Knowledge worker control: understanding via principal and agent theory.

Purpose: The growing prominence of knowledge workers in contemporary organisations has led to a considerable amount of research into their role and activities, however, despite this growing interest, there remains a lack of clarity regarding the relationship of knowledge workers to management. This paper responds by investigating the features of knowledge work that impose barriers to traditional managerial control methods and exploring the extent to which alternative approaches to influence are available to knowledge work managers, and the circumstances under which these different approaches are indicated. Approach: We utilise agency theory to investigate the implications of knowledge asymmetry in principal-knowledge worker exchanges, and argue against the utility of models of control based on principles of scientific management on which agency models are typically based, towards models of control based on reciprocity and commitment