The impact of managers’ boundary reconfiguration on service coordination across occupational domains: a comparative case study of three frontline organizations

Abstract

In response to the ongoing debate about the role of professional and occupational boundaries in effective service delivery, this paper explores how managers’ reconfiguration of these boundaries affects service coordination for public service clients. Based on a combination of survey material and interviews with managers and frontline workers, we analyze three frontline organizations that have achieved varying degrees of service coordination across different occupational domains. To explain the differences in service coordination, we investigate how managers within these organizations have, over time, redefined two types of occupational boundaries—intra-organizational boundaries (which include tasks and jurisdictions between occupational domains) and symbolic boundaries (which pertain to the different role identities of occupational groups)—as experienced by frontline staff. Our findings suggest that dismantling symbolic boundaries is more critical to achieving service coordination than dismantling intra-organizational boundaries. While intra-organizational boundaries can easily reemerge, breaking down symbolic boundaries and constructing new role identities proves to be more impactful, as this transformation creates a more holistic expertise among frontline professionals that is necessary for effective collaboration across occupational domains. However, this reconfiguration process requires considerable time and ongoing boundary work from managers to be successful. This study contributes to existing literature on boundary work by highlighting the intricate interactions between intra-organizational and symbolic boundaries and emphasizing the central role managers play in reconfiguring occupational boundaries at the micro level.