The authors examine how competing institutional logics shape institutional fields. Specifically, they conceptualize control of the modern corporation as an evolving institutional field. They connect changes in the institutional field to the rhetoric and corresponding logics put forth by various corporate stakeholders vying for control of the firm. Changes in the corporate institutional field are represented as the diffusion of takeovers and takeover defenses. Corporate control rhetoric is traced in interviews with corporate board members. The authors argue that the rhetoric of corporate control shapes and establishes dominant stakeholder groups in the institutional field. They conclude with a brief discussion of their analysis and a call for further research. Keywords: institutional theory; rhetorical analysis; corporate governanceThe few, however, have seldom been satisfied to command without a higher justification even when they abjured all interest in ideas, and the many have seldom been docile enough not to provoke such justifications.-R.

The subject matter of this article is the discussions that occurred during the process of conceptualizing and writing a paper on the philosophy of organizational science. These discussions reflect some of the tensions inherent in academic writing and publishing, as well as personal and intellectual tensions, which can make the writing process frustrating and, at once, enlightening.