The Gazette 1967/71

would acknowledge the need for an orderly pro gression of incomes in line with general economic development, they do not participate directly in the economic struggle ; their participation is purely derivative. The demand for their services is not susceptible of any form of planned control; they render service where they are needed. In the area of " competition "—Professional practitioners com pete on the basis of quality. The volume of work which they build up is dependent upon the repu tation they have gained in the rendering of past services. Resources are not pooled, rewards are not shared. Bargaining is regarded as detrimental to confidence and trust; integrity should not be put at risk. The professions accordingly forbid or discourage undercutting of fixed or customary charges and forbid touting or advertising for new business. The degree of knowledge and skill to be used is determined by the task in hand. The attention required for solution cannot vary. It is not variable according to the reward. Nevertheless, practitioners operate at different levels of knowledge and skill, the general practi tioner where general knowledge and skill is adequate, the specialist where particular know ledge and skill is called for. This does not reduce the quality of performance which remains at the level of the best known. It relates to the concen tration and intensive training of the man-power equipment. There is no objection to the specialist negotiating higher fees according to his profes sional standing and the nature of the service to be rendered. The professional practitioner looks to high quality demand as his main motivation, and expects reward to be a reflection of this rather than a source of it. I am not an economist, but am I not right in thinking that unrestrained com petition in business has led to insecurity, that the old belief in economically perfect or atomistic competition in which the discipline of the market was regarded as supreme is now discarded, and that in the business world reduction of risk associated with future activity now substitutes for the former objective of maximisation of profits ? If this be so, are the professions to be subjected to an outmoded economic concept or is insecurity something to be welcomed for others ?

The duty is serving another's interest. The relationship resting on confidence and trust. The ethos is integrity. The success is the wisdom or accuracy of the service rendered irrespective of the use to which it is put by the recipient. The responsibility is non-delegable ; the scope of the duty is the same whoever undertakes it. The practitioner is wholly answerable for the first act performed in the pursuit of a professional career. The quality is the best known to the profession. The quality control is the standard set by the profession. Business on the other hand, is entreprenurial. It creates and innovates ; it exploits opportunity. It generates a demand for its own products ; marketing is its special characteristic. Business training is progressive from job to job through the line of promotion. Business responsibility is delegable. Judgment and discretion are allowed in accordance with capacity and experience. Delegation of authority measures accountability. The objectives of a business enterprise deter mine what it does and how it does it. Business may regulate its quality. Car manufacturers may produce luxury cars, prestige cars, comfortable cars and, subject only to the requirements of safety, purely functional but highly uncomfortable cars. Some might argue that the foregoing con trasts suffice to illustrate the inappropriateness of trying to assess the contribution and reward of the professions according to the practices of a market economy. There are, however, the terms " Productivity " and " Competition" to be considered. These almost emotive terms conjure up notions of pro gress and aggressive efficiency, thereby suggesting that non-participation is a form of decadence. " Productivity " may mean greater output for less effort, or it may mean the creation of more goods in greater variety in order to create an urgency of wants. The first is achieved by the substitution of machines for people. The second is the counterpart of the first, a device to maintain the level of employment and provide a source of income ; its by-product is inflation. The palliative sought is price stability. Whilst the professions 124 is private and confidential