Unplanned managerial work: crucial support for knowledge creation in manufacturing SMEs

Knowledge capability and innovation performance are essential drivers of organizational success, with managerial work playing a crucial role in fostering these factors. This paper examines planned and unplanned managerial work from a knowledge creation perspective, analyzing 21 short interviews and 21 days of shadowing seven leaders, alongside interactive analyses with management teams in four manufacturing SMEs. A four-step analysis of 2125 activities revealed four categories of managerial work, with unplanned activities accounting for 52% of work time, highlighting the complexity and ad-hoc nature of managerial work. Internally initiated unplanned managerial work was crucial for tacit knowledge conversion. If policymakers want to support lifelong learning initiatives and strengthen innovation capabilities in manufacturing SMEs, they need to encourage the unplanned aspect of managerial work, as it is crucial for knowledge creation, fostering the evolutionary aspect of organizational learning and enhancing innovation capabilities.