Professionella patriarker : Svenska storföretagsledares ideal, praktik och professionaliseringsprocess 1910-1945

Sammanfattning: Much is assumed about the professionalisation of managers, but the subject has been little studied within the social sciences. Did it take place and if so, how did it happen? Previous studies suggest that the managers in Swedish industries were professionalised after the Second World War, without, however, thoroughly investigating this claim. To be able to study the professionalisation process of managers, this thesis argues that it is necessary to look at both the ideals and the practice of management. This thesis constructs two different management ideals: the patriarchal ideal and the professional ideal, which are then joined together in a model. The model is then used to interpret the management behaviour of Swedish managers in 1910-1945.The results of this thesis show that the professionalisation process of managers was not a strict process forward. The ideals were relatively easy to change from a patriarchal ideal to a professional ideal. But the practice of management could be patriarchal as well as professional, depending on the situation and the context. One explanation for this is that the managers could not always live up to the professional ideal. Instead they reverted to the system of personal trust and its loyalties in line with the patriarchal ideal. Therefore the professionalisation process of managers was not as successful as it might have been.