Organizational-professional conflict (OPC) occurs when professionals such as doctors, accountants and lawyers are asked to behave in ways that are not consistent with their professional norms. This may lead to unethical behavior, while it also has negative consequences such as reduced job satisfaction, job stress, and turnover intentions. We take a novel approach for understanding OPC by examining the role played by formal and informal controls within the organization in which the professional is working, as well as the strength of the broader professional field of which the professional is a member. Using a sample of 449 qualified professional employees from a wide range of organizations and industries we find that (1) formal behavior control does not influence OPC, (2) formal output control is positively linked to OPC, (3) informal social control reduces OPC, and (4) professional field strength provides boundary conditions to the effects of output and social controls. The results extend recent insights into OPC while guiding professional organizations in terms of how their control systems may reduce the negative consequences of OPC amongst key employees.