Combining Theory of Institutional Logics and Theory of Justification in Understanding Ambiguous Decision Making

I propose to understand decision making by combining theory of institutional logics (Friedland; Thornton, Ocasio & Lounsbury) and theory of justification (Boltanski and Thévenot). These two theoretical approaches are different but, at the same time, deal with the socially constructed plurality of the world nesting a macro-meso-micro level analysis. My argument is that both theories may learn from each other and enrich the study of ambiguous decision making. In the paper I describe, compare and combine the two theoretical approaches. I then illustrate the combined approach by a case where Chinese companies have located part of their business in Denmark. Finally I conclude and discuss why theory of institutional logics needs theory of justification and vice versa.