Communicating Change: When Identity Becomes a Source of Vulnerability for Institutional Challengers

Ryann Elizabeth Manning; Julie  Battilana; Lakshmi  Ramarajan

Other Article | Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings | 2014

Communicating Change: When Identity Becomes a Source of Vulnerability for Institutional Challengers

by Ryann Elizabeth Manning, Julie Battilana and Lakshmi Ramarajan

Abstract

Social movements challenge institutions through two related communication processes: articulating collective action frames and constructing collective movement identity. We argue that frames not only express movement identity, but also provide openings through which audiences’ interpretations and responses may shape that identity. Audiences’ unexpected responses to a movement’s frames can threaten the movement’s identity, and the salience of these threats varies based on the social movement actors’ roles. Specifically, we identify (1) a distinctiveness threat, arising from oppositional identity audiences unexpectedly embracing a movement’s framing, and most salient when movement participants act as agitators, articulating shared grievances to rally people; (2) an acceptance threat, arising from similar identity audiences when they unexpectedly reject the movement’s framing, and most salient when movement participants act as innovators, articulating possible solutions to the failings of the current state of affairs; (3) a dilution threat, arising from complementary identity audiences when they stretch the movement’s frames through their interpretations, and most salient when movement participants act as orchestrators, coordinating the structure and strategy of the movement as it grows. By illustrating how actors that aim to transform institutions may have their own identities transformed, this paper extends our understanding of communication in institutional change.

Keywords: identity; identity threat; institutional change; social movements; framing; Social Issues; Identity;

Format: Electronic

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Citation:

Manning, Ryann Elizabeth, Julie Battilana, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Communicating Change: When Identity Becomes a Source of Vulnerability for Institutional Challengers." Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (2014): 453–458.

Brothers André and Daniel Albuquerque founded the company Terra Nova in 2001 to mediate land disputes between poor families illegally living in urban areas and the official landowners—with the aspiration to improve the lives of the poor. A business-led approach to the issue, like Terra Nova’s, was innovative and contested amid the widespread belief that land disputes fell solely within the public sector’s purview. After struggling to develop a viable business model, the company received support from impact investing firm MOV Investimentos. By 2019, Terra Nova finally broke even and was exploring opportunities for scaling. But its leaders had to decide the right expansion model for the social business.

Chapter | Handbook of Inclusive Innovation | 2019

Problem, Person, and Pathway: A Framework for Social Innovators

Julie Battilana, Brittany Butler, Marissa Kimsey, Johanna Mair, Christopher Marquis and Christian Seelos

As the appetite for learning about social innovation intensifies, how can we better prepare practitioners for the work of addressing the world’s pressing social problems at the relevant scale? This chapter presents the “3P” framework that we developed to help address this challenge, grounded in our experience researching, teaching, and advising social innovators around the world. In this framework, we propose three key lenses to help social innovators contribute to social change, unpacking the nature of: the problem at hand, the person pursuing change, and the pathway to change. Considering the alignment of these 3Ps provides an organizing template for social innovators to think about how they can effectively contribute to solving social problems. We illustrate how we engage new and experienced social innovators in this learning journey by discussing our pedagogical approach as educators. In conclusion, we discuss future research directions to help address unanswered questions.

Keywords: social innovation; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Change; Problems and Challenges;

Citation:

Battilana, Julie, Brittany Butler, Marissa Kimsey, Johanna Mair, Christopher Marquis, and Christian Seelos. "Problem, Person, and Pathway: A Framework for Social Innovators." In Handbook of Inclusive Innovation: The Role of Organizations, Markets and Communities in Social Innovation, edited by Gerard George, Ted Baker, Paul Tracey, and Havovi Joshi, 61–74. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019. View Details

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Communicating Change: When Identity Becomes a Source of Vulnerability for Institutional Challengers

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