Organizational professionalism in globalizing law firms.

Are the challenges of globalization, technology and competition exercising a dramatic impact on professional practice whilst, in the process, compromising traditional notions of professionalism, autonomy and discretion? This paper engages with these debates and uses original, qualitative empirical data to highlight the vast areas of continuity that exist even the largest globalizing law firms. Whilst it is undoubted that growth in the size of firms and their globalization bring new challenges, these are resolved in ways that are sensitive to professional values and interests. In particular, a commitment to professional autonomy and discretion still characterises the way in which these firms operate and organize themselves. This situation is explained in terms of the development of an organizational model of professionalism, whereby the large organization is increasingly emerging as a primary locus of professionalization and whereby professional priorities and objectives are increasingly supported by organizational logics, systems and initiatives

Fixing

Matt Freidson\u27s stories have appeared in New England Review, Confrontation, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Best New American Voices 2006. He lives in England

Theory and the Professions

The Growth of Large Law Firms and Its Effect on the Legal Profession and Legal Education, Symposiu

The role of law and ethics in developing business management as a profession

Currently, business management is far from being recognised as a profession. This paper suggests that a professional spirit should be developed which could function as a filter of commercial reasoning. Broadly, management will not be organised within the framework of a well-established profession unless formal knowledge, licensing, professional autonomy and professional codes of conduct are developed sufficiently. In developing business management as a profession, law may play a key role. Where the idea is that business management should be more professsionalised, managers must show that they are willing to adopt ethical values, while arriving at business decisions. The paper argues that ethics cannot survive without legal regulation, which, in turn, will not be supported by law unless lawyers can find alternative solutions to the large mechanisms of the official society, secured by the monopolised coercion of the nation state. From a micro perspective of law and business ethics, communities can be developed with their own conventions, rules and standards that are generated and sanctioned within the boundaries of the communities themselves

GPs are from Mars, Administrators are from Venus: The Role of Misaligned Occupational Dispositions in Inhibiting Mandated Role Change

Research on mandated occupational role change focuses on jurisdictional conflict to explain change failure. Our study of the English National Health Service highlights the role of occupational dispositions in shaping how mandated role change is implemented by members of multiple occupational groups. We find that tension stemming from misaligned dispositions may emerge as members of different occupations interact during their role change implementation efforts. Depending on dispositional responses to tension, change may fail as members of the different occupations avoid interactions. This suggests that effective role change can be elusive even in the initial absence of conflicting occupational interests

Gender and the Production of Health Care Services: Issues for Women's Roles in Health Development

Summary Female health workers often make up to 75 per cent or more of the health sector workforce in developing countries, and yet they remain underpaid and relatively powerless. This article looks at the role of women in the production of health care services at different levels within the health sector, discussing primary health care and the effect of the economic crises. The article discusses how professions, which insulate the power and status of doctors, also insulate and rigidify the status and power of nurses. It looks at how this contributes to the limitation of the crucial role of nurses in primary health care. It also looks at the informal sector workers and auxiliaries, the bulk of the female health workers, who are inadequately resourced and vulnerable in their work. The article addresses a research agenda for the subject. Resumé Le genre, les soins de santé primaires et la prestation des services de soins de santé: questions relatives aux rôles des femmes dans le développement des soins de santé durant la décennie à venir Les femmes qui travaillent dans les services de soins de santé constituent souvent 75%, et parfois même plus, de la force ouvrière du secteur des soins de santé au sein des pays en voie de développement; or souvent elles restent sous?rémunérées et relativement écartées du pouvoir. Le présent article examine le rôle des femmes dans la prestation des soins de santé à divers niveaux dans ce secteur; l'auteur y discute les soins de santé primaires ainsi que l'effet des crises économiques. L'article décrit aussi comment les professions qui isolent le pouvoir et le rang socio?économique des médecins sont également responsables pour l'isolement et l'inflexibilité de la situation des infirmières. L'auteur examine aussi la manière dans laquelle ce phénomène peut limiter le rôle crucial des infirmières dans les soins de santé primaires. L'article d'adresse également aux travailleurs et assistants ancillaires dans le secteur général de la santé, principalement des femmes, qui ne possèdent que de faibles ressources et qui sont vulnérables dans leur travail. L'article tente de dresser un calendrier de recherche dans ce domaine. Resumen El Género, la Atención Sanitaria Pública y la Producción de Servicios de Salud: temas para el papel de la mujer en el desarrollo de la salud en la próxima década Las mujeres constituyen el 75% o más del personal de trabajadores de salud en los países en desarrollo, y sin embargo, permanecen relativamente sin ningún control y muy mal pagadas. Este artículo se concentra en el papel de la mujer en la producción de servicios de salud a diferentes niveles dentro del sector sanitario, examinando la atención sanitaria básica y el efecto de las crisis económicas. Expone cómo las profesiones, que aíslan el poder y la posición de los médicos, también rigidizan y aíslan la posición y las atribuciones de las enfermeras. Esto contribuye a la limitación del papel crucial de las enfermeras en el cuidado básico de los pacientes. También se observa al sector de los trabajadores informales y auxiliares, que constituyen la inmensa mayoría de mujeres en el área de la salud, y que sufren de carencia de recursos y vulnerabilidad en su trabajo. El artículo plantea la preparación de una agenda de investigación para este tema

Iatrogenesis and Medical Error: The Case for Medical Malpractice Litigation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73130/1/j.1748-720X.1981.tb01913.x.pd