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I have some doubts about this sentence:

Naturally there is much competition in firms between different managerial logics. Usually one dominant logic emerges successful.

Does this mean that there is

  1. much competition in (inside of) firms with different managerial logics, or
  2. much competition between several firms, which have different managerial logics?
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Just to note: the second bolded phrase ("competition between several firms") should read "competition among several firms." The same goes for "between different managerial logics." The reason is that between refers to two nouns only; among refers to more than two. – WChargin May 2 '12 at 0:57
6  
@WChargin That’s not true. “Kansas City is between Dallas, Denver, and Chicago.” It certainly is not “among” them! The original sentence is correct. There are plenty of other examples of between with more than two things. “Between my sister, my mother, and myself, we'll get it taken care of.” I want to know who keeps telling people this stupid and inoperative between–among non-rule that people keep parroting. It’s just not so. – tchrist May 2 '12 at 1:18

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

I believe the answer is (a), that is, the competition is within the firm itself. Different managerial styles jockey for dominance, until one particular style emerges as the corporate preference.

For one, I think a different preposition would be used if the author was alluding to a competition between firms. For another, contextually, it seems unlikely that the managerial style of one company would supplant that of another.

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up vote 1 down vote

Looking at the first sentence, I would also agree with J.R. that (a) seems to be the correct choice. But you also have the second sentence to confirm it - if a 'dominant logic becomes successful', then it indicates the competition is between these managerial logics (otherwise, wouldn't it be a firm that emerged successful?)

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Well that's stretching it a bit I feel. – Kris May 2 '12 at 3:59

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