Institutional logics and the historical contingency of power in organizations: Executive succession in the higher education publishing industry, 1958-1990

This article examines the historical contingency of executive power and suc cession in the higher education publishing industry. We combine interview d ata with historical analysis to identify how institutional logics changed f rom an editorial to a market focus. Event history models are used to test f or differences in the effects of these two institutional logics on the posi tional, relational, and economic determinants of executive succession. The quantitative findings indicate that a shift in logics led to different dete rminants of executive succession, Under an editorial logic, executive atten tion is directed to author-editor relationships and internal growth, and ex ecutive succession is determined by organization size and structure. Under a market logic, executive attention is directed to issues of resource compe tition and acquisition growth, and executive succession is determined by th e product market and the market for corporate control.