Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 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
ShareBar

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.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Julie Battilana

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • December 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement

    By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Julie Battilana and Rachel Tropp
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy

    By: Isabelle Ferreras, Julie Battilana and Dominique Méda
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research

    By: Julie Yen, Julie Battilana and Emilie Aguirre
More from the Author
  • Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Julie Battilana and Rachel Tropp
  • Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy By: Isabelle Ferreras, Julie Battilana and Dominique Méda
  • Sustainability for People and the Planet: Placing Workers at the Center of Sustainability Research By: Julie Yen, Julie Battilana and Emilie Aguirre
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College