Professionals making judgments: the professional skill of valuing and assessing Styhre, Alexander

Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-229) and index.

Professionals Making Judgments examines the role of judgment in professional work and as a constitutive principle of professionalism more broadly. The book reviews the professionalism and makes the argument that too many studies of professionalism put emphasis on rational decision-making at the expense of intuition, experiences, and acquired skills that enables professionals to operate effectively. In addition, the volume discusses the concept of heterarchy as an organizational form that not only tolerates but actively encourages alternative views and therefore promotes professional judgment as a key skill. The more theoretical parts of the book are complemented by empirical studies of three distinct domains of professional practice in reproductive medicine, in a faith-based organization (the Church of Sweden), and a regional government agency. The volume thus contributes to the literature on professionalism by making a connection between analytical skills, decision-making capacities, and performance in professional work without reducing professional work to one-dimensional forms of rationality.


Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: On judgment
PART I: THEORY
1. Three Perspectives on Professional Judgment
2. Organizing for Professional Judgment: Bureaucracies and Heterarchies
PART II: EMPIRICAL CASES
3. Perceptual-epistemological Judgment: Embryologists Examining Life
4. Aesthetic-emotional Judgment: Ministers, Faith-based Work, and the Church of Sweden
5. Economic Judgment: The Regional Culture Agency and the Governance of Culture Budgets
PART III: ANALYSIS
6. Professionals Making Judgment: Some Issues and Contributions
Appendix: Methodology of the Studies
Bibliography
Index