Page 208 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

196 Design Meets Business
similar beliefs, behaviors and values. Studies that do address heteroge- neity inside occupations have been done in occupations that are ultimately established (Nelsen & Barley 1997; Howard-Grenville et al. 2017). In other words, even though intra-occupational struggles took place, in these studies ultimately a dominant social order is achieved. This dissertation research adds to these studies by showing that intra-occupational heterogeneity can lead to disagreements inside the occupation that are never fully settled. In particular, Chapter 3 shows that designers cannot develop a consensus about what a designer ‘ought to do’ at work. Moreover, ambiguity around the occupation persists, which brings us to the following point.
Second, this dissertation research also suggests that the development of an occupational mandate is not simply a passing stage in the early phase of institutionalization of an occupation. In Chapter 3, it is suggested that when occupations are growing into new directions, such as design into business, the occupational mandate can be renegotiated. In this disser- tation research, it is demonstrated that even though the occupational mandate is emergently developing and key values are established (see also work of Fayard et al. 2017), the influx of new members at later stages can challenge existing ideas about ‘how work ought to be done’. Moreover, it is suggested that even an occupation is involved in paid work and gained legitimacy by its audiences, the occupational mandate can be ‘under fire’. In arguing this, it builds on the thought occupations are products of social processes (Bechky 2011; Abbott 1988), just like the jurisdiction of occupa- tions (Bechky 2003a), and therefore constantly in the making. Occupa- tional mandates, hence, might never completed.
Third, it is demonstrated that especially within new occupations, there might be ambiguity among its members with respect to ‘best prac- tices’ and ‘core work tasks’. Even though it is known that occupations develop from different constituencies (Abbott 1988), we know little about its consequences for the organizing and work inside occupations. On the one hand, this dissertation research highlights research that shows that competing interpretations and performances of work exist inside occupa- tions (Howard-Grenville et al. 2017; Nelsen & Barley 1997). On the other hand, this dissertation research adds to existing research that inside occu- pations there might be vagueness and ambiguity around a domain of work. Rather than competing over meanings, at times members might feel lost what belongs to their task domain and what not. A reason for this is that new occupations are formed by members that come from different back- grounds and sometimes do not even know about each other’s existence, let alone have a similar approach to their work. Moreover, this dissertation research orients attention to the prevalence of ambiguity inside emerging