Management, for a brief period, was well on its way to becoming a profession. But managers
have been retreating from that goal for the past 60 years, and we have an unparalleled wave of
corporate scandals in recent times to show for it. What is a “profession”? In ordinary parlance, the term
refers to an occupation that requires a high degree of technical skill and competence. A more traditional
definition, however, also encompasses mastery of an abstract, systematic body of knowledge, and a
primary orientation toward ethical service to society. It was that comprehensive notion of
professionalism that inspired the founders of several of America’s business schools in the early years of
the twentieth century. They intended not only to standardize the production of managers for the
nation’s corporations but also to professionalize the occupation of management itself. If they had
succeeded, managers might have come to play a role in the business-dominated society of today
analogous to the role of the clergy in pre-industrial America. For the past several decades, as the
number of business programs has risen and their curricula have changed, business education has created
unintended consequences. An ethic of pure self-interest, backed by the power of the systematic
“science” of knowledge, has replaced the professional ethics that business schools once tried to teach.
【題組】12 According to the passage, what quality is NOT included in the comprehensive notion of
professionalism?
(A) A high degree of technical skill and competence
(B) Mastery of an abstract systematic body of knowledge
(C) An orientation toward ethical service to society
(D) An ethic of pure self-interest
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