2017 Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 38-43
We conducted a case study concerning institutional logics in a corporate organization. The purpose of the study was to examine the mechanism by which a logic multiplicity formed by a pair of institutional logics, such as professional logic and business logic can give rise to institutional complexity and thus create conflict. Existing studies presupposed that the co-presence of multiple logics produces conflict, and made little attempt to examine the mechanism behind that conflict, thus generating a question: In a case of logic multiplicity, what kind of mechanism gives rise to conflict? Studies have treated the emergence of conflict as a given and have focused on the strategies firms use to suppress this conflict. To develop our argument, we focus on the ‘science logic’ and ‘business logic.’ We offer two key findings based on qualitative analysis of interviews and participant fieldwork data. First, sub-logic is inherent in another logic rather than being independent from each other. Second, the inherent sub-logic, which under normal circumstances was subsumed under the dominant logic, gradually became conspicuous, causing conflict with the dominant institutional logic and ultimately resulting in its expulsion, which eventuality can be related to ‘deposition.’
