The Adoption of Innovation in Collective Action Organizations

This study used a quantitative/qualitative methodology to explore how collective action organizations (CAOs) remain open to organizational change and innovation. It examined the adoption of inclusion—a recent innovation in the field of disabilities—by local chapters of The Arc Michigan (a disabilities CAO). We found considerable variability in the adoption of inclusion by local Arc chapters. This variability was significantly related to the ecology surrounding these chapters. Local Arc chapters that had adopted an inclusion philosophy had significantly different internal and external environments from those that had not adopted inclusion. Our qualitative findings make it clear, however, that innovative Arc chapters were not the passive recipients of these internal and external influences. These chapters were proactive players in defining and shaping the nature of their internal and external environments. Strategies that were related to a chapter's ability to remain open to innovation included (a) a change orientation, (b) a conscious philosophy or vision, (c) a proactive strategy for achieving chapter goals and overcoming barriers to change, (d) the creation of a supportive organizational network, and (e) avoidance of resource dependencies that required them to engage in activities that were inconsistent with the innovation. These findings provide a framework by which CAOs can maintain an openness to innovation and remain on the forefront of social change.