Constellations of Institutional Logics

Abstract

Drawing on the professions and institutional literature, we develop theory about how professional work can reflect multiple institutional logics by analyzing changes in the work of pharmacists over time. Through a historical case study of U.S. pharmacists from 1852 to the present, we propose a new conceptualization of professionals and professional work as guided by a constellation of logics derived from broader society. We show that both competitive (segmenting) and cooperative (facilitative or additive) relationships among coexisting logics allow for the simultaneous influence of multiple logics on professionals and their work.