A Fresh Look at How Professions Take Shape: Dual-directed Networking Dynamics and Social Boundaries
基于社会身份理论和制度理论，研究了向内和向外的网络活动如何共同构建社会边界，形成排他性成员资格和专属领域，通过以色列犹太法律职业和美国医师管理者的案例验证了四阶段过程模型。
Understanding boundary-spanning activities such as interorganizational alliances and professional/organizational integration requires clarity about what boundaries are being spanned and how they were constructed. We approach this goal by drawing on social identity theory and institutional theory to develop a process model, whereby inward- and outward-directed networking activities combine to build the social boundaries marking exclusive membership and proprietary domain. Four stages in the process are demonstrated, using two longitudinal case studies of emerging professions: the Jewish legal profession in Israel and physician executives in the USA. Despite the cases' contextual differences, analysis of networking activities supports propositions based on the model.