ABSTRACT

A prime criticism of much work in new institutionalism is that it drifts towards an actor-centred approach, in which actors can combine and blend different logics to meet their interests and needs. This chapter presents the process by an extended case study of the emergence of a specific practice in one economic field, the employment of salaried mangers in UK brewing. It examines how the practice originated in a specific context and met with resistance as it travelled, showing how changes in one field can be linked to broader logics. The chapter discusses how we need to operate with multiple temporalities when considering institutional change. The fortunes of the managerial system pioneered by Peter Walker & Son diverged in ways which are instructive about the relationship of economic practices to wider logics. Practices may change readily, organizations more slowly but, history suggests, logics endure.