TY  - JOUR
AB  - The craft guilds of old are prototypes for the legend of European craftsmanship. This paper discusses three managerial principles used by the guilds: regulation, standards of accomplishment, and apprenticeship. The rationale behind, and the implementation of, each principle is outlined with reference to historical sources on guild operations. A consistent weakness of guild administration on these principles has been a bias toward self‐interested conservatism. As science and technology progressed, society has responded by abandoning guild administration in favor of independent professional organizations. The paper concludes by noting that, while independent professionalism is progressive, it also minimizes the benefits that guilds obtained from experience‐based knowledge.
VL  - 5
IS  - 7
SN  - 1355-252X
DO  - 10.1108/13552529910297460
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/13552529910297460
AU  - Wolek Francis W.
PY  - 1999
Y1  - 1999/01/01
TI  - The managerial principles behind guild craftsmanship
T2  - Journal of Management History
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 401
EP  - 413
Y2  - 2024/04/24
ER  -