Work or labor ( labour in British English) is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics , work can be viewed as the human activity that contributes (along with other factors of production ) towards the goods and services within an economy .
82-471: A profession is a field of work that has been successfully professionalized . It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals , who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in
164-909: A Postgraduate Diploma in Education ("PGDE") or a bachelor's degree in Education ("BEd") at an approved tertiary educational institution or university. This requirement is set out by the Educational Department Bureau of Hong Kong, which is the governmental department that governs the Hong Kong education sector. Professions tend to be autonomous, which means they have a high degree of control of their own affairs: "professionals are autonomous insofar as they can make independent judgments about their work". This usually means "the freedom to exercise their professional judgement." However, it also has other meanings. "Professional autonomy
246-592: A career . Throughout history, work has been intimately connected with other aspects of society and politics , such as power , class , tradition , rights , and privileges . Accordingly, the division of labour is a prominent topic across the social sciences as both an abstract concept and a characteristic of individual cultures. Work may also present a threat to individual human happiness and survival, either through dirty, dangerous, and demeaning occupations or in extreme cases, from death by overwork . Some people have also engaged in critique of work and expressed
328-806: A corporate entity, the same workers can claim a larger share of the value created by their labor. While a union does require workers to sacrifice some autonomy in relation to their coworkers, it can grant workers more control over the work process itself in addition to material benefits. The need for planning and coordination extends beyond individual organizations to society as a whole too. Every successful work project requires effective resource allocation to provide necessities, materials, and investment (such as equipment and facilities). In smaller, traditional societies, these aspects can be mostly regulated through custom , though as societies grow, more extensive methods become necessary. These complex institutions, however, still have roots in common human activities. Even
410-478: A family setting, like parenting or housekeeping . In some cases, the distinction between work and other activities is simply a matter of common sense within a community. However, an alternative view is that labeling any activity as work is somewhat subjective, as Mark Twain expressed in the "whitewashed fence" scene of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . Humans have varied their work habits and attitudes over time. As humans are diurnal , they work mainly during
492-543: A work ethic where work itself is seen as virtuous. For example, German sociologist Max Weber hypothesized that European capitalism originated in a Protestant work ethic , which emerged with the Reformation . Many Christian theologians appeal to the Old Testament 's Book of Genesis in regards to work. According to Genesis 1 , human beings were created in the image of God , and according to Genesis 2, Adam
574-431: A body of abstract knowledge, and a collectivity or service orientation...a vocational sub-culture which comprises implicit codes of behavior, generates an esprit de corps among members of the same profession, and ensures them certain occupational advantages...(also) bureaucratic structures and monopolistic privileges to perform certain types of work...professional literature, legislation, etc." A critical characteristic of
656-465: A corporate defense lawyer working on an hourly basis may earn several times what a prosecutor or public defender earns. The term "profession" is a truncation of the term "liberal profession", which is, in turn, an Anglicization of the French term profession libérale . Originally borrowed by English users in the 19th century, it has been re-borrowed by international users from the late 20th, though
738-510: A defined industry. Usually they will have two general tasks: Originally, any regulation of the professions was self-regulation through bodies such as the College of Physicians or the Inns of Court . With the growing role of government, statutory bodies have increasingly taken on this role, their members being appointed either by the profession or (increasingly) by the government. Proposals for
820-571: A grant of authority from the government. In United States securities law, a self-regulatory organization is a defined term. The principal federal regulatory authority—the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—was established by the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934 . The SEC originally delegated authority to the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, now Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ) and to
902-412: A high social status , regarded by society as highly important. This high esteem arises primarily from the higher social function of their work. The typical profession involves technical, specialized, and highly skilled work. This skill and experience is often referred to as "professional expertise ." In the modern era, training for a profession involves obtaining degrees and certifications. Often, entry to
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#1732772823838984-554: A highly-repetitive set of simple actions, like in mass manufacturing , complex machines can carry out much of the effort. The workers present will focus on more complex tasks, operating controls, or performing maintenance . Over several millennia, invention , scientific discovery , and engineering principles have allowed humans to proceed from creating simple machines that merely redirect or amplify force , through engines for harnessing supplementary power sources, to today's complex, regulated systems that automate many steps within
1066-404: A hostile workplace. Particularly intense forms of manual labor often lead workers to develop physical strength necessary for their job. However, this activity does not necessarily improve a worker's overall physical fitness like exercise , due to problems like overwork or a small set of repetitive motions. In these physical jobs, maintaining good posture or movements with proper technique
1148-512: A narrow range of jobs, inherited from parent to child. In serfdom , a peasant has more rights than a slave but is attached to a specific piece of land and largely under the power of the landholder , even requiring permission to physically travel outside the land-holding. How institutions play out in individual workers' lives can be complex too; in most societies where wage-labor predominates, workers possess equal rights by law and mobility in theory. Without social support or other resources, however,
1230-424: A number of smaller hand-tools, designed to be held and operated by a single person, often without supplementary power . This is especially true when tasks can be handled by one or a few workers, do not require significant physical power, and are somewhat self-paced, like in many services or handicraft manufacturing. For other tasks needing large amounts of power, such as in the construction industry, or involving
1312-435: A particular goal. Because sustained effort is a necessary part of many human activities, what qualifies as work is often a matter of context. Specialization is one common feature that distinguishes work from other activities. For example, a sport is a job for a professional athlete who earns their livelihood from it, but a hobby for someone playing for fun in their community. An element of advance planning or expectation
1394-530: A profession can derive financial benefits is limiting the supply of services. Theories based on discourse, following Mead and applying ideas of Sartre and Heidegger look at how the individual's understanding of reality influence the role of professions. These viewpoints were espoused by Berger and Luckmann ( The Social Construction of Reality , 1966). Andrew Abbott constructed a sociological model of professions in his book The System of Professions . Abbott views professions as having jurisdiction over
1476-516: A profession have also been defined as "workers whose qualities of detachment, autonomy, and group allegiance are more extensive than those found among other groups...their attributes include a high degree of systematic knowledge; strong community orientation and loyalty ; self-regulation; and a system of rewards defined and administered by the community of workers." A profession has been further defined as: "a special type of occupation...(possessing) corporate solidarity...prolonged specialized training in
1558-780: A profession is the need to cultivate and exercise professional discretion - that is, the ability to make case by case judgements that cannot be determined by an absolute rule or instruction. Cruess, S. R., Johnston, S. & Cruess R. L. (2004). "Profession": a working definition for medical educators. Teaching and learning in Medicine,16(1): 74–76. Freidson, E. (1994). Professionalism reborn: Theory, prophecyand policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Gailmard, S. & Patty, J. W. (2007). Slackers and zealots: Civil service, policy discretion, and bureaucratic expertise. American Journal of Political Science, 51(4), 873–889. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00286.x Gulick, L. (1937). Notes on
1640-426: A profession's adaptability to the changing conditions of the world. Émile Durkheim argued that professions created a stable society by providing structure separate from the state and the military that was less inclined to create authoritarianism or anomie and could create altruism and encourage social responsibility and altruism. This functionalist perspective was extended by Talcott Parsons who considered how
1722-469: A profession. They have a "professional association, cognitive base, institutionalized training, licensing, work autonomy , colleague control... (and) code of ethics", to which Larson then also adds, "high standards of professional and intellectual excellence," (Larson, p. 221) that "professions are occupations with special power and prestige", (Larson, p.x) and that they comprise "an exclusive elite group," (Larson, p. 20) in all societies. Members of
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#17327728238381804-425: A professional body). In such cases, qualification by the professional bodies is effectively still considered a prerequisite to practice as most employers and clients stipulate that the individual hold such qualifications before hiring their services. For example, in order to become a fully qualified teaching professional in Hong Kong working in a state or government-funded school, one needs to have successfully completed
1886-525: A result of urbanization and industrialization , is unemployment . While the shift from a subsistence economy usually increases the overall productivity of society and lifts many out of poverty , it removes a baseline of material security from those who cannot find employment or other support. Governments have tried a range of strategies to mitigate the problem, such as improving the efficiency of job matching , conditionally providing welfare benefits or unemployment insurance , or even directly overriding
1968-493: A result of automation and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence . For some, work may hold a spiritual value in addition to any secular notions. Especially in some monastic or mystical strands of several religions , simple manual labor may be held in high regard as a way to maintain the body, cultivate self-discipline and humility, and focus the mind. The contemporary world economy has brought many changes, overturning some previously widespread labor issues. At
2050-402: A sense, because of it", because work is something that corresponds to man's dignity and through it, he achieves fulfilment as a human being. The fall also means that a work ethic is needed. As a result of the fall, work has become subject to the abuses of idleness on the one hand, and overwork on the other. Drawing on Aristotle , Ryken suggests that the moral ideal is the golden mean between
2132-416: A single industry. Some industries may be seen as more prestigious than others overall, even if they include roles with similar functions. At the same time, a wide swathe of roles across all industries may be afforded more status (e.g. managerial roles) or less (like manual labor ) based on characteristics such as a job being low-paid or dirty, dangerous and demeaning . Other social dynamics, like how labor
2214-535: A wish to reduce or abolish it entirely, for example in Paul Lafargue in his book The Right to Be Lazy , David Graeber 's Bullshit Jobs , or The Abolition of Work by Bob Black. Real world programs to eliminate the economic necessity for lifelong work first emerged through the concept of retirement , and have more recently been extended to all adults through experimentation with universal basic income . Work can take many different forms, as varied as
2296-560: A work process. In the 20th century, the development of electronics and new mathematical insights led to the creation and widespread adoption of fast, general-purpose computers . Just as mechanization can substitute for the physical labor of many human beings, computers allow for the partial automation of mental work previously carried out by human workers, such as calculations , document transcription , and basic customer service requests. Research and development of related technologies like machine learning and robotics continues into
2378-494: Is also a crucial skill for avoiding injury . Ironically, white-collar workers who are sedentary throughout the workday may also suffer from long-term health problems due to a lack of physical activity. Learning the necessary skills for work is often a complex process in its own right, requiring intentional training . In traditional societies, know-how for different tasks can be passed to each new generation through oral tradition and working under adult guidance. For work that
2460-500: Is also an SRO with official, statutory status. Because of the prominence of the SROs in the securities industry, the term SRO is often used to narrowly to describe an organization authorized by statute or government agency to exercise control over a certain aspect of the industry. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an example of an SRO that fills the vacuum left by the absence of government oversight or regulation. The NAR sets
2542-428: Is also common, such as when a paramedic provides medical care while on duty and fully equipped rather than performing first aid off-duty as a bystander in an emergency. Self-care and basic habits like personal grooming are also not typically considered work. While a later gift , trade , or payment may retroactively affirm an activity as productive, this can exclude work like volunteering or activities within
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2624-420: Is compensated, can even exclude meaningful tasks from a society's conception of work. For example, in modern market-economies where wage labor or piece work predominates, unpaid work may be omitted from economic analysis or even cultural ideas of what qualifies as work. At a political level, different roles can fall under separate institutions where workers have qualitatively different power or rights. In
2706-442: Is more specialized and technically complex, however, a more formal system of education is usually necessary. A complete curriculum ensures that a worker in training has some exposure to all major aspects of their specialty, in both theory and practice . Tool use has been a central aspect of human evolution and is also an essential feature of work. Even in technologically advanced societies, many workers' toolsets still include
2788-496: Is not regulated. Typically, individuals are required by law to be qualified by a local professional body before they are permitted to practice in that profession. However, in some countries, individuals may not be required by law to be qualified by such a professional body in order to practice, as is the case for accountancy in the United Kingdom (except for auditing and insolvency work which legally require qualification by
2870-461: Is often described as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests...this professional autonomy can only be maintained if members of the profession subject their activities and decisions to a critical evaluation by other members of the profession." The concept of autonomy can therefore be seen to embrace not only judgement, but also self-interest and a continuous process of critical evaluation of ethics and procedures from within
2952-432: Is ranking them according to a criterion, such as the amount of skill, experience , or seniority associated with a role. The progression from apprentice through journeyman to master craftsman in the skilled trades is one example with a long history and analogs in many cultures. Societies also commonly rank different work roles by perceived status, but this is more subjective and goes beyond clear progressions within
3034-646: Is required for any effort outside of individual subsistence to succeed. At the level of a small team working on a single task, only cooperation and good communication may be necessary. As the complexity of a work process increases though, requiring more planning or more workers focused on specific tasks, a reliable organization becomes more critical. Economic organizations often reflect social thought common to their time and place, such as ideas about human nature or hierarchy . These unique organizations can also be historically significant, even forming major pillars of an economic system . In European history, for instance,
3116-422: Is that all equity owners of the professional business entity must be professionals themselves. This avoids the possibility of a non-professional owner of the firm telling a professional how to do his or her job and thereby protects professional autonomy. The idea is that the only non-professional person who should be telling the professional what to do is the client ; in other words, professional autonomy preserves
3198-494: Is the three-sector model or variations of it. In this view, an economy can be separated into three broad categories: In complex economies with high specialization, these categories are further subdivided into industries that produce a focused subset of products or services. Some economists also propose additional sectors such as a "knowledge-based" quaternary sector , but this division is neither standardized nor universally accepted. Another common way of contrasting work roles
3280-407: Is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life". Leland Ryken said out that, because of the fall, "many of the tasks we perform in a fallen world are inherently distasteful and wearisome." Christian theologians interpret that through the fall, work has become toil, but John Paul II says that work is a good thing for man in spite of this toil, and that "perhaps, in
3362-424: Is wrong since this encourages illiteracy, inhumane work and lower investment in human capital. In other words, there are moral and economic reasons that justify a blanket ban on labour from children aged 18 years or less, everywhere in the world. On the other hand, some scholars like Christiaan Grootaert and Kameel Ahmady believe that child labour is the symptom of poverty. If laws ban most lawful work that enables
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3444-503: The Advertising Self-Regulatory Council , which is the U.S. advertising industry's self-regulatory body. In addition to setting guidelines, these programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services to companies, outside and in-house counsel, consumers, and others in arenas such as privacy, advertising, data collection, child-directed marketing, and more. The law "On self-regulation"
3526-482: The Association of Business Psychologists resisting the statutory regulation of "business psychologists" – descriptions of professional activity which it may not be easy to distinguish. Besides regulating access to a profession, professional bodies may set examinations of competence and enforce adherence to an ethical code . There may be several such bodies for one profession in a single country, an example being
3608-525: The accountancy bodies of the United Kingdom ( ACCA , CAI , CIMA , CIPFA , ICAEW and ICAS ), all of which have been given a Royal Charter , although their members are not necessarily considered to hold equivalent qualifications, and which operate alongside further bodies ( AAPA , IFA , CPAA ). Another example of a regulatory body that governs a profession is the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union, which governs
3690-420: The free markets of modern capitalist societies rely fundamentally on trade , while command economies , such as in many communist states during the 20th century, rely on a highly bureaucratic and hierarchical form of redistribution . Other institutions can affect workers even more directly by delimiting practical day-to-day life or basic legal rights. For example, a caste system may restrict families to
3772-634: The learned professions . In some legal definitions, profession is not a trade nor an industry. Some professions change slightly in status and power, but their prestige generally remains stable over time, even if the profession begins to have more required study and formal education. Disciplines formalized more recently, such as architecture, now have equally long periods of study associated with them. Although professions may enjoy relatively high status and public prestige, not all professionals earn high salaries, and even within specific professions there exist significant differences in salary. In law, for example,
3854-1039: The national stock exchanges (e.g., the NYSE ) to enforce certain industry standards and requirements related to securities trading and brokerage. On July 26, 2007, the SEC approved a merger of the enforcement arms of the NYSE and the NASD, to form a new SRO, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In addition, Congress created the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) as an SRO charged with adopting investor protection rules governing broker-dealers and banks that underwrite, trade and sell tax-exempt bonds, 529 college savings plans and other types of municipal securities. The American Arbitration Association
3936-477: The (upper-middle) class overtones of the term do not seem to survive re-translation: "liberal professions" are, according to the European Union 's Directive on Recognition of Professional Qualifications (2005/36/EC), "those practised on the basis of relevant professional qualifications in a personal, responsible and professionally independent capacity by those providing intellectual and conceptual services in
4018-579: The 1920s the psychiatric profession tried to challenge the legal profession for control over society's response to criminal behavior. Abbott argues the formalization of a profession often serves to make a jurisdiction easier or harder to protect from other jurisdictions: general principles making it harder for other professions to gain jurisdiction over one area, clear boundaries preventing encroachment, fuzzy boundaries making it easier for one profession to take jurisdiction over other tasks. Professions may expand their jurisdiction by other means. Lay education on
4100-451: The 21st century. Beyond tools and machines used to actively perform tasks, workers benefit when other passive elements of their work and environment are designed properly. This includes everything from personal items like workwear and safety gear to features of the workspace itself like furniture , lighting , air quality , and even the underlying architecture . Even if workers are personally ready to perform their jobs, coordination
4182-594: The British government proposed wide statutory regulation of psychologists. The inspiration for the change was a number of problems in the psychotherapy field, but there are various kinds of psychologists including many who have no clinical role, and where the case for regulation was not so clear. Work psychology brought especial disagreement, with the British Psychological Society favoring statutory regulation of "occupational psychologists" and
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#17327728238384264-604: The Department of Studies in the Professions was created at the Russell Sage Foundation with Brown as its head. Theories based on conflict theories following Marx and Weber consider how professions can act in the interest of their own group to secure social and financial benefits were espoused by Johnson ( Professions and Powers, 1972) and Larson ( The Rise of Professionalism , 1977). One way that
4346-471: The conduct, rights, obligations, and duties of salaried teachers working in educational institutions in Hong Kong. The engineering profession is highly regulated in some countries (Canada and the United States) with a strict licensing system for Professional Engineer that controls the practice but not in others (UK) where titles and qualifications are regulated Chartered Engineer but the practice
4428-495: The creativity and adaptability of humans in their pursuit of livelihood. Individual workers require sufficient health and resources to succeed in their tasks. As living beings, humans require a baseline of good health, nutrition , rest, and other physical needs in order to reliably exert themselves. This is particularly true of physical labor that places direct demands on the body, but even largely mental work can cause stress from problems like long hours, excessive demands, or
4510-441: The day, but some occupations require night shift work. Hunter-gatherer societies vary their "work" intensity according to the seasonal availability of plants and the periodic migration of prey animals . The development of agriculture led to more sustained work practices, but work still changed with the seasons, with intense sustained effort during harvests (for example) alternating with less focused periods such as winters. In
4592-427: The decline of guilds and rise of joint-stock companies goes hand-in-hand with other changes, like the growth of centralized states and capitalism . In industrialized economies, labor unions are another significant organization. In isolation, a worker that is easily replaceable in the labor market has little power to demand better wages or conditions. By banding together and interacting with business owners as
4674-754: The deprived classes, the weakness of laws and legal supervision, the migration existence of child labour is very much observed in different parts of the world. According to the World Bank Globally rate of child labour have decreased from 25% to 10% between 60s to the early years of the 21st century. Nevertheless, giving the population of the world also increased the total number of child labourers remains high, with UNICEF and ILO acknowledging an estimated 168 million children aged 5–17 worldwide were involved in some sort of child labour in 2013. Some scholars like Jean-Marie Baland and James A. Robinson suggests any labour by children aged 18 years or less
4756-444: The early history of mankind and the development of civilization. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. Work (human activity) Work has existed in all human societies, either as paid or unpaid work , from gathering natural resources by hand in hunter-gatherer groups to operating complex technologies that substitute for physical or even mental effort within an agricultural , industrial , or post-industrial society . All but
4838-674: The early modern era, Protestantism and proto-capitalism emphasized the moral and personal advantages of hard work. The periodic re-invention of slavery encouraged more consistent work activity in the working class , and capitalist industrialization intensified demands on workers to keep up with the pace of machines. Restrictions on the hours of work and the ages of workers followed, with worker demands for time off increasing, but modern office work retains traces of expectations of sustained, concentrated work, even in affluent societies. There are several ways to categorize and compare different kinds of work. In economics, one popular approach
4920-667: The emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights. Major milestones which may mark an occupation being identified as a profession include: Applying these milestones to the historical sequence of development in the United States shows surveying achieving professional status first (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln all worked as land surveyors before entering politics), followed by medicine , actuarial science , law , dentistry , civil engineering , logistics , architecture and accounting . With
5002-406: The environments, tools, skills, goals, and institutions around a worker. This term refers to the general activity of performing tasks, whether they are paid or unpaid, formal or informal. Work encompasses all types of productive activities, including employment , household chores, volunteering, and creative pursuits. It is a broad term that encompasses any effort or activity directed towards achieving
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#17327728238385084-509: The extreme, the least powerful members of society may be stigmatized (as in untouchability ) or even violently forced (via slavery ) into performing the least desirable work. Complementary to this, elites may have exclusive access to the most prestigious work, largely symbolic sinecures , or even a "life of leisure ". Unusual Occupations In the diverse world of work, there exist some truly bizarre and unusual occupations that often defy conventional expectations. These unique jobs showcase
5166-475: The function of a profession could change in responses to changes in society. Esther Lucile Brown , an anthropologist, studied various professions starting the 1930s while working with Ralph Hurlin at the Russell Sage Foundation . She published Social Work as a Profession in 1935, and following this publications studying the work of engineers, nurses, medical physicians and lawyers. In 1944,
5248-418: The integrity of the two-party professional-client relationship. Above this client-professional relationship the profession requires the professional to use their autonomy to follow the rules of ethics that the profession requires. But because professional business entities are effectively locked out of the stock market, they tend to grow relatively slowly compared to public corporations. Professions tend to have
5330-412: The interest of others. Professional occupations are founded upon specialized educational training , the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain. Medieval and early modern tradition recognized only three professions: divinity , medicine , and law , which were called
5412-520: The interest of the client and the public". Under the European Commission , liberal professions are professions that require specialized training and that are regulated by "national governments or professional bodies". A profession arises through the process of professionalization when any trade or occupation transforms itself: "... [through] the development of formal qualifications based upon education, apprenticeship, and examinations,
5494-405: The introduction or enhancement of statutory regulation may be welcomed by a profession as protecting clients and enhancing its quality and reputation, or as restricting access to the profession and hence enabling higher fees to be charged. It may be resisted as limiting the members' freedom to innovate or to practice as in their professional judgement they consider best. An example was in 2008, when
5576-444: The labor market through work-relief programs or a job guarantee . Since a job forms a major part of many workers' self-identity , unemployment can have severe psychological and social consequences beyond the financial insecurity it causes. One more issue, which may not directly interfere with the functioning of an economy but can have significant indirect effects, is when governments fail to account for work occurring out-of-view from
5658-416: The necessity of earning a livelihood may force a worker to cede some rights and freedoms in fact. Societies and subcultures may value work in general, or specific kinds of it, very differently. When social status or virtue is strongly associated with leisure and opposed to tedium, then work itself can become indicative of low social rank and be devalued. In the opposite case, a society may hold strongly to
5740-407: The part of professions as in part an attempt to expand jurisdiction by imposing a particular understanding on the world (one in which the profession has expertise). He terms this sort of jurisdiction public jurisdiction . Legal jurisdiction is a monopoly created by the state legislation, as applies to law in many nations. There is considerable agreement about defining the characteristic features of
5822-566: The poor to survive, informal economy, illicit operations and underground businesses will thrive. In modern market-economies: Labor issues: Related concepts: Self-regulatory organization A self-regulatory organization ( SRO ) is an organization that exercises some degree of regulatory authority over an industry or profession. The regulatory authority could exist in place of government regulation, or applied in addition to government regulation. The ability of an SRO to exercise regulatory authority does not necessarily derive from
5904-635: The profession is barred without licensure . Learning new skills that are required as a profession evolves is called continuing education . Standards are set by states and associations. Leading professionals tend to police and protect their area of expertise and monitor the conduct of their fellow professionals through associations, national or otherwise. Professionals often exercise a dominating influence over related trades, setting guidelines and standards. Socially powerful professionals consolidate their power in organizations for specific goals. Working together, they can reduce bureaucratic entanglements and increase
5986-742: The profession itself. One major implication of professional autonomy is the traditional ban on corporate practice of the professions, especially accounting, architecture, engineering, medicine, and law. This means that in many jurisdictions, these professionals cannot do business through regular for-profit corporations and raise capital rapidly through initial public offerings or flotations . Instead, if they wish to practice collectively they must form special business entities such as partnerships or professional corporations , which feature (1) reduced protection against liability for professional negligence and (2) severe limitations or outright prohibitions on ownership by non-professionals. The obvious implication of this
6068-422: The public sphere. This may be important, uncompensated work occurring everyday in private life; or it may be criminal activity that involves clear but furtive economic exchanges. By ignoring or failing to understand these activities, economic policies can have counter-intuitive effects and cause strains on the community and society. Due to various reasons such as the cheap labour , the poor economic situation of
6150-535: The right to carry out tasks with different possession vying for control of jurisdiction over tasks. A profession often possesses an expert knowledge system which is distinct from the profession itself. This abstract system is often not of direct practical use but is rather optimized for logical consistency and rationality, and to some degree acts to increase the status of the entire profession. One profession may seek control of another profession's jurisdiction by challenging it at this academic level. Abbott argues that in
6232-422: The rise of technology and occupational specialization in the 19th century, other bodies began to claim professional status: mechanical engineering , pharmacy , veterinary medicine , psychology , nursing , teaching , librarianship , optometry and social work , each of which could claim, using these milestones, to have become professions by 1900. Regulatory organisations are typically charged with overseeing
6314-639: The rules for multiple listing services and how brokers use them. Another example is the American Medical Association which sets rules for ethics, conflicts, disciplinary action, and accreditation in medicine. BBB National Programs is an example of an organization that houses multiple SROs, such as the Children's Advertising Review Unit , (CARU) and the National Advertising Division (NAD), formerly known as
6396-474: The same time, some longstanding issues remain relevant, and other new ones have emerged. One issue that continues despite many improvements is slave labor and human trafficking . Though ideas about universal rights and the economic benefits of free labor have significantly diminished the prevalence of outright slavery, it continues in lawless areas, or in attenuated forms on the margins of many economies. Another difficulty, which has emerged in most societies as
6478-604: The simplest tasks in any work require specific skills , tools , and other resources, such as material for manufacturing goods. Humanity has developed a variety of institutions for group coordination of work, such as government programs , nonprofit organizations , cooperatives , and corporations . Cultures and individuals across history have expressed a wide range of attitudes towards work. Besides objective differences, one culture may organize or attach social status to work roles through formalized professions which may carry specialized job titles and provide people with
6560-978: The theory of organization. In J. Shafritz & A. Hyde (Eds.), Classics of public administration, eighth edition (pp. 105–114). Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning. Howlett, M., McConnell, A., and Pearl, A. (2014). Streams and stages: Reconciling Kingdon and policy process theory. European Journal of Political Research, 54(3) 419–434. doi: 10.1111/1475-6765.12064 Lindblom, C. E. (1959). The science of "muddling through". In J. Shafritz and A. Hyde (Eds.), Classics of public administration, eighth edition, (pp. 172–182). Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning. Niskanen, Jr. (1971). Bureaucracy and Representative Government. New York: Imprint Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315081878 Sinek, S. (2019). The Infinite Game. New York: Random House Surowiecki, J. (2005). The wisdom of crowds. New York: Random House. Taylor, F. W. (1912). The principles of scientific management. New York: Harper and Brothers. Taylor, E. B. (1878). Researches into
6642-611: The two extremes of being lazy and being a workaholic. Some Christian theologians also draw on the doctrine of redemption to discuss the concept of work. Oliver O'Donovan said that although work is a gift of creation, it is "ennobled into mutual service in the fellowship of Christ." Pope Francis is critical of the hope that technological progress might eliminate or diminish the need for work: "the goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity", and McKinsey consultants suggest that work will change, but not end, as
6724-551: Was placed in the Garden of Eden to "work it and keep it". Dorothy L. Sayers has argued that "work is the natural exercise and function of man – the creature who is made in the image of his Creator." Likewise, John Paul II said in Laborem exercens that by his work, man shares in the image of his creator. Christian theologians see the fall of man as profoundly affecting human work. In Genesis 3 :17, God said to Adam, "cursed
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