Open AccessKnowledge work difficulty factors: An empirical study based on different groups of knowledge workers
Author(s) -
Jalil Heidary Dahooie,
Abbas Afrazeh,
Seyed Mohammad Moathar Hosseini,
Mohammad Reza Ghezel Arsalan
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
suid-afrikaanse tydskrif vir ekonomiese en bestuurswetenskappe/south african journal of economic and management sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.277
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2222-3436
pISSN - 1015-8812
DOI - 10.4102/sajems.v15i1.118
Subject(s) - knowledge management , empirical research , knowledge worker , work (physics) , regression analysis , psychology , factor (programming language) , computer science , machine learning , statistics , mathematics , engineering , mechanical engineering , programming language
The determination of the difficulty factor in knowledge work can be important for improving the performance of knowledge workers. In this article a regression model for investigating the difficulty of knowledge based activities (KBAs) is proposed. Four factors are considered in the model: Uncertainty, Variability of information, Amount of information and Level of skill and expertise. An empirical study based on 119 jobs from three different groups of knowledge workers (i.e. managerial, professional and clerical) shows that there are significant differences between the difficulty of the KBAs in managerial, clerical and professional jobs, and that managerial KBAs are more difficult than the KBAs of the other two groups. Furthermore, regression models indicate that Level of skill and expertise is the most influential factor in the difficulty of the KBAs in each of the three groups