Publisher's Synopsis
Professionalism, like professional work and learning, is changing and being changed particularly in the organisational contexts in which practitioners currently practice. For a long time, the sociological analysis of professional work has differentiated professionalism as a special means of organizing work and controlling workers and in contrast to the hierarchical, bureaucratic and managerial controls of industrial and commercial organisations. But professional work is changing and being changed as increasingly professionals (such as managers, doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers) now work in employing organisations; lawyers and accountants in large professional service firms and sometimes in international and commercial organisations; pharmacists in national firms; and engineers, journalists, performing artists, the armed forces and police find occupational control of their work and discretionary decision-making increasingly difficult to sustain. The relationships professionals have with their organisations are variable, indeterminate and uncertain, and there is still consideration over the ways in which these should be characterized and theorized. This Book, Perspectives on Contemporary Professional Work, identifies some of the important contributions made by researchers on professional work to public policy developments, assessment and evaluation. The idea of professionalism as an occupational and normative value can be linked with public policy concerns about competences at all levels of occupational work. Perhaps the reclaiming and recreation of professionalism in work and occupations will be one of the most important tasks for policy makers and practitioners over the next few years. The contributors discuss these implications with topics including hybrid organisations and hybrid professionalism; the changing nature of professional and managerial work; profession and identity; and the emergence of HRM as a new managerial profession. In current work and employment contexts it is the increased use of the discourse of professionalism, in a wide range of occupations and work places, which is important and in need of further analysis and understanding. It is important to remember also that the way professionals regard their service work and their working relationships are also being changed and this is an important consequence of redefining the occupational value aspects of professionalism. An emphasis on internal as well as external markets, on enterprise and economic contracting, are changing professionalism. In tendering, accounting and audit management, professionalism requires practitioners to codify their competence for contracts and evaluations. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars and students seeking a comparative study on contemporary professional work. It will also be of use to a number of practitioners, specifically human resource managers, looking for ways in which to approach the changing professional world.
