Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Sociology

Sub-Department

College of Arts and Sciences

First Advisor

Douglas L. Anderton

Abstract

The United States pharmaceutical industry is a dynamic organizational system populated by organizations pursuing different strategies to reach different goals. The aim of this dissertation is to examine the organizational field of the pharmaceutical industry to determine if categories of pharmaceutical organizations exist based on organizational strategy. This project applies the theoretical constructs of organizational fields and institutional logics developed by institutional theorists to examine the institutional effects on organizational strategies. This is a mixed methods project using historical analysis, latent class analysis, and case studies to evaluate the drug development process. The findings of this study show field level institutions do affect organizational strategy and contribute to organizational diversity within a field. However, the findings suggest the influence of institutional logics is neither straightforward nor without organizational costs. The general findings of my research show organizations benefit when their dominant logic aligns with the dominant logic of the field; while, misaligned logics require organizations to pursue alternative tactics to legitimize their strategies.

Rights

© 2016, Thomas Christopher Robinson

Included in

Sociology Commons

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