Strategic renewal: Beyond the functional resource role of occupational members

• Author: Mary M. Crossan,Krista L. Pettit
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3115
• Date: 01 June 2020
• Published date: 01 June 2020

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Strategic renewal: Beyond the functional

resource role of occupational members

Krista L. Pettit | Mary M. Crossan

Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

Correspondence

Krista L. Pettit, Ivey Business School,

Western University, 1255 Western Road,

London, ON N6G 0N1, Canada.

Email: kpettit@ivey.ca

Abstract

Research summary:In this qualitative study of strate-

gic renewal at a North American news organization we

reveal that the treatment of occupational members as

resources in strategy literature is necessary, but insuffi-

cient. Their activities are critical for organizational sur-

vival and competition but also the work needed to

maintain their occupational identity. Furthermore, the

prevailing research evidence that occupational mem-

bers impede strategic renewal is incomplete. Our study

challenges the narrow view of occupational members

as resources that constrain strategic renewal by illus-

trating how occupational identity “work”is instrumen-

tal 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.

Managerial summary: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 strate-

gic renewal. For managers, we illustrate how and

why this occurs and provide practical guidance to

Received: 25 July 2017 Revised: 31 October 2019 Accepted: 6 November 2019 Published on: 19 December 2019

DOI: 10.1002/smj.3115

1112 © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Strat. Mgmt. J. 2020;41:1112–1138.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/smj

leverage this understanding while managing change

in occupationally-dominated organizations.

KEYWORDS

occupational identity work, qualitative, resources, strategic renewal,

strategy-as-practice

1|INTRODUCTION

In strategic renewal research, organizational members and their associated activities are viewed

as functional resources used to compete (Barney, 1991). During strategic renewal, organizations

continuously adapt resources and outputs in response to environmental changes (Albert,

Kreutzer, & Lechner, 2015). Frequently, such adaptation involves members of occupations such

as engineers, academics, lawyers, doctors, and journalists, yet strategic renewal research

neglects the impact occupational membership has on this process. When included, research

portrays occupational members as disruptors who resist activity change (e.g., Lozeau, Langley, &

Denis, 2002; Nag, Corley, & Gioia, 2007; Townley, 2002). The relationship between organiza-

tions and occupations becomes a zero-sum game, where either the occupation (Lozeau et al.,

2002; Nag et al., 2007) or the organization (Townley, 2002) prevails. In reality, the relationship

between organizations and occupations is symbiotic. Organizations provide employment (Van

Maanen & Barley, 1984) and occupational members provide organizational resources in the

form of specialized activities (Abbott, 1988). There is ample evidence that occupational mem-

bers such as accountants (Greenwood, Suddaby, & Hinings, 2002), librarians (Nelson & Irwin,

2014), and nurses (Goodrick & Reay, 2010) are willing to substantially modify their activities

which contradicts their one sided portrayal as disruptors of strategic renewal.

Van Maanen and Barley (1984) critique the lack of attention to occupations in management

scholarship. “It remains noteworthy that ‘Charlie’, the automobile repairman down at ‘Joe's

Garage’is, in the ethnographic writings, a ‘mechanic’and, in the organization behavior writ-

ings, an ‘employee’” (p. 288). In strategic renewal research, 'Charlie' is a resource whose activi-

ties and tasks are adapted and coordinated to meet organizational objectives (Agarwal & Helfat,

2009; Albert et al., 2015; Schmitt, Raisch, & Volberda, 2016). The same activities that function-

ally support strategic objectives are also critical to maintaining and reinforcing the social iden-

tity of the occupational members enacting them (Abbott, 1988; Anteby, 2008; Bechky, 2003;

Nelson & Irwin, 2014; Phillips & Lawrence, 2012; Pratt, Rockmann, & Kaufmann, 2006;

Schwalbe & Mason-Schrock, 1996; Van Maanen & Barley, 1984). Occupational identity, defined

as who we are and what we do as members of an occupation, is continuously negotiated

through the member's activities (Anteby, 2008; Nelson & Irwin, 2014; Pratt et al., 2006). The

“work”in this continuous negotiation is concurrent and indivisible from the actors and the

activities themselves (cf. Phillips & Lawrence, 2012), a reality not captured in the functional

resource-based approach to strategic renewal research. To begin remedying this omission we

address the research question: How does occupational identity work impact strategic renewal?

We conduct a 1-year qualitative study at NatNews, a North American news organization,

and reveal four process patterns illustrating how occupational identity work facilitates and dis-

rupts strategic renewal. Our findings highlight that the product created by occupational

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