Is business management a profession?

In an earlier post I pointed out that the science (or art) of management is still in the middle ages, where the alchemist still tell us they can change lead into gold. The underlying problem is that management is not yet perceived as a profession. But what is the definition of a profession? This morning I was searching for papers on this subject and found an interesting publication dealing with the same question (Khurana, Nohria, and Penrice; 2005). In order to establish if management is a profession and compare it to professions like law and medicine, these authors choose four criteria;

1. a common body of knowledge resting on a well-developed, widely accepted theoretical base;
2. a system for certifying that individuals possess such knowledge before being licensed or otherwise allowed to practice;
3. a commitment to use specialized knowledge for the public good, and a renunciation of the goal of profit maximization, in return for professional autonomy and monopoly power;
4. a code of ethics, with provisions for monitoring individual compliance with the code and a system of sanctions for enforcing it.

I'm not going to run down the list, it is merely a nice framework. The authors note that the study of management is very young compared to law, medicine and theology. During the time that the first business schools were being constituted, at the beginning of the twentieth century, "scientific management" was in the air, as Frederick Taylor's application of scientific methods to the study of physical labor had begun to be extended to the organization of industry as well as to spheres such as higher education and government.

Management differs from medicine, law, and other recognized professions in having neither a formal educational requirement nor a system of examination and licensing for aspiring members. Although the MBA has been the fastest-growing graduate degree for the past twenty years, it is not a requirement for becoming a manager.

You can argue, that management is struggling for recognition. Big cataclysmic events, like to global melt down of the financial system fuel the discussion on professionalism (the blessing in disguise). Still, judgement, context and personal experience are always part of the equation. No matter how many codes of ethics, bodies of knowledge and permanent education become mandatory for a management position. Decision making is not the same as solving a puzzle.

On thing where I see the first improvement in the road toward professionalism is permanent eduction. This could bridge the gap between science and practice. On the other hand, management science should explore the field more and test their hypotheses. This partially validates Mark Learmonth's argument for pluralistic research methods. Most articles in A rated journals have no connection to the real world. It is just a political game for tenure. An observation which was made earlier by Howard Johnson. We still have a long road ahead of us.