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Paul Osterman. Ranganathan, Aruna Sloan School of Management. Sloan School of Management a-ii--- 2013-11-18T19:02:20Z 2013-11-18T19:02:20Z 2013 2013 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82270 861187884 Thesis (S.M. in Management Research)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2013. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-31). While professionalization has long been understood as a process of establishing market closure and monopoly control over work, this paper presents a case where professionalization erodes rather than establishes occupational closure. Using the case of plumbing in India, I demonstrate how the Indian Plumbing Association (IPA), a newly formed organization of internationally-trained plumbing contractors and consultants, is using the rhetoric and structures of professionalization to threaten pre-existing ethnicity-based closure enjoyed by traditional plumbers from the eastern state of Orissa. By employing a discourse of professionalism and by instituting codes, training and certification programs, professionalization in this case is hurting Orissan plumbers by changing the basis of plumbing knowledge and opening entry to outsiders. This paper concludes by suggesting that professionalization is a modern trope that does not necessarily imply monopoly benefits and higher job quality for all the members of a given occupational group. by Aruna Ranganathan. S.M. in Management Research 35 p. eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Sloan School of Management. Professionalization and market closure : the case of plumbing in India Case of plumbing in India Thesis application/pdf false Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="6a80f05f-5bc7-4877-bc75-352cd34f030c"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>eng</Language> <Title>Professionalization and market closure : the case of plumbing in India</Title> <Subtitle>Case of plumbing in India</Subtitle> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2013</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Ranganathan, Aruna</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License> <Keyword>Sloan School of Management.</Keyword> <Abstract>While professionalization has long been understood as a process of establishing market closure and monopoly control over work, this paper presents a case where professionalization erodes rather than establishes occupational closure. Using the case of plumbing in India, I demonstrate how the Indian Plumbing Association (IPA), a newly formed organization of internationally-trained plumbing contractors and consultants, is using the rhetoric and structures of professionalization to threaten pre-existing ethnicity-based closure enjoyed by traditional plumbers from the eastern state of Orissa. By employing a discourse of professionalism and by instituting codes, training and certification programs, professionalization in this case is hurting Orissan plumbers by changing the basis of plumbing knowledge and opening entry to outsiders. This paper concludes by suggesting that professionalization is a modern trope that does not necessarily imply monopoly benefits and higher job quality for all the members of a given occupational group.</Abstract> <Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right" > </Access> </Publication>