The Professional Ideal in Management History*

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Nodoushani, Omid^;

Affiliations: University of New Haven, School of Business, Department of Management, 300 Orange Ave., West Haven, CT 06516-1999, USA. Tel.: + 1 203 931 6038

Note: [*] The author would like to thank Patricia Nodoushani for her comments and help on an earlier draft of this paper.

Abstract: The current cries of ‘the death of management’ manifest the legitimation crisis of the professional ideal in management history. This paper attempts to explain the professionalization of corporate management by discussing the theoretical links between corporate management and the professions, and by presenting problems associated with the professional ideal in management history.

Keywords: Managerial profession, professional ideal, the corporate revolution, knowledge society, deprofessionalization, the legitimation crisis, management history

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-1995-14408

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 335-345, 1995