The Research on the Dimensions of Measuring Knowledge Work Productivity

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Abstract. This paper analyzes the definition and characteristics of knowledge work， and define knowledge work form the perspective of input- process - output. It puts emphasis on research on the dimensions of knowledge work productivity. It divides the knowledge work productivity dimensions into three categories： task dimension， interaction dimension and innovation dimension. Task quantitative dimension comprises output quantity， task time， cost， income； Task quality dimension mainly means the degree of achieving the standards of the products or services. Interaction dimension includes collaboration and customer satisfaction. Innovation dimension mainly includes innovative degree of products and services.

Keywords： knowledge work； Productivity； dimension

1. Definitions of knowledge work

Drucker（1959） puts forward the concept of knowledge work and knowledge workers. Drucker suggests knowledge workers mainly include professional workers， managers and technical personnel.Machlup defines knowledge worker sas persons who engage in the production and dissemination of knowledge .Since then， many scholars research on knowledge work and they define this concept from many perspectives.

To summarize related literature， we find that the definition of knowledge work can be classified as following perspectives.

（1）Process perspective. Davenport defines knowledge work as absorption， creation， integration and application of knowledge. Liao Jianqiao indicates knowledge worker are those who are engaged in knowledge creation， application and dissemination. He believes that a knowledge worker needs certain knowledge reserve to deal with his work

（2）Output input perspective. Thomas and Baron states knowledge work output is invisible and its input can not be clearly defined.Lind and Sulek proposed that knowledge work mainly includes creative or analytical activities whose output is invisible， and it is very complex.

（3）Nature of work perspective. Lewis believes knowledge work is complicated. Yongjian Li defines knowledge work as repeated and mechanical mental work.

（4）Professional perspective. Some scholars thinks that all work in modern society is almost knowledge work. Kidd states that knowledge workers includes those staff who are engaged in communication and transactional work.

（5）The premise of knowledge work perspective . Many scholars believe that knowledge work needs professional knowledge through formal education and experience. Davis states that knowledge work requires more cognitive ability than technical work does.

By integrating the views of different scholars and grasping the essence of knowledge work， this paper defines knowledge work form the integrative perspective of input-process-output that knowledge work is a kind of work which aims to create new knowledge by acquiring， disseminating， transferring and applying knowledge and information in the process of communication， learning and creation， taking knowledge and information as main resources. This definition combines three elements：input ， process and output. First， the main input of knowledge work is knowledge and information； Second， one needs to complete knowledge work in the process of learning and communication， etc. ； Third， the output of knowledge work is the newly created knowledge.

2. The characters of knowledge work

Drucker put forward six characteristics of knowledge work： the task is not clear； high autonomy； difficult to effective supervision and control； constant innovation； continuous learning； quality is more important than quantity； outcome is difficult to measure.Helton considers the biggest difference between knowledge work and the manaul work is that knowledge work is repetitive and non-routine.Collins， Kelloway and Barling （2000） summarized the eight characteristics of the knowledge work： organization commitment， professionalism， finding and application of knowledge， self development， knowledge sharing and communication， qualifications and diplomas， creativity.Ramirez （2006） points out that the knowledge work is different from the manual work in eight dimensions： autonomy， structured， tangibility， knowledge， innovation and creativity， complexity， routine and repetitive and physical.

Yang Jie， Ling Wenquan and Fang Liluo （2004）uses questionnaire survey to 1300 people in 11 provinces and cities and finds out five key indicators for Chinese people to judge whether a job is knowledge work： the renewal speed of knowledge and skills， innovation， the lowest diplomatic degree and the quality requirement. Liao Jianqiao， Wen Peng （2009） studies the international authoritative literature and concludes the main five characteristics of knowledge workers： high degree of education， intangible work， high autonomy， high creativity， the indispensable wealth of the organization.

Changjun Dai（2006） proposes that knowledge work has procedural and standardized parts and non- procedural and standardized parts as well. He uses knowledge content， knowledge application， skills， the degree of order， repeatability， complexity， time length， independence to describe the characteristics of knowledge work， then calculates their corresponding numerical to distinguish knowledge content for different jobs.

3. Research on the dimensions of measuring knowledge work productivity

About how to measure the productivity of knowledge work， there is no unified understanding. Drucker （1968） states that making knowledge workers productive will be the great management task of this century， just as to make manual work productive was the great management task of the last century. And he maintains the opinion that knowledge workers are assets rather than cost， which are quite different from Taylor's management theory――Taylor treat workers as cost.

There are many methods to measure knowledge work productivity， including conceptual model method and operations-based method， such as the data envelopment analysis （DEA）， the function point analysis （FTP）.Some of the methods are form output/input perspective.

This article considers that output/input method is not appropriate for measuring knowledge work productivity. The reason is that the invisible input of knowledge work is hard to measure. The input of knowledge work is primarily mental work， including thinking activity， decision-making activities etc..Since we cannot define and measure the input， it makes us impossible to apply that method. More importantly， many scholars find that knowledge work’s quality weighs more than quantity， which makes output/input method meaningless.

In this article， we agree with Sebastian Eschenbach， Doris Riedl and Bettina Schauer that knowledge work productivity is the synthesis of efficiency and benefit， namely， the knowledge work productivity equals efficiency×benefit. The discussion should be based on the comprehensive consideration of aspects of quantity， quality and etc.

Different dimensions of knowledge work are offered by different researchers， including these dimensions：

1. Quantity： amounts ofoutcomes of work.

2. Cost/benefit： the costs to get work done and benefits from it.

3. Time： time needed to finish the job.

4. Efficiency： "to do things right，" the work should be finished on time and qualified.

5. Effectiveness： "to do the right thing"， namely do things closely related to the target.

Quality： achieving the internal requirements or standards of the products or services

6. Customer satisfaction： customers’satisfactory degree for products or services

7. Success of the project： achieving the established goals， requirements and standards， etc.

8. Innovation： the creativity of generating new ideas， creating a new product， service， or work method

9. Collaboration： the degree of coordination between the staff and other members or departments involved.

10. Autonomy： the staff can decide the time， method and so on to complete the task.

11. Responsibility： staff's sense of responsibility to work， including sacrifice of their rest time to finish the work， etc.

12. Absenteeism： time when workers are absence. It is important to point out that for knowledge workers absenteeism includes both physical absenteeism and spiritual absenteeism.

Yang Dan uses questionnaire to explore the knowledge work productivity model with five indicators of efficiency， quality， customer satisfaction， collaboration and innovation. The results indicate that collaboration is not necessary and she adjusted the model by remove the collaboration indicator.

Zhang Weiping and Lu Wenjie （2013） uses questionnaire to verify knowledge worker's identity in the indicators of knowledge work productivity and deleted indicators with average important degree below 3.8[19].Then with the method of principal component analysis， they determines five indicators that matters： working quantity， quality， work effectiveness ，degree of work success and client satisfaction.

Yi Shuping （2010） extracted quantity， quality， time， innovation， effectiveness and customer satisfaction as indicators to measure efficiency under modern manufacturing environment[20].

According to both the domestic and foreign literature， we find researchers normally use only two or three indicators to characterize the productivity of knowledge work. In the foreign country， the most is OBPM method which uses a six-indicator model. And at home， the most is also a six-indicator model， namely the model to measure efficiency under modern manufacturing environment by Yi Shuping et al. So far， no method or model can explain the productivity from all indicators. From which aspects to measure knowledge work productivity？ What is the relationship between them？ It appears important to build a reasonable measurement model of knowledge work productivity.

Currently， the indicators for measuring knowledge work productivity is relatively fragmented and unclassified， which has brought difficulties for cognition and operation .And it remains to be controversial whether some indicators like autonomy and collaboration should be included. In some studies， autonomy is seen as one of the productivity index， but some have questioned it， arguing that autonomy is the process parameter， not an output index of productivity.

This paper divides all knowledge work productivity indicators into three categories： task dimension， interaction dimension and innovation dimension. The main body of knowledge work is knowledge worker and the carrier is work task. So task indicators must be included when measuring productivity. Besides， knowledge work has two particular characteristics： one is mutual learning， communication， etc.， which makes interpersonal interaction an essential part of knowledge work and an important indicator of measuring knowledge work productivity. The other one is innovation. Compared with the traditional industrial age， the knowledge economy era is pressed for innovation. Therefore， innovation dimension should also be included.

Target dimension： Target dimension can be divided into quantity dimension and quality dimension. Task quantitative dimension comprises output quantity， task time， cost， income， etc.； Task quality dimension mainly means the degree of achieving the standards of products or services.

Interaction dimension： Modern organization put special emphasis on the importance of the stakeholders. The organization should interact with upstream and downstream enterprises， customers， internal staff， financial institutions and other stakeholders. Interaction dimension includes collaboration and customer satisfaction.

Innovation dimension： Innovation is an important characteristic of knowledge work. The innovation of knowledge work outcome is an important index of measuring its productivity.

4. Acknowledgement

National Natural Sciences Foundation（70771024）

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