Social Movements in Organizations: Coup d'Etat, Insurgency, and Mass Movements

Zald, Mayer N.; Berger, Michael A.

doi:10.1086/226634

Cited by 354 publications

(242 citation statements)

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“…We found striking parallels. As anticipated by Zald & Berger (1978), forms of coordinated collective action, whether through 'organizations' or 'movements', are ultimately susceptible to the same forms of analysis. As collective economic action becomes increasingly episodic and network based, rather than rooted in, and dependent upon, the traditional practices of the integrated organization, the explanatory balance tilts in favor of social movement theory.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, there has been some interchange among these two traditions (see Zald & Berger, 1978;Clemens, 1993;Minkoff, 1997;and particularly Koput, Powell & Smith-Doerr, 1997). To the extent that economic action comes to look like contentious politics, we expect that theory about social movements will be applicable to the traditional domain of organization theory.…”

Section: Using Social Movement Theory To Understand the New Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Corporations, Classes, and Social Movements After Managerialism

Davis¹,

McAdam

2000

Research in Organizational Behavior

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Using Social Movement Theory To Understand the New Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporations, Classes, and Social Movements After Managerialism

Davis¹,

McAdam

2000

Research in Organizational Behavior

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“…However, by focusing solely on less powerful members' use of cultural tools to challenge the status Downloaded from informs.org by [34.212.246 (Katzenstein 1998, Meyerson 2003, Morrill 1995, Morrill et al 2003, O'Mahony and Bechky 2008, Raeburn 2004, Scully and Creed 2005, Scully and Segal 2002, Weber et al 2009, Zald and Berger 1978) do not examine change in the presence of strong cultural tools but the absence of strong political tools. Here, I demonstrate that when less powerful organization members have access to strong cultural tools without strong political tools, they may pessimistically reinterpret traditional practices, informally organize for change, and covertly contest traditional practices with defenders to slightly modify rather than significantly transform traditional practices.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, to explain the intraorganizational challenge and change processes I saw occur at Pacific, Boot Camp, and Advent, it is necessary to analyze the relationship between opportunities available in the institutional environment on the one hand and tools available to less powerful organization members inside organizations on the other. Although a handful of studies of social movements and organizations highlight the importance for challenge of what I call political tools (Katzenstein 1998, Meyerson 2003, Morrill 1995, Morrill et al 2003, O'Mahony and Bechky 2008, Raeburn 2004, Scully and Creed 2005, Scully and Segal 2002, Weber et al 2009, Zald and Berger 1978), they do not analyze how changes in institutional-level political opportunities affect changes in these organization-level political tools. In addition, no previous studies (to my knowledge) clarify how cultural and political tools available inside organizations facilitate challenge in different ways or document how challenge is affected by the presence of strong cultural tools but the absence of strong political tools.…”

Section: Bringing Politics Into Our Understanding Of Toolkitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hot Lights and Cold Steel: Cultural and Political Toolkits for Practice Change in Surgery

Kellogg¹

2011

Organization Science

116

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One of the great paradoxes of organizational culture is that even when less powerful members in organizations have access to cultural tools (such as frames, identities, and tactics) that support change, they often do not use these tools to challenge traditional practices that disadvantage them. In this study, I compare data about work practice change from my own field study of an elite teaching hospital (conducted in the early 2000s) to previously reported data from field studies of two similar hospitals (one conducted in the 1970s and one in the 1990s). I demonstrate that although cultural toolkits supporting change may allow less powerful organization members to see traditional practices as running counter to their interests, they may not be able to significantly change traditional practices unless they also have access to what I call political toolkits (including tools such as staffing systems, accountability systems, and evaluation systems) that support change. Although cultural tools allow them to reinterpret practices that disadvantage them as unfair, political tools allow them to feel optimistic that others will help them effect change. Whereas cultural tools enable them to develop a “we” feeling with other reformers, political tools allow them to coordinate their change efforts. And although cultural tools provide them with a repertoire of contentious tactics, political tools afford them a sense of security that they can battle defenders of the status quo without ruining their careers. These findings contribute to our understanding of both the cultural construction of organizational life and social movement processes.

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“…This paper argues that some sorts of organizational change may be fruitfully approached as social movements. The point has been made before, most notably by Zald and Berger (1978), who discuss efforts to overthrow organizational leaders as coup d'etats, whistle-blowing and factional conflict as bureaucratic insurgency, and union conflict and prison riots as mass movements.We study a different sort of social movement, which we term an "orchestrated social movement." Here elites seek to set mobilization processes in motion rather than implement new organizational rules or roles.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational Change as an Orchestrated Social Movement: Recruitment to a Corporate Quality Initiative

Strang

Jung

2005

Social Movements and Organization Theory

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Many attempts at organizational change take the form of "orchestrated social movements," where elites seek to set social movement-like processes in motion rather than establish new organizational rules or roles. Programs are rolled out with symbolic support and references to long-term career and organizational benefits, but few material resources. A small cadre of professionals plays the role of activists, involving workers and managers in training sessions and problem-solving teams. The hope is that positive feedback between the converted and the unconverted will lead new behaviors to diffuse and become self-sustaining.We examine one such process, that of a "quality initiative" at a global financial services corporation. A survey of bank employees is analyzed to develop insight into the determinants of recruitment? A survey of bank employees indicates that attitudes to the program reflect individual values, forms of personal involvement, experience with related programs, expectations of program durability, and the attitudes of co-workers. We argue the fragility of the initiative is explained in part by its difficulty in recruiting adherents, coupled with the fact that workers rather than managers are its strongest supporters. 3 Organizational Change as an Orchestrated Social Movement: Determinants and Implications of Recruitment to a "Quality Initiative"Understandings of organizational change, like organizations themselves, are informed by cultural assumptions of rationality, authority, and functional integration. The focus is on formal adoption and on the subsequent implementation of new procedures or roles. In principle, implementation involves the way managers or executives design work systems, create positions, modify incentives, and elicit compliance. The process may be messy and contested in practice ---organization members may resist and strategies backfire ---but the organizing frame of programmatic implementation remains. This paper argues that some sorts of organizational change may be fruitfully approached as social movements. The point has been made before, most notably by Zald and Berger (1978), who discuss efforts to overthrow organizational leaders as coup d'etats, whistle-blowing and factional conflict as bureaucratic insurgency, and union conflict and prison riots as mass movements.We study a different sort of social movement, which we term an "orchestrated social movement." Here elites seek to set mobilization processes in motion rather than implement new organizational rules or roles. Programs have symbolic support but few material resources. A small cadre of professionals plays the role of activists, involving workers and managers through training sessions and new work activities. The hope is that positive feedback from the newly converted will lead novel behaviors to diffuse and become self-sustaining.A note on our usage. We think the term "social movement" combines two central connotations: a processual component referring to activist-led mobilization of formally 4 autonomous actor...

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Social Movements in Organizations: Coup d'Etat, Insurgency, and Mass Movements

Cited by 354 publications

References 37 publications

Corporations, Classes, and Social Movements After Managerialism

Corporations, Classes, and Social Movements After Managerialism

Hot Lights and Cold Steel: Cultural and Political Toolkits for Practice Change in Surgery

Organizational Change as an Orchestrated Social Movement: Recruitment to a Corporate Quality Initiative

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