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In their review of innovations in the pharmaceutical industry over the period 1802–1993, Achilladis and Antonakis (2001: 545) identify five ‘waves’ of rapid advancement in innovation: the period 1802–80, when alkaloids and organic chemicals were developed; 1881–1930, when analgesics/antipyretics were invented; 1931–60, when vitamins, sex hormones and antihistamines were produced; 1961–80, dominated by antihypertensive/diuretics, tranquilizers and antidepressants; and 1981–93, which brought calcium ion channel antagonists, ACE inhibitors, serotonin inhibitors and gastric and duodenal ulcers.

Clegg et al. (2007: 511) show, for instance, that individuals working with executive coaching, as personal advisers to managers and executives, struggle to construct a robust identity for themselves. Since executive coaches are a rather recent species in the organizational fauna, more or less derived from managerial consulting, a field of expertise often pinpointed as being problematic in terms of its scientific grounding, practical implications and ideological underpinnings, members of this community often define themselves rather defensively, in terms of what they are not: they are neither conventional consultants, nor are they counsellors.

In the case of the Argentinian ‘psychology community’ – the mundo psi – psychotherapeutic ideologies were ‘morally charged’ in terms of underlining the opposition between (liberating) psychotherapy and (repressive) psychopharmacological drugs. In the same manner, the psychiatrists studied by Strauss et al. (1964) pointed at the connection between professional ideologies and personal or professional ideologies. In summary, Strauss et al. show the connection between professional ideology and everyday practice.