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  • July – August 2011
  • Article
  • Organization Science

The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the U.K. National Health Service

By: Julie Battilana
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:18
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Abstract

This study examines the relationship between social position, both within the field and within the organization, and the likelihood of individual actors initiating organizational changes that diverge from the institutional status quo. I explore this relationship using data from 93 change projects conducted by clinical managers at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. The results show social position, both within the field and within the organization, influences actors' likelihood to initiate two types of organizational change that diverge from the institutional status quo, namely, (1) changes that diverge from the institutionalized template of role division among organizations and (2) changes that diverge from the institutionalized template of role division among professional groups in a field. The findings indicate that these two types of divergent organizational change are likely to be undertaken by individual actors with different profiles in terms of social position within the field and the organization.

Keywords

Status and Position; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Projects; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Relationships; Power and Influence; Health Industry; United Kingdom

Citation

Battilana, Julie. "The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the U.K. National Health Service." Organization Science 22, no. 4 (July–August 2011): 817–834.
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About The Author

Julie Battilana

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

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More from the Author
  • An Integrative Model of Hybrid Governance: The Role of Boards in Helping Sustain Organizational Hybridity By: Anne-Claire Pache, Julie Battilana and Channing Spencer
  • Walking the Purpose-Talk Inside a Large Company: Sustainable Product Development as an Instance of Divergent Change By: Marissa Kimsey, Thijs Geradts and Julie Battilana
  • Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Julie Battilana and Rachel Tropp
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