Management as a Profession

What is a profession? Profession means a vocation requiring specialized knowledge, practical training, service motive and a code of conduct. A Profession is an addicted group of individuals who obey ethical standards and hold themselves out and are accepted by the public as having special knowledge and skills.

The essential features of a profession are:

• Specialized Knowledge:  All professions are based on a well-defined body of knowledge that can be acquired
  through instruction.
• Formal Education and Training: Almost all professions provide specialized education and training in their respective field. The professionals have to complete their education and training to get a job. There are various universities and formal institutions for attaining a complete education. For example, a doctor needs to complete his formal education and training to practice his knowledge before providing his services to the people. 
• Service Motive: The basic motive of a profession is to serve their client’s interests by rendering dedicated and committed service. All professionals are also anticipated to serve society rather than simply earn profit.
• Statutory Body: A legally recognized body regulates all professions. All professions are affiliated with a professional association that regulates entry, grants certificates of practice, and formulates and enforces a code of conduct.

We can say management has some features of the profession as :

1. Management has a transmittable body of specialized knowledge. Management is growing all over the world as a discipline. It is based on a systematic body of knowledge comprising well-defined principles based on a variety of business situations. This knowledge can be attained at different colleges and professional institutes and through several books. 
2. Some specialized institutions provide education and training in management. Having completed their education and training, students get placed as managers. Management is taught at different institutions, few of these have been set up with the definite purpose of providing management education, for example, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in India.
3. The elementary purpose of management is to help the organization to achieve its stated goal. This may be profit making for a business enterprise and service for a hospital. But, profit maximization as the only objective of management will not help the company. Having a good management team that works effectively and efficiently will serve society by offering a better quality of products at reasonable prices. Alike other professional managers are also anticipated to serve society rather than simply earning profit for the owner.
4. A legally recognized body regulates all professions. Managers also have their associations (e.g., All India Management Association). There is no compulsion for managers to be members of such an association. However, management associations are not statutory bodies. 

Although management does not retain all the essential attributes of a profession, it is no doubt arising as a profession. 

The term management is used in various senses. Some consider it as an activity, some treat it as a group, some call it a discipline, whereas some look at it as a process. Management as an activity is getting things done through others. Management as a group is all those who manage. Management as a discipline is a body of knowledge, and as a process is what managers do. We define management as the process of getting things done through and with people to achieve a common goal effectively and efficiently. The nature of management can be analyzed in the terms of science, arts, and profession.