The expert organization is built and developed in a fi eld of tension between two distinct markets-the client market and the labor market. On the client market the organization offers the expertise of its employees in competition with other expert organizations, and often also in competition with experts within the client organization. On the labor market, the expert organization competes with other expert organizations and with client organizations for the most attractive experts. They also compete with the experts’ ability and often desire to start their own business.

In today’s modern society peoples’ choice of occupation is often an integrated part of their view of who they are and their place in society (Giddens, 1991). In expert occupations in particular the individual experts have often made a great investment, not least in time, to acquire the education, experience and knowledge needed in order to be allowed to enter the occupation. A lot of effort and intellectual work is needed, which also includes working on changing ones view of the world and of oneself. As a result of all this effort the choice of occupation becomes an investment in who we are. It’s an investment in an identity. We can see this particularly in profession-based occupations such as architecture, law and accounting which all have in common that the practitioners have completed a specifi c educational program, have passed some specifi c knowledge tests and acquired some specifi c values and beliefs associated with the occupation. But also within business advisory occupations, with a less clearly defi ned knowledge base, the individuals’ work with their self-image is a signifi cant part of the role and crucial for being perceived as competent.

This article develops and demonstrates the utility of a framework for understanding professionals' reactions to strategic change in professional service firms as an interplay between a strategic intent, its manifestation in organizational roles and practices and its fit with existing professional identities. The application of the framework with three case studies shows that strategic changes may threaten different aspects of professional identities (self-enhancement, self-continuity and self-distinctiveness) which in turn tends to lead to different kinds of resistance from the professionals (exit, voice for opposition or voice for renegotiation). The article also links these different reactions to the locus of identification of professionals, which may be either ‘local’ or ‘cosmopolitan’.

EPISIS (European Policies and Instruments to Support Service Innovation) is a project under the PRO-INNO Europe initiative of the Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry. It promotes the development of service innovations at policy, strategic and operational levels through transnational cooperation between policy-makers and innovation agencies. The EPISIS Consortium consists of the leading European public authorities including Tekes (Finland, the Coordinator), BIS (the UK), DASTI (Denmark), PT-DLR (Germany) and Vinnova (Sweden).

The present report is a contribution to the European strategy thus focusing on mapping the new skills and competences required to support service innovation. It is essential that European countries recognize and develop the necessary skills and competences to unleash the transformative capacity of services, i.e. to support service innovation in order to raise productivity, create value as well as new market opportunities. EPSIS Task Force 4 (TF4) focuses on service innovation which can and should be applied to address challenges, for example, maintaining a competitive industry and develop sustainable cities.

Vinnovas commitments in the field of work life development aim to strengthen business and public sectors contribution for a sustainable development by enlightening the importance of the employee as an actor and a creative resource. Focus lies on the organisation of work, and on management and leadership that increase the ability to develop a long-term sustainable working life. The objective is global competitiveness.

The number of companies that supply services increases. Services are thus an increasingly important part of the labour market with significant potential to contribute to Sweden's growth. Knowledge about the role of work organisation and leadership in business development and innovation rests today mainly on experience from large Swedish industrial companies. This literature review was initiated in order to identify knowledge gaps in the scientific literature on how service work can be organized and led in order to safeguard and promote the innovation potential of employees.