“COUNTERING THE EFFECTS AND OF SENDENTARY NATURE AND PHYSICAL INACTIVITY ON KNOWLEDGE WORKERS”
MELVIN KAAS
216070046
KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
RESEARCH REPORT 1
29 AUGUST 2018
MRS WAFEEQUA DINATH
Table of contents pg.
1 Introduction 1
2 Understanding knowledge workers 2
2.1 What are knowledge workers? 2
2.2 Characteristics of knowledge workers 2
3. Physical and mental effects of knowledge work 4
3.1 Information overload 4
3.1.1 Effects of information overload 4
3.1.2 Information overload solutions 5
3.2 Sedentary behaviour 7
3.2.1 Impacts of Sedentary work 7
3.2.2 Sedentary behaviour solutions 8
3.3 Stress 9
3.3.1 Effects of Workplace stress 9
3.3.2 Solutions to workplace stress 10
4 Conclusion 11
References 12
1 Introduction
Information whether formal or informal, is seen as one of an organizations most valuable resources, it is a key element in the economy and for this reason must be managed efficiently. Information is required to accurately meet the needs of customers, to design products and create a competitive advantage. For this reason, knowledge workers find themselves sitting in the office for the entire work day with no diversity in their tasks, their work is sedentary and repetitive causing them mental and physical harm (Rao, 1999)
This paper aims to analyse and discuss factors associated with sedentary, desk-bound, sluggish nature of knowledge workers’ jobs. It also provides ways to potentially combat the subsequent effects of these working conditions. Firstly knowledge workers and their basic skills or traits are explored, then information overload, sedentary behaviour and work-related stress are covered, followed by a brief conclusion.
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2 Understanding knowledge workers
2.1 What are knowledge workers?
The term ’Knowledge workers’,) is a broad term for professionals in an array of fields including science, education, and information technology. Knowledge work is focused on using information for the creation of new ideas resulting in creativity progress in research. Knowledge workers do not work with physical objects but make decisions and advance theories or ideas. Their jobs require mental effort rather than repetitive physical effort. They employ a wide range of different techniques and methods to solve problems and are autonomous in deciding which method suits the job at hand. (C. Mohanta, 2006)
El-Farr (2009) finds that knowledge work is a lot more challenging than before and this is backed up by the increasing emphasis on knowledge management in organizations. Knowledge management is growing at an exponential pace in advanced economies such as the USA and China. It is estimated that knowledge workers make up two fifths of the US job market. An estimate of 48 million of the US work force is focused on knowledge work, a single organization on average employs more than 100 000 knowledge workers. A single knowle...
