerial and professional worker

The diverse patterns of work-related business travel: accounting for spatial scale

In understanding workers’ work-related mobility patterns it is more accurate to talk of mobilities, rather than mobility, as a heterogeneous range of different types and patterns of work-related travel are undertaken (Jones 2010). It is suggested here that the spatial mobility of workers can involve undertaking quite different types of journeys on different spatial scales, and that the diverse spatial scales over which business travel occurs need to be taken greater account of. In the present paper, this is done via utilizing and illustrating Hislop’s (2016) framework on the spatial scales of business travel. This framework distinguishes between four broad scales and journey types: localized land-based travel, long distance land-based travel, short haul plane-based journeys and long haul plane-based journeys. To illustrate the type of journeys undertaken at each spatial scale, empirical data is drawn from a study of UK business travellers involving journeys undertaken by car, plane, and train A number of illustrative vignettes are presented which give rich insights into the various types of workers who regularly travel for work, the type of journeys they undertake, and some of the key impacts that their work and travel patterns have on their non-work lives

The work-related affordances of business travel

Sociological understanding of how business travellers make use of travel time is somewhat lacking. This article addresses this gap in knowledge via presenting an analysis of survey-based data collected from business people travelling by plane, train and car. Through disaggregating the data by travel mode, journey stage, technology use and task type the article provides a level of granular detail in the general patterns of business travellers’ travel time behaviour not previously provided by other surveys. Utilizing the concept of ‘affordances’, the article shows how the type of work activities undertaken are shaped by the dynamic interaction between the characteristics in the travel environment, the type of work tasks undertaken and work technologies utilized in carrying out these tasks and the active choices of business travellers

The Establishment of social IT sourcing organizations: An Impression Management Perspective

In this paper, we use qualitative methods to explore how social information technology (IT) sourcing organizations balance the paradoxical orientations of commerce and social upliftment. We apply the theory of organizational impression management to explore how such organizations meet the demands imposed by multiple audiences. The results of our study suggests that in managing the duality of the orientations, organizations segregate, align with and convey different images to audiences using impression management strategies. We found that the social IT sourcing organizations in our study strategically disclosed information to convey the images of competency and legitimacy to clients and potential investors. Additionally, these organizations ensured their policies and practices were congruent with the prevalent social and cultural norms. Drawing on our empirical findings, we develop a process model that illuminates the crucial role of impression management strategies in the establishment of social IT sourcing organizations

Configurations of Boundary Management Practices among Knowledge Workers

Acknowledgements: We thank all research participants for their contribution to our study. We also thank all colleagues for their constructive feedback on this article at different stages of development, particularly participants in sub-theme 35 of the 2017 EGOS Colloquium, Dr Susan Kirk, the Editor and the three anonymous reviewers. Funding information: Funding by British Academy and Leverhulme Trust under the Small Grant Scheme (award No. SG152296) for this research is gratefully acknowledgedPeer reviewedPublisher PD

The rhetoric of ‘knowledge hoarding’: a research-based critique

Purpose - Via a study of IT service professionals, this article responds to a recent trend towards reifying ‘knowledge hoarding’ for purposes of quantitative/deductive research. A ‘rhetorical theory’ lens is applied to reconsider ‘knowledge hoarding’ as a value-laden rhetoric that directs managers towards addressing assumed worker dysfunctionality. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative study of practicing IT service professionals (assumed within IT service management ‘best practice’ to be inclined to hoard knowledge) was conducted over a 34 day period. 20 workers were closely observed processing IT service incidents and 26 workers were interviewed about knowledge sharing practices. Findings - The study found that the character of IT service practice is more one of pro-social collegiality in sharing knowledge/know-how than one of self-interested strategic knowledge concealment. Research limitations/implications - The study concerns a single occupational context. The study indicates that deductive research that reifies ‘knowledge hoarding’ as a naturally-occurring phenomenon is flawed, with clear implications for future research. Practical implications - The study suggests that management concern for productivity might be redirected away from addressing assumed knowledge hoarding behaviour and towards encouraging knowledge sharing via social interaction in the workplace. Originality/value - Previous studies have not directly examined the concept of knowledge hoarding using qualitative methods, nor have they considered it as a rhetorical device

Towards sustainable KM in high-performance sport

For knowledge management initiatives to be successful and provide sustainable competitive advantage, it is imperative that they are rooted in the organisation’s context. This paper presents a knowledge management audit methodology for conducting a systemic inquiry into the multiple factors within an organisational context that can impact on the success of the KM strategy. Drawing from the practice-based perspective, the KM audit is proposed to study the organisational objectives, identify the strengths and barriers in the context and highlight the existing knowledge resources and processes. As opposed to the existing audit methodologies in the literature that present a snapshot evaluation of the context, the present audit methodology will adopt the iterative approach of the action research process; the data collection and analysis phases will be conducted simultaneously, progressively developing insight and meaning. Further, the findings will be continuously fed back to the organisation and used directly to inform the KM strategy through forming a working relationship with the current Knowledge Manager in the organisation. The overall aim is to inform a KM strategy that will strategically align to the organisational context whilst utilising the available resources. It is expected that this approach will result in a KM strategy that will foster a long-term focus on KM in the organisation, provide sustainable competitive advantage and be robust in the face of dynamic organisational climates. This work-in-progress study is being conducted in a not-for-profit, knowledge intensive, high-performance sport organisation to illustrate the KM audit in practice. This paper presents the audit methodology and discusses the rationale and benefits of conducting a KM audit, along with preliminary findings and reflections from the audit process at the case study organisation

The strategic impacts of Intelligent Automation for knowledge and service work : An interdisciplinary review

We would like to thank Professor Jarvenpaa and the review team for all the constructive comments and suggestions that were most helpful in revising the paper and in offering a stronger contribution. We would also like to thank Professor Guy Fitzgerald for his constructive comments on earlier versions of the paper. This study was funded by the Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the CIPD.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Sustainable knowledge management: The role of knowledge management audits

Sustainable knowledge management: The role of knowledge management audit