Strategic renewal: Beyond the functional resource role of occupational members

Abstract

In this qualitative study of strategic renewal at a North American news organization we reveal that the treatment of occupational members as resources in strategy literature is necessary, but insufficient. Their activities are critical for organizational survival and competition but also the work needed to maintain their occupational identity. Furthermore, the prevailing research evidence that occupational members impede strategic renewal is incomplete. Our study challenges the narrow view of occupational members as resources that constrain strategic renewal by illustrating how occupational identity “work” is instrumental in facilitating and disrupting strategic renewal. Our findings emphasize the importance of adopting broader definitions of work than the functional definition used in strategic renewal research. We also highlight how the activities of nonmanagerial actors contribute to strategic renewal. During times of change, research highlights how occupational members such as doctors, nurses, engineers, and academics, disrupt and resist change. Our study demonstrates that the same cause of disruption—sustaining their distinctive occupational identity—is critical in facilitating strategic renewal. For managers, we illustrate how and why this occurs and provide practical guidance to leverage this understanding while managing change in occupationally-dominated organizations.