Knowledge-Based Work and Network Enterprise in Modern Egyptian Organizations: An Exploratory Study

Introduction

Globalization has led to significant transformations in the concept of work recently, as a result of changes in the tools and means and methods of production and marketing, the emergence of the knowledge economy and the subsequent innovations in the fields of work and employment, the intensive use of knowledge related to information and communication technology, and the emergence of open systems for innovative and creative production. Knowledge-based work provides a framework for linking IT applications to work within modern organizations. This transformation in work requires workers has built their capabilities through self-learning, acquisition of skills, knowledge, and restructuring knowledge capital in organizations and society. Globalization has also helped companies transcend boundaries and accelerated the emergence of giants, large companies that integrate with startups, benefiting Small and medium enterprises by linking them to larger markets over networks, as expressed by Manuel Castles the “Network Enterprise”.

Many postmodern sociologists have been interested in studying contemporary societal events and activities for work and organization and presenting a new insight into the daily practices of work within organizations, including Anthony Giddens, Manuel Castles, Richard Florida, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard and others...

The concept of knowledge-based work has been the subject of debate in the writings of researchers and scientists since the 1960s, when writings moved towards the study of post-industrial societies, from an industrial-based economy to knowledge-based societies, Daniel Bell referred, in his book “The Coming of Post-Industrial Society” in 1973 to the characteristics of a post-industrial society, societies have undergone major transformations, as they have moved from an industry-based economy to societies based on information and knowledge services. The post-industrial society has major reflections on the organizing of work, where knowledge work is substituted instead of manual labor - it is a form of work where practices link knowledge with work through the means of technology, such as consultants and IT professionals. (Bell, 1973: 5-23).

Researchers have begun to discuss the concept of knowledge-based work gaining momentum in the 1990s through sociological literature, especially Anthony Giddens writings, who has been interested in studying post-industrial societies, “postmodernism” and “the emergence of the knowledge society” and “knowledge society.” Knowledge generation and sharing, the spread of ICT in the new society. The emergence of what Manuel Castles called the network community, and network enterprises organized either directly or through a network of links, a global network of interaction between other networks. Also Castells referred to the emergence of a new type of work, which is self-programmed work, which is a model based on lifelong learning, geared towards stimulating creativity and innovation in methods of applying this ability to learn in all fields of professional and social life (Castells & Cardoso, 2005). Therefore, the importance of the subject of study was determined in Revealed the relationship between knowledge-based work and the network enterprise in modern organizations, as network projects emerged in new smaller companies and new projects that help generate innovation in the form of new products and programs.

Studies on emerging markets revealed similar changes in employment, in middle-income European countries, for example, Bulgaria and Romania, the demand for workers in occupations requiring unusual personal knowledge and interactivity increased, Meanwhile, the demand for workers in unusual manual occupations that did not require much skill remained constant. The use of regular knowledge skills has also increased in Botswana, Ethiopia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam. But studies show that the demand for unusual knowledge skills increases at a faster rate compared to other skills, workers benefit from technological change, unlike workers with limited skills, especially those in manual jobs, who experience loss failure. This is confirmed by studies in Argentina, where the adoption of information and communication technology in the manufacturing sector increased the rate of skilled workers, created new jobs, and the percentage of unskilled workers decreased. (World Bank, 2019)