4. Management as a Profession: The Historian’s Perspective

Can—and should—management become a profession? My answer is “only to a limited extent” and “it depends”, based on lessons drawn from history. While some kind of a professionalization process has occurred, all efforts to develop management into a true profession have failed. In my chapter, I examine historical debates concerning whether management should become a profession and when professionalization aims have been particularly to the fore. I also describe how managerial background (education, career, recruitment) changed over time, reflecting the rudimentary professionalization process. Finally, I lift up key interpretations of why managers cannot form a fully-fledged profession, namely the inability of any educational group to monopolize top management, but also the limited interest among managers to aim for professionalization.