Despite the increasing importance of organizations having to manage multiple, nested and at times, conflicting statuses in complex institutional environments, the literature still pays little attention to how organizations cope with this challenge. We examine how organizations juggle the different statuses of their products, organizations and their counterparts (e.g., parent organization) while embracing low-status practices. We study how the Journals department of a university press managed the status of its new Open Access journals publishing program (considered low status) while aiming to uphold both its high-status and that of its prestigious parent university. We derive a model suggesting that the status management is a dynamic process in which organizations try to shape their multiple and nested statuses to match the shifting competition contexts. We also explain factors that can trigger status anxiety and that moderate its levels; and show the role of status incongruity as organizational members navigate through complex institutional environments.