Knowledge as a New Form of Capital

Subtitle: Part 2. Knowledge-Based Management Systems1

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zeleny, Milan^;

Affiliations: Graduate School of Business Administration, Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York, New York 10023, U.S.A.

Note: [1] Part I of this paper, Division and Reintegration of Knowledge, appeared on pp. 45–58 of this volume.

Abstract: How is human business to be managed in an increasingly knowledge-intensive environment? Can traditional labor- or capital-intensive management systems be ‘reconstructed’ under such fundamentally nontraditional conditions of knowledge dominance? What are the basic characteristics, requirements and potentials of knowledge-oriented management systems? We introduce the notion of the customer-oriented Integrated Process Management (IPM) paradigm as a prototype of emerging knowledge-based management systems. A number of useful cases and examples of IPM praxis are discussed in the Appendix. Broader socio-political implications of extending the principles of representative and direct democracy from political to business and social spheres are also discussed. The systems of absentee-ownership capitalism and etatistic socialism are contrasted with the emerging systems of social participation based on the employee-ownership of the means of production.

Keywords: Knowledge, management, systems, division of labor, participatory management, co-ownership, high-technology management

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1989-8208

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 129-143, 1989