an article by Gill Kirton (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and Cécile Guillaume (University of Roehampton, UK) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 33 Issue 6 (December 2019)
Abstract
This article utilises a multi-method case study of the probation service of England and Wales to explore the perspectives of practitioners and their union on how restructuring / privatisation affected the probation profession.
Professionals perceived restructuring / privatisation as ideologically and politically motivated, rather than evidence-based in relation to service goals. Against this context, the article outlines the probation union’s organised resistance, but ultimately its inability to halt the reform.
The findings highlight practitioners’ concept of ‘the death of probation’ created by philosophical opposition to privatisation, but also by the splitting of their profession and the resultant assault on professionalism.
The study underlines the unique aspects of restructuring / privatisation in the specific service domain, in particular those linked to working with a socially stigmatised client group, but it also has resonance for other public service professions facing the actuality or prospect of restructuring/privatisation.
Showing posts with label professionalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professionalism. Show all posts
Monday, 9 December 2019
Thursday, 10 May 2018
Automating judgment? Algorithmic judgment, news knowledge, and journalistic professionalism
an article by Matt Carlson (Saint Louis University, USA) published in New Media & Society Volume 20 Issue 5 (May 2018)
Abstract
Journalistic judgment is both a central and fraught function of journalism.
The privileging of objectivity norms and the externalization of newsworthiness in discourses about journalism leave little room for the legitimation of journalists’ subjective judgment. This tension has become more apparent in the digital news era due to the growing use of algorithms in automated news distribution and production.
This article argues that algorithmic judgment should be considered distinct from journalists’ professional judgment.
Algorithmic judgment presents a fundamental challenge to news judgment based on the twin beliefs that human subjectivity is inherently suspect and in need of replacement, while algorithms are inherently objective and in need of implementation.
The supplanting of human judgment with algorithmic judgment has significant consequences for both the shape of news and its legitimating discourses.
Before I even glanced at the full text my head was reeling. Yes, humans make mistakes but not as often as a badly written algorithm which will get it wrong every time.
Full text (PDF 18pp)
Abstract
Journalistic judgment is both a central and fraught function of journalism.
The privileging of objectivity norms and the externalization of newsworthiness in discourses about journalism leave little room for the legitimation of journalists’ subjective judgment. This tension has become more apparent in the digital news era due to the growing use of algorithms in automated news distribution and production.
This article argues that algorithmic judgment should be considered distinct from journalists’ professional judgment.
Algorithmic judgment presents a fundamental challenge to news judgment based on the twin beliefs that human subjectivity is inherently suspect and in need of replacement, while algorithms are inherently objective and in need of implementation.
The supplanting of human judgment with algorithmic judgment has significant consequences for both the shape of news and its legitimating discourses.
Before I even glanced at the full text my head was reeling. Yes, humans make mistakes but not as often as a badly written algorithm which will get it wrong every time.
Full text (PDF 18pp)
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Ignorance management in hospitals
an article by
Maximiliane Wilkesmann
(TU University of Dortmund, Germany)
published in VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems Volume 46 Issue 4 (2016)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how professionals, like doctors, deal with their ignorance? Which strategies do they apply? How can the organization support activities that encourage dealing with ignorance in a positive way? The paper shows how ignorance can be managed in professional organizations like hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore this touchy subject, the research follows a sequential mixed method design. The advantage of combining research methods is the opportunity to explore an uninvestigated research field. In the first exploratory research sequence (empirical study 1) preliminary questions were defined by means of 43 qualitative semi-structured interviews with hospital physicians and literature analysis. The results of the qualitative content analysis also served as a starting point for the development of a Germany-wide online-questionnaire survey with more than 2,500 physicians (empirical study 2).
Findings
The results show that breaks, a lack of negative organizational constraints, collective learning, positive role models and intrinsic motivation have the highest impact on ignorance sharing of physicians in hospitals. In reverse, negative organizational constraints, distrust, a lack of intrinsic motivation and omitting the implementation of evidence-based insights in terms of collective learning have the highest impact on hiding ignorance. These findings help to manage ignorance in a positive way.
Originality/value
Physicians all over the world have to deal with incomplete information and ignorance in their daily work. Mostly, they have no time and/or resources to gather all relevant information before they make a diagnosis or administer a therapy. It is quite evident that scientific discourses on knowledge management and professions mostly emphasize the power of expertise and knowledge, whereas research on ignorance is currently more or less neglected. This paper is one of the first attempts to overcome this research gap.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how professionals, like doctors, deal with their ignorance? Which strategies do they apply? How can the organization support activities that encourage dealing with ignorance in a positive way? The paper shows how ignorance can be managed in professional organizations like hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore this touchy subject, the research follows a sequential mixed method design. The advantage of combining research methods is the opportunity to explore an uninvestigated research field. In the first exploratory research sequence (empirical study 1) preliminary questions were defined by means of 43 qualitative semi-structured interviews with hospital physicians and literature analysis. The results of the qualitative content analysis also served as a starting point for the development of a Germany-wide online-questionnaire survey with more than 2,500 physicians (empirical study 2).
Findings
The results show that breaks, a lack of negative organizational constraints, collective learning, positive role models and intrinsic motivation have the highest impact on ignorance sharing of physicians in hospitals. In reverse, negative organizational constraints, distrust, a lack of intrinsic motivation and omitting the implementation of evidence-based insights in terms of collective learning have the highest impact on hiding ignorance. These findings help to manage ignorance in a positive way.
Originality/value
Physicians all over the world have to deal with incomplete information and ignorance in their daily work. Mostly, they have no time and/or resources to gather all relevant information before they make a diagnosis or administer a therapy. It is quite evident that scientific discourses on knowledge management and professions mostly emphasize the power of expertise and knowledge, whereas research on ignorance is currently more or less neglected. This paper is one of the first attempts to overcome this research gap.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Managing for local resilience: towards a strategic approach
an article by Keith Shaw (Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK) published in Public Policy and Administration Volume 28 Number 1 (January 2013)
Abstract
The term resilience is increasingly being used to capture the challenges involved in managing in ‘hard times’.
This article aims to provide one of the first empirical studies of the term’s application to local authority interventions around emergency planning and climate change: two areas in which resilience has been particularly emphasised in local policy making.
Drawing upon research undertaken in the north east of England, the article considers how local managers have understood and applied the term, the extent to which it has been developed as a coherent policy agenda, and its strategic significance.
In reframing the debate on resilience in terms of discourses of ‘recovery’ and ‘transformation’, the article examines how, in addition to informing policy realities on the ground, resilience is also a normative, politically laden term, within which conservative narratives of uncertainty, vulnerability and anxiety compete with a more radical focus on hope, adaptation and transformation.
The study reveals concerns over the term’s longevity, tensions between the different interpretations of resilience, and the lack of a coherent strategic framework within which the different discourses on resilience could be considered and reconciled.
However, the article also captures the growing importance of a resilience narrative that is seen to add value in a period of austerity, integrate key features of climate change adaptation and emergency planning, and act as a ‘strategic lynchpin’ in relation to other policy areas, such as economic resilience.
Abstract
The term resilience is increasingly being used to capture the challenges involved in managing in ‘hard times’.
This article aims to provide one of the first empirical studies of the term’s application to local authority interventions around emergency planning and climate change: two areas in which resilience has been particularly emphasised in local policy making.
Drawing upon research undertaken in the north east of England, the article considers how local managers have understood and applied the term, the extent to which it has been developed as a coherent policy agenda, and its strategic significance.
In reframing the debate on resilience in terms of discourses of ‘recovery’ and ‘transformation’, the article examines how, in addition to informing policy realities on the ground, resilience is also a normative, politically laden term, within which conservative narratives of uncertainty, vulnerability and anxiety compete with a more radical focus on hope, adaptation and transformation.
The study reveals concerns over the term’s longevity, tensions between the different interpretations of resilience, and the lack of a coherent strategic framework within which the different discourses on resilience could be considered and reconciled.
However, the article also captures the growing importance of a resilience narrative that is seen to add value in a period of austerity, integrate key features of climate change adaptation and emergency planning, and act as a ‘strategic lynchpin’ in relation to other policy areas, such as economic resilience.
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