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Human Relations
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The Ideology of Professionalism and Work Computerization: An Institutionalist Study of Technological Change

Pushkala Prasad

Faculty of Management, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, N.W., Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada.

Anshuman Prasad

School of Managenment, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003.

This paper examines the process of work computerization in a Health Maintenance Organization from an institutionalist perspective. It investigates how one element of the institutional environment, viz., the ideology of professionalism, became a powerful presence and continually influenced the process of work computerization in the organization. Using ethnographic methods of participant observation and in-depth interviews, the paper identifies the different local meanings of professionalism held by organizational members. It then examines how the ideology of professionalism became institutionalized within the organization through a combination of micro-and macro-level forces. The paper also looks at the consequences of this ideology for the computerization process. Mainly, it shows how the ideology of professionalism facilitated a climate of acceptance toward computers, escalated commitment to the technology and was partly responsible for the suppression of individual concerns regarding work computerization. Finally, implications for organization theory and research are drawn.

Key Words: computerization • ideology • institutional theory • professionalism • technological change • symbolism

Human Relations, Vol. 47, No. 12, 1433-1458 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/001872679404701201
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