ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the theoretical construct 'Professional Culture'. It shows why the existing concepts of 'culture' in dominant research, as being either National or Organizational Cultures, are not sufficient. The chapter includes Professional Cultures in cultural research in general, and in organizational and leadership research in particular, in order to obtain a more accurate understanding of the inter-subjective and intra-subjective processes within organizations. Theories of professionalization and the derivative term profession can be traced back to four different basic views: the relations to the state view, the functionalist view, the power view, and the importance of knowledge view. After the professionals have finished their education or training, the development of 'their' Professional Culture and, their socialization and acculturation continues through the influences exercised by their job environment. Socialization into National Culture, for instance, begins with the individuals' birth and, significantly, takes place outside of their workplace.
