How can application of a positive lens to understanding social change and organizations enrich and elaborate theory and practice? This is the core question that inspired this book. It is a question that brought together a diverse and talented group of researchers interested in change and organizations in different problem domains (sustainability, healthcare, poverty alleviation and education). The contributors to this book bring different theoretical lenses to the question of social change and organizations. Some are anchored in more macro accounts of how and why social change processes occur, while others approach the question from a more psychological or social psychological perspective. Many of the chapters in the book travel across levels of analyses, making their accounts of social change good examples of multi-level theorizing. Some scholars are practiced and immersed in thinking about organizational phenomena from a positive lens, for others it was a total adventure in trying on a new set of glasses. However, connecting all contributing authors was an excitement and willingness to explore new insights and new angles on how to explain and cultivate social change within or across organizations. This edited volume will be of interest to an international community who seek to understand how organizations and people can generate positive outcomes for society. Students and researchers in organizational behavior, management, positive psychology, leadership and corporate responsibility will find this book of interest.

Table of Contents:

A. Brief, M. Frese, K. Elsbach, Series Foreword. Part 1. Introduction. J. Dutton, K. Golden-Biddle, E. Feldman, The Call: Why a Book Now on Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Change and Organizations? Part 2. Change Agency. O. Branzei, Social Change Agency Under Adversity: How Relational Processes (Re)produce Hope in Hopeless Settings. S. Sonenshein, Being a Positive Social Change Agent through Issue Selling. T. Rimac, J. Mair, J. Battilana, Social Entrepreneurs, Socialization Processes, and Divergent Change: The Case of Sekem. D. Meyerson, L. Wernick, Power Beyond the Purse: Philanthropic Foundations as Agents of Social Change. E. Steckler, J. Bartunek, Revealing Themes: Applying a Positive Lens to the Chapters on Change Agency. Part 3. Environment and Sustainability. A.J. Hoffman, K.K. Badiane, N. Haigh, Hybrid Organizations as Agents of Positive Social Change: Bridging the For-Profit and Non-profit Divide. D. Riddell, O. Tjornbo, F. Westley, Agency and Innovation in a Phase of Turbulent Change: Conservation in the Great Bear Rain Forest. M. Feldman, Practicing Sustainability. P. Perez-Aleman, Connecting Sustainability Movements and Enterprises in Developing Economies: Building Networks and Capabilities. J. Howard-Grenville, Revealing Themes: Applying a Positive Lens to the Chapters on Environment and Sustainability. Part 4. Health Care. M.G. Pratt, C.M. Fiol, E.J. O'Connor, P. Panico, Promoting Positive Change in Physician-Administrator Relationships: The Importance of Identity Security in Managing Intractable Identity Conflicts. K. Golden-Biddle, K. Correia, Hope as Generative Dynamic in Transformational Change: Creating and Sustaining "Collaborative Care" in the ThedaCare Health System. R. Wells, Amplifying Resources and Buffering Demands: How Managers Can Support Front Line Staff in Loving Action for Each Child. V. Myers, L. Wooten, Generative Change in Health Care Organizations: From Inertia to Action in Reducing Patient Disparities. T. Reay, Revealing Themes: Applying a Positive Lens to the Chapters on Healthcare. Part 5. Poverty and Low-wage Work. C.R. Leana, E.E. Kossek, Positive Organizational Change by and for the Working Poor. C.M. Beckman, B. Gatewood, Building Organizations to Change Communities: Educational Entrepreneurs in Poor Urban Areas. L. Jones Christensen, Navigating Change in the Company of (Dissimilar) Others: Co-Developing Relational Capabilities with Microcredit Clients. R. Canales, The Stranger as Friend: Loan Officers and Positive Deviance in Microfinance. J. Pearce, Revealing Themes: Applying a Positive Lens to the Chapters on Poverty and Low-wage Work. Part 6. Conclusion. K. Golden-Biddle, J. Dutton, E. Feldman, The Response: What Does This Book Contribute to the Understanding of Social Change and Organizations?