Work Place/Human Resources:

Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams

Alfred Lubrano

What happens when blue collar kids (parents do not have college education) cross over to white collar by completing college (even if blue collar parent makes more money)? Is there a change in values?  Yes -- from hard working, focused, team player to entitlements, cut corners to completing tasks, expect privilege.  How do you find your identity when straddling both -- hard.  Lots of research emerging on this topic; but Lubrano - himself a straddler -- makes sense of this transition by telling his story and that of several others who have navigated the same path. Most interesting for our purposes are the "shocks" of going to college and how it corrupts blue collar ethos and office politics -- how the blue collar way (direct get it done, challenge dumb ideas) conflict with which collar way (say nothing, agree, stabe in the back).

Intellectual Capital. 1999. Thomas A. Stewart. New York: Bantum Doubleday.

A solid introduction to the role of knowledge in today’s global organization. First, Stewart takes pains to define what is meant by intellectual capital and its importance to the economy. This transition from natural resources and physical labor is significant and will challenge us to prepare workers to handle intellectual inputs. In addition the knowledge economy takes on new and varied forms – constantly changes – making it difficult to decide what is important and what’s not. How do organizations develop their human resources; a manufacturing approach will not work. It will certainly change management – as the current problems in the economy highlight management is finding this transition extremely difficult and many are acting myopically. A must read.

The Wealth of Knowledge. 2001. Thomas A Stewart. New York: Doubleday.

This continuation of Stewart’s work on intellectual capital focuses on how companies are dealing with intellectual capital; adjusting to its impact in day-today operations. Details how to manage knowledge – and how it can influence the wealth and assets of a company. This is oriented toward business mangers which may turn-off more career oriented folks. However, Part I is a must read because it provides insights into how a networked organization works – what the core is responsible for and how the nodes (distributors to Stewart) function. A solid read.