The Evolving Organization of Professional Work

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. Market and hierarchy principles have become progressively more salient in professional work; but we argue that in parallel, the community principle has been growing more influential too. Building on Adler and Heckscher (2006), we further argue that professional community is mutating from a Gemeinschaft, craft guild form, via Gesellschaft forms, towards a new, “collaborative” form. This evolution, however, is a difficult one, and the outcome is uncertain. We identify some implications for future research.