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Change processes in the professional bureaucracy
Author(s) -
Cheng SheungTak
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(199007)18:3<183::aid-jcop2290180302>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - bureaucracy , organizational change , function (biology) , public relations , professional development , mental health , political science , work (physics) , psychology , pedagogy , psychiatry , engineering , law , mechanical engineering , evolutionary biology , politics , biology
The limits of organizational change often make effective implementation of policies difficult. This article examines how change can be accomplished in the professional bureaucracy. Examples in community mental health and compensatory education are employed to illustrate the points discussed. It is concluded that because professionals function independently and their work cannot be easily replaced, change in the professional bureaucracy would inevitably involve (a) replacing existing staff with people sympathetic to the change or (b) convincing and motivating existing staff to implement the change. Except for crisis situations in which the leadership can take advantage to organize for change, other strategies seem to be secondary to these requirements.