“The Highest Level of Professional Recognition”
Lyn Spillman · 2012
This chapter analyzes the fact that intraindustry strategies of action are just as frequently seen in a more disinterested way as a matter of technical excellence and “professionalism.” It shows businesspeople preoccupied with issues generated by the technical division of labor—the intrinsic technical features in an arena of production or line of work. Few scholars have taken account of the fact that business associations are as likely to be oriented to their members' interests in “professionalism” as they are to their collective business interests. The chapter argues that the theoretical distinctions usually made between “professions” and other work worlds cannot be sustained. The argument concludes with an extended illustration from the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians.