THE IDEOLOGY OF PROFESSIONALISM AND WORK COMPUTERIZATION - AN INSTITUTIONALIST STUDY OF TECHNOLOGICAL-CHANGE

This paper examines the process of work computerization in a health Ma intenance Organization from an institutionalist perspective. It invest igates how one clement of the institutional environment, viz., the ide ology of professionalism, became a powerful presence and continually i nfluenced the process of work computerization in the organization. Usi ng ethnographic methods of participant observation and in-depth interv iews, the paper identifies the different local meanings of professiona lism held by organizational members. It then examines how tile ideolog y 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 pr ocess. Mainly, it shows how the ideology of professionalism facilitate d a climate of acceptance toward computers, escalated commitment to th e technology and was partly responsible for the suppression of individ ual concerns regarding work computerization. Finally, implications for organization theory and research are drawn.