Session Summary

Session Number:253
Session ID:S210
Session Title:New Perspectives on the Challenges of Pluralism in the Changing World of Professional Work
Short Title:Pluralism and Work
Session Type:Division Joint Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt East
Floor:LL2
Room:GndBall B
Time:Wednesday, August 11, 1999 8:30 AM - 10:20 AM

Sponsors

OB  (Robert Liden)bobliden@uic.edu (312) 996-4481 
OMT  (Joseph Porac)j-porac@staff.uiuc.edu (217) 244-7969 

General People

Chair Bunderson, John Stuart Washington U. Bunderson@mail.olin.wustl.edu (314) 935-4943 
Chair Thompson, Jeffery A. U. of Minnesota jthompson@csom.umn.edu (612) 626-1812 
Discussant Barley, Stephen R. Stanford U. barley@Stanford.edu (650) 723-9477 

Submissions

Professional-Organizational Conflict in Professional and Nonprofessional Organizations 
Presenter Wallace, Jean  U. of Calgary jwallace@ucalgary.ca (403) 220-6501 
Person-Organization Fit in the Professional Organization: Revisiting Old Assumptions 
Presenter Bunderson, John Stuart Washington U. Bunderson@mail.olin.wustl.edu (314) 935-4943 
Individual Transition Journeys into a Pluralistic Organization 
Presenter Thompson, Jeffery A. U. of Minnesota jthompson@csom.umn.edu (612) 626-1812 
Managing Multiple Identities in Professional Organizations 
Presenter Foreman, Peter  U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign pforeman@ux6.cso.uiuc.edu (217) 333-4556 
Revolutionary and Evolutionary Ideological Change in Pluralistic Environment 
Presenter Goodrick, Elizabeth  State U. of New York, Buffalo   716-645-3280 
Presenter Meindl, James R. State U. of New York, Buffalo meindl@acsu.buffalo.edu (716) 645-3244 

Abstract

Management scholars have long recognized that professionalized organizations are crucibles of pluralism, settings where professional and administrative ideologies, commitments, cultures, and orientations co-exist and must somehow be coordinated. The challenges of managing these pluralistic organizations have fascinated researchers and frustrated managers for over forty years. Nevertheless, recent changes in the constitution of the workforce and in the social organization of professional work have created a new set of problems that extend beyond the boundaries of existing research on professionals and organizations. Researchers seeking to address these problems are challenging many of our long-standing assumptions about professionals and the organization of professional work. This symposium presents cutting-edge work on professionals, professional organizations, and the professional-organization relationship from a panel of scholars who represent some of the latest and most innovative thinking in this area. Jean Wallace examines the experiences of professional employees in professional vs. non-professional work settings. Stuart Bunderson develops and tests a model of person-organization fit in professionalized organizations. Jeff Thompson examines the transition from private professional practice to an employment relationship. Peter Foreman looks at how professionals manage the different identities they are now required to assume. And Elizabeth Goodrick and Jim Meindl present a theoretical model of ideological change in pluralistic environments. As our discussant, Steve Barley will discuss how the work presented in this symposium contributes to a growing effort among organizational scholars to understand professionals and the professional organization.