Responsive professionalism in post-NPM reforms: the case of the Swedish police

This article investigates responsive professionalism in local collaboration across organizational boundaries, introduced by public reforms as a means to address the downsides of new public management (NPM) and to foster professionalism 'closer to the citizens'. The case in point is the Swe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Culture and organization 2022-03, Vol.28 (2), p.97-114
Main Author: Rolandsson, Bertil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
abstract policing
Annan samhällsvetenskap
Arbetslivsstudier
Collaboration
Moderators
New public management
occupational awareness
Occupations
Organizational structure
Other Social Sciences
police
Police reform
post-NPM
Professionalism
Professions
Public administration
Public Administration Studies
public reforms
Responsive professionalism
Samhällsvetenskap
Social Sciences
Sociologi
Sociology
Studier av offentlig förvaltning
Work Sciences
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Summary:This article investigates responsive professionalism in local collaboration across organizational boundaries, introduced by public reforms as a means to address the downsides of new public management (NPM) and to foster professionalism 'closer to the citizens'. The case in point is the Swedish police reform, and the empirical material comprises 39 semi-structured interviews with police officers. Drawing on the work of Noordegraaf (2020. "Protective or Connective Professionalism? How Connected Professionals Can (Still) Act as Autonomous and Authoritative Experts." Journal of Professions and Organization 7: 205-223. doi: 10.1093/jpo/joaa011 ) and Anteby et al. (2016. "Three Lenses on Occupations and Professions in Organizations: Becoming, Doing, and Relating." Academy of Management Annals 10 (1): 183-244), indicating that occupations today earn recognition for their professionalism within wider networks of other occupations, this study examines police officers' occupational awareness of how to maintain responsive professionalism during local collaboration. Findings illustrate how police officers conceive of themselves as moderators, orchestrators, and mediators guided by occupational awareness of different organizational strains and of demands for responsive professionalism. The Swedish police reform was found to promote officers' independent engagement in formalized or 'abstract' modes of professionalism that, nevertheless, continue to be responsive to local demands.
ISSN:1475-9551
1477-2760
1477-2760
DOI:10.1080/14759551.2021.1986507