Non‐élite employees’ perceptions of organizational change in English local government

This paper deals with the management of complex environmental turbulence and organizational change in English local government. Research has been conducted to assess the perceptions of the strategic élites, chief executives and chief officers, to these change processes. However, no work had been undertaken to assess the extent of support and ownership amongst non‐élite actors, the middle managers and street‐level operatives, in English local authorities towards these élite change strategies. This paper identifies that different management styles do impact upon the roles of these non‐élites in a number of distinct ways. It provides evidence that one of the management styles is more appropriate than the others identified in the paper in terms of effecting successful change management.