study of a UK utility company reveals the power and politics underlying strategic change. The authors found a tension between the “professional archetype” favoured by the professional engineers and the “managerialist archetype” favoured by the incumbent managers. Both groups sought to undermine the position of the other through reference to the strategic objectives of the firm, in order to defend and/or extend their power, status and resources. Similar power battles and political contests have been observed in studies of strategic change in other professional groups,