Martin Clarke

How do managers use knowledge about knowledge management

Despite the ever‐burgeoning literature and growth of conceptual models and tools, hard‐pressed managers seem to find it difficult to appreciate the special significance that knowledge management (KM) has for redefining their managerial work. In two complementary articles, this problem is investigated and ideas developed to help turn existing information about KM into “usable ideas”. In this first article, the importance of helping managers to relate knowledge management to what is organisationally important (currency), to what furthers an individual’s goals and interests (personal relevance), and to what is practical within an individual’s current capacity (actionable), is explained. Currency is explored using a managerial knowledge portfolio that identifies the knowledge to be managed in the critical areas of managerial focus, strategy, operational processes and change management. Actionability is explored using an organisational knowledge management activity matrix that describes KM activities in terms which are meaningful and provides a basis for a KM audit.

Creating change from below: early lessons for agents of change

With existing approaches to change management failing to deliver results, different ideas are needed. New organisational forms require a greater focus on change that emerges from real business opportunities. The ooportunities can be the basis of pockets of good practice which act as influential role models for change. This paper investigates four case studies of change initiated in this way and identifies five key themes from this research: vision; the self insight and ambition required to take personal risk; positioning of causes; subversion; and political astuteness. The paper concludes with an assessment of why this approach to change is likely to be considered both relevant and practical for managers.

Managing knowledge for personal and organisational benefit

The authors build on a recent article which highlighted the difficulty that many managers have in understanding why knowledge management (KM) is important for them personally and their organisation. It argued that the issue can be addressed by ensuring that KM is understood in ways that illustrate its managerial currency, actionability and relevance and described how to achieve currency and actionability of the KM idea. This second paper addresses “personal relevance”, the other essential characteristic of usable ideas. The authors illustrate how different managerial roles can appreciate this personal relevance by focusing their activity selectively on different domains of managerial knowledge and specific, targeted knowledge management activities. KM is revealed as a usable idea which enhances their personal effectiveness, organisational influence and credibility as well as long‐term organisational interest. A personal KM audit is presented.

Organisational politics: the missing discipline of management?

Traditional approaches to the management of change are failing to produce lasting benefit and are more likely to engender demotivation and feelings of insecurity than tightly integrated and focused strategy implementation. These traditional approaches seldom take full account of the positive role of political fluency in the effective management of such change. This paper examines this political dimension for a collection of senior managers implementing change following two intensive public management development programmes. The findings show that managing political agendas was central to their success in making things happen and therefore postulates whether political awareness should be taught as a mainstream management discipline.

Redefining managerial work: smart politics

Despite the abundance of practical advice for managing contemporary organisations, managers still seem to struggle with their role. Trying to manage a plethora of stakeholder interests can create a considerable array of paradoxes and double binds that often leave well‐intentioned executives feeling frustrated and disillusioned. This is because too much attention has been given to understanding what managers do at the expense of why they do it. Examining the importance of personal motive is key in helping managers cope with these difficulties because it highlights the centrality of power and politics in managing. This paper builds on this perspective by developing the idea of a legitimate political mindset, showing how the adoption of this perspective enables managers fundamentally to redefine the content of their work and their managerial activity patterns for the benefit of their businesses, not just themselves.

Can specialists be general managers

The plight of the middle manager has received considerable attention recently as this endangered species has been delayered, rationalised and subjected to many organisational change programmes. These changes have pushed the middle manager into an increasing number of apparently contradictory and paradoxical situations. In the postmodern world, reality is chaotic and unstable and middle managers in particular cannot rely on unambiguous models of thinking to steer them through this uncertainty. This paper identifies some of the ways in which a paradoxical perspective can illuminate the tensions faced by middle managers and the impact of culture change programmes on their ability to make decisions informed by reflective thinking. Discussion is given to considering what actions might be taken to develop a paradoxical perspective in middle managers and this framework is applied to a management development programme, General Management or Specialists, currently being run at Cranfield School of Management. This is used as a practical example of the usefulness of a paradoxical perspective in helping managers make real choices about the world in which they work.

Management development: a new role in social change?

Traditional approaches to organizational change are of little use in the bid for increased innovation as they reinforce top‐down predictability. An alternative approach is through the creation of pockets of good practice which act as role models of change. These pockets need to be subversive of existing practices but simultaneously deliver organizational success criteria. The success of this approach is dependent upon managers developing a critical perspective about organizational control systems. Contrary to received wisdom the foundation for this critical perspective may be most usefully developed from the manager’s own cynical experience of organizational life. In building this critical perspective management development may begin to fulfil a wider educational role in society.

Reconciling Hierarchy and Democracy The Value of Management Learning

Pluralistic organizations are often argued to have become an indisputable reality for senior managers. In consequence, the role of hierarchy has come under close scrutiny. How can organizations balance the need for congruence, provided through hierarchy, with the need for greater organizational democracy? As yet, the potential for management education and learning to impact on this debate, at either an organizational or a societal level, has been largely unfulfilled. This article argues that the aspirational values of liberal adult educationalists have a significant contribution to make to the management of contemporary organizations. It positions these values alongside the business requisites that shape organizations and examine the motivations of senior managers to apply these ideas in practice. The concept of voluntarism, derived from the field of political philosophy, is proposed as an alternative organizational binding mechanism that alters the rationale for the role of hierarchy. The implications for senior executives and management educational-ists are considered.

Political Leadership, Bureaucracies and Business Schools: A Comfortable Union?

One of the central issues in reconciling pluralistic and bureaucratic forms of organizing lies in the absence of a coherent model of leadership. The intention here is to stimulate debate about the notion of political leadership as a contribution to this analysis. This approach to political leadership prioritizes the explicit acknowledgement of power relations as being central to the reconciliation of diverse interests, and to the building of moral communities in organizational settings. In developing this idea we explore the organizational context for the emergence of political leadership and consider its distinguishing features with reference to both theory and practice. Consideration is given to its utility in building moral organizational communities and how this approach to conceptualizing leadership might be furthered through business school education.

Leadership development: making a difference in unfavourable circumstances

Purpose – This paper is derived from a two‐year study that sought to provide a critical understanding of the current state of business leadership development (BLD) and to identify directions for innovative future practice. The second of two companion papers, this contribution aims to investigate the influence of unfavourable competing agendas on BLD and how human resource development (HRD) professionals can work effectively within such circumstances.Design/methodological approach – The paper analyses three case studies of HRD managers who made significant contributions to their organisations BLD despite unfavourable political circumstances. These individuals were selected from a population of 190 managers from the first phase of the overall study.Findings – The cases highlight the centrality of political activity to effective BLD design and implementation that is subject to unfavourable circumstances. In particular, the individuals demonstrated the importance of relationship management, challenge and cri...