Synthesizing Professional and Market Logics: A Study of iOS App Entrepreneurs
Yixin Qiu, Anandasivam Gopal, Il-Horn Hann · Academy of Management Proceedings · 2012
Professional logic and market logic are identified as two competing institutional logics and the dynamics between them are examined at societal and organizational levels. Under explored in the literature are situations when the two logics are experienced simultaneously by one professional group or even one individual. Using a qualitative approach, this study intends to shed some light on the issue by studying logic synthesis practices of independent (Indie) app entrepreneurs. The opening of and infrastructure support from mobile software platforms has created ample entrepreneurial opportunities for independent third-party developers. In the meantime, it also exposes developers to the challenges of logic tensions. We illustrated Indie app developers’ professional and market logic in three entrepreneurial areas: app ideation, app execution and app marketing. We also explicated ways in which developers identifying with both logics engage in synthesis practices under the influence of both platform governance and market situation.