Professional Ideologies and Identities and Innovation Work

Abstract

In this first chapter, the research reported in the empirical chapters of the book will be seated in an organization theory and management studies context. That is, rather than being a more general social theory analysis and critique of the biopharmaceutical industry and the life sciences, the book aims to point at the organizational and managerial concerns when venturing into the bioeconomy. Speaking in such terms, the operative vocabulary of the three studies reported in Chapters 3–5 are centred around three concepts: profession, identity and innovation. In the organization theory literature, these are three key concepts that have been used in a variety of research efforts and different industries and settings. First, the concept of profession has been part of the sociology literature since the inception of the discipline in the second half of the nineteenth century. The professions have been a central organizing principle in what today is referred to as knowledge-intensive work, mediating between organizational goals and objectives (the structure of knowledge work) and individual interests and concerns (the actor in knowledge work).The professions have, in short, served a key role in advocating standards and routines for how to organize and evaluate work that demands specialist skills and know-how. The concept of identity derives from the behavioural sciences but has increasingly been discussed in the organization theory and management literature as a key component in the regulation of control of knowledge-intensive industries and firms.