Abstract

Managers often refer to themselves as professionals and claim to act professionally. However does such a proposition mean that managers belong to a profession?
This paper reviews professional ethics and business literature to establish whether there is an accepted view of what constitutes a profession. It will present definitions of the terms profession and occupation, and canvas the differing views regarding the characteristics that appear to typify a profession. The paper will present a series of propositions supporting a typology of classification of a profession. This proposition-based assessment typology will then be applied to a case analysis of a managerial association to assess its classification as representing a profession. Finally this information will then be used to analyse whether management actually qualifies as profession. A conclusion will consider the findings and comment on the impacts for understanding of the term profession when applied to occupations.