No century in human history has experienced so many radical social transformations as the twentieth century (Drucker, 2001). The transition to a knowledge society leads to a knowledge based economy. This revolution is fomenting a shift in how value is created and perceived. Value in this perspective is the creation of organisations that create and utilize knowledge as the main resource of input of adding value to products and services. Innovation and flexibility are the main drivers of this value (Harrison
& Kessels, 2004). In an economy where knowledge is dominant, daily operations in organisations should be designed to support knowledge productivity (Kessels, 2001). This process entails identifying, gathering and interpreting relevant information, using this information to develop new skills and then applying these skills to improve and radically innovate operating procedures, products and services (Keursten et al., 2006).

We strongly believe that understanding the processes of knowledge productivity and organizing a knowledge productive work environment will become one of
the main challenges for Human Resource Development (Kessels, 2004). This paper describes Human Resource Development (HRD) as the process of organizing individual and collective learning processes aimed at the professional development of employees and the functioning of organisations (Poell, 2006). HRD activities, training and development have traditionally focused on the building of human capital, the accumulated knowledge and skills of employees. This view may seem too
restrictive for modern organisations where collaborative, social actions are necessary for survival, improvement and radical innovation. Here, we enter the domain of social capital.

The paper has been presented at the international conference on

Social Capital and Networks of Trust (ISOCA 2007)
18 – 20 October 2007
University of Jyväskylä, Finland