Professions and organizations: A European perspective

The contemporary research area of professions and organizations can be considered as a branch both of the sociology of professions (Saks, 2016) and of the organizational theory that studies the managerial aspects of professional work (Brock, Leblebici, & Muzio, 2014). In the literature these two aspects have all too rarely been brought together, but this chapter attempts to do so in a blended manner in overviewing key aspects of professions working in organizations. It focuses particularly on the European context from which some of the most exciting work is now emerging. We outline the growth of the European contribution in these two traditions from what were originally heavily North American roots. The chapter then goes on to discuss the notion of professions and their organizational setting and how they may most helpfully be analyzed, building on these traditions. Finally, the chapter considers European research published in English-speaking sources on specific professions in their organizational context-illustrating this in more depth through a case study of work on the health professions, before drawing to a conclusion.