How and Why Management Has Not Become a Profession

Although many promote the professionalization of business management, most scholars seem to agree that management currently cannot be labelled a profession, despite disagreement over explanations and the contested nature of what constitutes a profession. Our contention is that management does not qualify as a profession, regardless of the various definitions that exist. In general, managerial elites have not succeeded either to achieve closure over, or institutionalize, management as an occupational field with distinct knowledge and qualification criteria. We illustrate these challenges through a historical case study on three waves of attempts to professionalize top management in Norway. These trends indicate how difficult it is to create an integrated management profession, and justify authority by pointing to the skills and knowledge related to general management.