Professionals in Public: Challenges to Professional and Frontline Work in Public Organizations

This symposium aims to present research that analyzes some of the current challenges professionals and frontline workers face in public organizations. Public organizations, from large organizations to small agencies, perform key tasks for the functioning of government and society. To do so, they employ workers with specialized skills and knowledge that face challenges on the way their work is understood, managed, and assessed. Some of these challenges involve interacting with different audiences; managing conflicting expectations, criteria, expertise, and mandates; interacting with citizens; and conducting expert work in bureaucratic settings. This symposium aims to identify common concerns and insights across this research and to provide avenues for future scholarship in this area. Presenters have conducted research on professional identity, expert work, accountability, and conflicting mandates in police departments, public hospitals, emergency management services, and regulatory agencies in different countries. From Brave Enforcer to Trusted Protector: Role Evolution and Procedural Justice Training in Mexico Presenter: Rodrigo Canales; Yale U. Presenter: Jessica Zarkin; Cornell U. Presenter: Lluvia Gonzalez; Innovations for Poverty Action Routinization of Expertise: Experts and the Entry of Less-Credentialed Workers into Organizations Presenter: Jillian Chown; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Carlos Inoue; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Social Media Scrutiny of Front-line Professionals in Emergency Management Organizations Presenter: Arvind Karunakaran; Stanford U. Managing Conflicting Mandates: Wielding Procedural Expertise in a Government Agency Presenter: Samantha Orlena Ortiz Casillas; EMLYON Business School