Managing experts and competing through innovation: An activity theoreticalanalysis

An activity theoretical analysis is presented of an organization that is op erating in a rapidly changing sector and whose competitiveness depends sign ificantly upon the design skills of its engineers. The company designs high -technology make-to-order products. Like other organizations that compete t hrough knowledge and innovation, the prosperity of this company depends upo n its organizational learning, that is, upon the effectiveness with which i f can mobilize, apply and develop its distinctive knowledge base as circums tances change. In the difficult context that the company faces, the speed w ith which projects can move from the initial concept phase through design t o production has to become especially important. The paper outlines a gener al strategy that was developed as the company sought to control this proces s and traces the consequences for design practices. An activity theoretical approach is used to model the changes that were attempted and the outcomes which emerged and to introduce a discussion of possible future options. Th e approach (i) emphasizes the relevance of a historical perspective on orga nizational change, (ii) features the changing nature of expertise in contem porary manufacturing and (iii) discusses the potential significance for col lective learning of tensions and incoherencies within a work system.