Preserving a Professional Institution: Emotion in Discursive Institutional Work

• Date: 01 June 2020
• Author: Trish Reay,Lee C. Jarvis,Elizabeth Goodrick
• Published date: 01 June 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12535

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Preserving a Professional Institution: Emotion in

Discursive Institutional Work

Elizabeth Goodricka, Lee C. Jarvisb,c and Trish Reayd

aFlorida Atlantic University; bUniversity of Queensland; cGrenoble Ecole de Management, Univ Grenoble

Alpes ComUE; dUniversity of Alberta

ABSTRACT We studied the discursive institutional work written by pharmacy leaders as part of a

larger institutional project to preserve the institution of pharmacy. Our analysis of monthly edito-

rials printed in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association from 1960 to 2003 shows how differ-

ent discrete emotions were systematically incorporated in specific rhetorical argument structures

over the course of an institutional project. In contrast to previous research, we show how discursive

institutional work that is directed to members of the same specific social group (e.g., a profession)

can vary over time in response to significant events and changes in practices of the target audience.

Our longitudinal study shows that the relative frequency of argument types, the incorporation of

emotion, and the content of rhetorical argumentation changed over time. We contribute to theory

about the role of emotions in discur sive institutional work by unpacking the role of discrete emo-

tions and showing how such discourse evolves over time in concert with field conditions.

Keywords: emotions, institutional work, professionals, rhetoric

INTRODUCTION

The concept of discursive institutional work is based on the understanding that institu-

tions are largely constituted through language, and that consequently efforts to sustain

and disrupt institutions typically involve discourse (Phillips et al., 2004). In particular,

rhetoric – language used to persuade (Gill and Whedbee, 1997) – plays a key role in such

discursive institutional work (Schildt et al., 2011). While studies of rhetoric grounded

in concepts developed by Aristotle (e.g., Erkama and Vaara, 2010; Floris et al., 2013)

have shown that persuasion can involve emotion, neo-institutional theorists have tended

to focus on cognitive explanations of persuasive efforts with the consequent neglect of

the often-emotional nature of discursive work. More recently we are beginning to see a

Journal of Man agement Studi es 57:4 June 2020

doi:10. 1111/jo ms .125 35

Address for reprints: College of Business, Management Programs, Florida Atlantic University, 127 Fleming

West, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL USA 33431 (goodrick@fau.edu).

736 E. Goodrick et al.

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

broader consideration of emotions as implicated in various institutional processes (Lok

et al., 2017); however there has still been insufficient attention to how emotions can play

an important role in discursive institutional work.

In the small set of studies investigating emotion in discursive institutional work, re-

search has so far been limited to focusing on the role of emotion in government reports

intended to influence public opinion over a relatively short period of time (e.g., Brown

et al., 2012; Herepath and Kitchener, 2016; Moisander et al., 2016). As a result, studies

to date have shown ways that rhetorical appeals incorporating emotions were designed

to develop broad based public support for specific institutional projects through pro-

cesses such as narrativization (Brown et al., 2012) and diverting emotions (Moisander

et al., 2016). However, rhetorical appeals are often directed to members of the same

specific social group (such as a profession) rather than the general public, but we have lit-

tle knowledge about how such persuasion efforts can be structured. This is an important

omission to address because we expect rhetorical appeals directed at an internal audi-

ence to differ in both the specific emotions incorporated into rhetorical appeals and the

timeframe involved. As illustrated by extant research (e.g., Brown et al., 2012; Moisander

et al., 2016), externally oriented appeals are often formulated towards gaining tacit sup-

port for a specific institutional project with minimal demands for material participation

in the project. By comparison, internally oriented appeals – such as those made within

well-bounded social groups like professions – are directed towards motivating substantive

participation (e.g., modifying professional practices and routines). Consequently, discur-

sive efforts to persuade within a well-bounded social group are more likely to take place

over a relatively longer period of time since the embeddedness of existing practices and

routines must be overcome.

We address this gap by examining the discursive institutional work of the American

Pharmacists Association (APhA) directed at member pharmacists in connection with

field-level events and practice changes as the APhA leaders attempted to preserve phar-

macy as a professional institution. The grave threat to the viability of the institution of

pharmacy arose because of the mass manufacturing of medications that began in the

1940s, in contrast to the previous era where individual pharmacists compounded each

prescription in their own store. In the United States, this shift in the nature of work meant

that pharmacists’ practices became routinized and mechanical. There was an increasing

focus on selling other products (in addition to medications) in their stores. Little knowl-

edge was needed to place tablets in containers or elixirs in bottles, and people with far

less education than pharmacists could easily complete these tasks. Consequently, serious

concerns arose about the long-term survival of pharmacy as an institution (Higby, 2003).

This threat was of primary concern to the leaders of the APhA, the oldest and largest

professional association for pharmacists in the USA. In response, APhA leaders warned

pharmacists about the imminent dangers of allowing their distinct healthcare role to be

displaced; they worked to reconstruct the institution of phar macy based on pharmacists’

expert knowledge rather than simply filling prescriptions by ‘counting and pouring’ pills.

These often emotion-laden messages were prominently displayed in the editorials of

the Association’s journal, the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA), which

was delivered to all members. We see this text as discursive institutional work designed

to preserve the institution of phar macy. As such, it provides an excellent opportunity

Preserving a Professional Institution: Emotion in Discursive Institutional Work 737

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

to investigate our research question: What role do emotions play in the construction of

rhetorical efforts to preserve an institution?

To answer this question, we systematically analysed monthly editorials published in

the JAPhA from 1960 through 2003. Editorials are particularly appropriate types of text

to analyse because they are a type of discourse that represents intentional efforts to per-

suade readers to change their point of view and to take particular actions (Farrokhi and

Nazemi, 2015; van Dijk, 1995). In our analysis, we illuminate specific types of arguments

that were used over time and their incorporation of discrete emotions as part of efforts

to preserve the profession of phar macy in the face of demise. By explicitly considering

how the various types of arguments that comprise rhetorical appeals use specific emo-

tions and how these relationships change over time in connection with wider events in

the field, we are able to reveal underlying patterns in the ways particular emotions are

incorporated in rhetoric to accomplish discursive institutional work.

We contribute to the institutional work literature in three ways. First, we explicitly

consider how the audience matters in the construction of rhetorical texts. While studies

to date have tended to gloss over how the nature of the audience is important to analy-

sis of text, we show how arguments used to address a well bounded social group differ

from those identified in previous research which has examined discourse directed to a

much wider audience – the general public. Our findings improve knowledge about the

nature of rhetorical arguments and how they can vary by audience. Second, while the

focus to date has been on detailing discursive strategies that involve a number of discrete

emotions (e.g., Brown et al., 2012; Moisander et al., 2016), we highlight how component

parts of a rhetorical appeal can incorporate emotion. We extend previous theory by ex-

plicating how different discrete emotions systematically support specific argument struc-

tures as part of efforts to preserve an institution. By highlighting how specific argument

structures may systematically appeal to audiences’ emotions, we provide a finer-grained

understanding of the discursive mechanics driving higher-order institutional dynamics.

Third, by avoiding the more customary emphasis on outcomes evident in many studies

(Reay et al., 2019), we contribute to improving theory about temporal dynamics and

processes of institutional work. Our rhetorical data spanning more than 40 years allows

us to show how discursive institutional work can change over the course of an institu-

tional project. We reveal how different combinations of arguments incorporating specific

emotions were used over time, showing how rhetorical argumentation can systematically

evolve in concert with field level events and practice changes.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

As part of efforts to elaborate institutional work, there has been increased attention to

how institutions – the enduring structures that provide templates for social action – can

be changed and sustained through discourse. Broadly, research on institutional work is

grounded in an understanding that agentic actors can navigate and shape the institu-

tional order of an organizational field in addition to the institutional order governing

actors (Hampel et al., 2017; Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006). Discursive institutional work

focuses specifically on the role of language in these purposive efforts. Institutions are

largely constituted through language, and thus efforts to purposefully shape or reinforce