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Journal ArticleDOI

Collegial Authority and the Receding Locus of Power

01 Dec 1970-British Journal of Sociology-Vol. 21, Iss: 4, pp 431
About: This article is published in British Journal of Sociology.The article was published on 1970-12-01. It has received 50 citations till now.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that professional community is mutating from a Gemeinschaft, craft guild form, via Gesellschaft forms, toward a new, collaborative form, which is a difficult one, and the outcome is uncertain.
Abstract: This paper traces the main lines of evolution of the organization of professional work. The argument is illustrated with material on the case of doctors and hospitals. While market and hierarchy principles have become progressively more salient in professional work, we argue that, in parallel, the community principle has been growing more influential, too. We further argue that professional community is mutating from a Gemeinschaft, craft guild form, via Gesellschaft forms, toward a new, collaborative form. This evolution, however, is a difficult one, and the outcome is uncertain. We identify some implications for future research.

383 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the main lines of evolution of professional work and argue that the professional community is mutating from a Gemeinschaft, craft guild form, via Gesellschaft forms, toward a new, collaborative form.
Abstract: This paper traces the main lines of evolution of the organization of professional work. The argument is illustrated with material on the case of doctors and hospitals. While market and hierarchy principles have become progressively more salient in professional work, we argue that, in parallel, the community principle has been growing more influential, too. We further argue that professional community is mutating from a Gemeinschaft, craft guild form, via Gesellschaft forms, toward a new, collaborative form. This evolution, however, is a difficult one, and the outcome is uncertain. We identify some implications for future research.

255 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Eric Hoyle1
TL;DR: In an interview, Zbegniew Brzezinski, President Carter's adviser on national security stated: "My overwhelming observation from the experience of the last four years is that history is neither the product of design nor of conspiracy, but is rather the reflection of continuing chaos".
Abstract: operate, there remains the fundamental assumption that if plans are well-conceived, clearly set out, and adequately communicated, then systems can be improved. Yet everyone working in organisations is all too well aware of their often idiosyncratic, adventitious, unpredictable and intractable nature when every day brings a new organisational &dquo;pathology&dquo; to disrupt well laid plans. This uncertainty occurs at the highest levels of policy-making and implementation. In his much cited work on the Cuban missile crisis Allison (1971) showed that what had been interpreted as the outcome of carefully-considered and rationally-enacted policies could be viewed as the result of actors within a highly uncertain situation bargaining within their own camps as well as across national boundaries. In an interview, Zbegniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s adviser on national security stated: &dquo;My overwhelming observation from the experience of the last four years is that history is neither the product of design nor of conspiracy, but is rather the reflection of continuing chaos. Seen from the outside, decisions may often seem clear and consciously formulated ... but one learns that so much of what happens ... is the product of chaotic conditions and a great deal of personal struggle and ambiguity&dquo; (Urban, 1981). Policymakers and administrators in the less lethal field of education will recognise the aleatory dimension of the institution described by Kogan (1975) as &dquo;pluralistic, I incremental, -unsystematic and reactive&dquo; as they attempt to improve the service in conditions which appear to be perennially turbulent. Evidence of the quirky and idiosyncratic nature-of social institutions could lead one into a consideration of fundamental questions about the nature of the social sciences. However, this path will not be taken in this paper. The question to be

209 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Weber's writing on the topic of collegiality in economy and society is analyzed in order to reintegrate the concept with his other concepts of legitimate domination, status group closure, bureaucracy, and legal formalism.
Abstract: This article analyzes Weber's writing on the topic of collegiality in Economy and Society in order to reintegrate the concept of collegiality with his other concepts of legitimate domination, status group closure, bureaucracy, and legal formalism. An ideal-type of collegiate organization is identified, and the consequences of the emergence of collegial social structure of this form in professional contexts are examined. These arguments provide a critique of the predominant understandings of the relationship between professionalization and bureaucratization, in which professional ideology is conceived of as ethical commitment. The article calls for ar restoration of Weberian understandings of the rationalization of modern life as the outcome of a contest for domination between interest groups rather than as the institutionalization of transcendent normative structures.

181 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a definition of "collegiality" in education has been proposed for the effective management of educational institutions, which is based on the notion of "co-operation".
Abstract: It can be argued that `collegiality' has come to be the dominant paradigm for the effective management of educational institutions. This paper first offers a definition of collegiality in education...

70 citations