The purpose of this study was to explore professionalization as a phenomenon attendant to rational corporate management. The subjects were 320 engineers, the entire engineering staff of a merged manufacturing firm. Matched data relating to three dimensions of professionalization were gathered from the same subjects for the pre-merger and post-merger periods. It was posited that engineers would exhibit greater professionalization in an organization which was rationally managed than they would in one where rational management was not the norm. Hypotheses formulated and operationalized for the study were supported by the data.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Becker, H.S., & Carper, J.The development of identification with an occupation. American Journal of Sociology, 1956, 61, 289-298.
2.
Bentz, V.J.A study of leadership in a liberal arts college. Columbus: Ohio State University, 1950.
3.
Berkley, G.E.The administrative revolution: Notes on the passing of organization man. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1971.
4.
Blau, P.M.Bureaucracy in modern society. New York: Random House, 1956.
5.
Blau, P.M., & Scott, R.W.Formal organizations. San Francisco: Chandler, 1962.
6.
Caplow, T.The sociology of work. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954.
7.
Caplow, T., & McGee, R. J.The academic marketplace. New York: Basic Books, 1958.
8.
Christiansen, D.R.Management succession in small and growing enterprises. Boston: Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, 1953.
9.
Cyert, R.M., & March, J.G.Organization factors in the theory of oligopoly. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1956, 70, 47-47.
10.
Cyert, R.M., & March, J.G.A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
11.
Davies, J.H.Entrepreneurial behavior and market environment. Review of Economic Studies, 1958, 25, 131-131.
12.
Economic report on corporate mergers. Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969.
13.
Eilon, S.What is a decision?Management Decision, 1969, 16, 172-189.
14.
Gouldner, A.W.Patterns of industrial bureaucracy. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1954.
15.
Gouldner, A.W.Cosmopolitans and locals: Toward an analysis of latent social roles I. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1957, 2, 281-306.
16.
Gouldner, A.W.Cosmopolitans and locals: Toward an analysis of latent social roles II. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1958, 2, 444-480.
17.
Greenwood, E.The elements of professionalization. In H.M. Vollmer & D.W. Mills (Eds.), Professionalization. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966.
18.
Grusky, O.Corporate size, bureaucratization, and managerial succession. American Journal of Sociology, 1961, 67, 261-269.
Katz, D., & Kahn, R.The social psychology of organizations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1966.
25.
Kriesberg, L.Careers, organization size, and succession. American Journal of Sociology, 1962, 68, 355-359.
26.
Maine, H.S.Ancient law. New York: Henry Holt Co., 1885.
27.
Marcson, S.The scientist in American industry. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960.
28.
Marvick, D.Career perspectives in a bureaucratic setting (Michigan Governmental Studies, No. 27). Ann Arbor: Bureau of Government, Institute of Public Administration, University of Michigan, 1954.
29.
Merton, R.K.Bureaucratic structure and personality. Social Forces, 1940, 18, 560-568.
30.
Miller, D.W., & Starr, M.K.The structure of human decisions. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967.
31.
Mills, C.W.White collar. New York: Oxford University Press, 1951.
32.
Pelz, D.C., & Andrews, R.M.Scientists in organizations. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 1966.
33.
Perrucci, R., & Gerstl, JE.Profession without community. New York: Random House, 1969.
34.
Presthus, R.The organizational society. New York: Random House, 1962.
35.
Riesman, D.The lonely crowd. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950.
36.
Reissman, L.A study of role conceptions in bureaucracy. Social Forces, 1949, 27, 305-310.
37.
Selznick, P.T.V.A. and the grass roots. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949.
38.
Shepherd, C.R.Orientations of scientists and engineers. Pacific Sociological Review, 1961, 4, 79-83.
39.
Siegel, S.Nonparametric statisticsfor the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956.
40.
Simon, H.A.Administrative behavior. New York: Macmillan, 1957.
41.
Stinchcombe, A.L.Bureaucratic and craft administration of production. Administrative Science Quarterly, 1959, 4, 168-187.
42.
Udy, S.H., Jr.Bureaucracy and rationality in Weber's organization theory: An empirical study. American Sociological Review, 1959, 24, 791-795.
43.
Vanfossen, M.Lecture topic. College of William and Mary, October 1969.
44.
Vollmer, H. M.Work activities and attitudes of scientists and research managers: Data from a national survey. Menlo Park, Calif.: Stanford Research Institute, 1965.
45.
Weber, M.The theory of social and economic organization. (A.M. Henderson & T. Parsons, Eds. and trans.). New York: Free Press, 1957.
46.
Whyte, W.H.J.The organization man. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.
47.
Wilensky, H.The professionalization of everyone?American Journal of Sociology, 1964, 70, 137-158.
