Locating possibilities for control and resistance in a self-help program

This paper studies attempts to regulate employees' identities through self-help programs to examine control and resistance. Extant research shows how identity regulation secures organization control. Less attention is paid to resistance of such control. This study addresses this limitation by examining one self-help change program, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, during implementation in a knowledge-intensive organization. The analysis highlights how (1) the implementation of "universal" organizational and personal change programs must be made concrete for particular organizations and people, (2) self-help programs provide various and often unintended avenues for control and resistance because of the universal-local translation, and (3) analyses of control and resistance must be conducted across organizational boundaries.