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Article
Publication date: 16 January 2024

Kedir Assefa Tessema

This study aimed to investigate the sensemaking strategies employed by early-career employees working within organizationally constrained environments.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the sensemaking strategies employed by early-career employees working within organizationally constrained environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Grounded in the sensemaking-as-accomplishment framework, a longitudinal multi-case study was conducted, involving three early-career employees. These participants were interviewed multiple times concerning tasks they themselves identified as anomalous and ambiguous.

Findings

The study's findings illuminate how early-career employees utilize sensemaking strategies to accomplish anomalous-ambiguous tasks. These strategies are interwoven with deliberate efforts to mitigate organizational constraints that exist in the organization or arise during the execution of complex tasks.

Research limitations/implications

Notable limitation pertains to the time gap between task completion and the interviews. Conducting real-time interviews concurrently with task execution or immediately afterward was not feasible due to constraints in participant availability. This research has implications for organizational learning initiatives, particularly those encompassing employee-driven self-learning components. Insights derived from studies like this can inform the development of effective self-learning schemes within organizations.

Originality/value

Previous sensemaking research focused on what takes place in high-reliability organizations. This study explored sensemaking strategies in workplaces that are organizationally constrained.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 November 2023

Zahid Ali

This study aims to explore how small and medium-sized accounting practices (SMPs) make sense of and position themselves against the changing demand for services. It is argued that…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how small and medium-sized accounting practices (SMPs) make sense of and position themselves against the changing demand for services. It is argued that changing demand for services from pure compliance to advisory acts as a trigger for sensemaking among SMP owners.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative multiple case study research approach is adopted, including semistructured interviews with key informants from seven Norwegian SMPs as well as document analysis.

Findings

The findings suggest that there is heterogeneity in the small practitioner segment of the accounting profession in making sense of changing demand for the nature of services. Three different situations emerged due to sensemaking, thus, the three distinct positions. Metaphors, namely, chameleons, turtles and bulls, are used to represent the positioning of SMPs. The sensemaking of actors as an adaptation led them to act as chameleons while distancing and resistance resulted in their positioning as turtles, and bulls, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the richness of data indicating a clear variation in interpretation among actors, the study is case based, with a limited number of SMPs, and caution should be exercised when generalising its conclusions.

Practical implications

The centrality of people as a driving force for positioning among SMPs and diversity among SMPs in value creation provide insights for both SMPs and their customers.

Originality/value

This study highlights the meaning and patterns of value creation and the positioning of accounting firms according to their sensemaking within an under-studied segment of the accounting profession.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2023

Sylvain Durocher, Claire-France Picard and Léa Dugal

This paper aims to examine how auditors make sense of the ill-theorized and contentious notion of other comprehensive income (OCI), specifically by uncovering their use of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how auditors make sense of the ill-theorized and contentious notion of other comprehensive income (OCI), specifically by uncovering their use of metaphors to make OCI plausible and intelligible.

Design/methodology/approach

This interpretative paper draws on a collection of 21 interviews with experienced auditors. The analysis first uncovers metaphors that naturally surface within the talk and sensemaking of auditors about OCI (elicited metaphors). The authors then encapsulate these elicited metaphors into second-order constructs (projected metaphors) to synthesize and further explain auditors’ practical sensemaking.

Findings

Auditors conceive OCI as a “safety” that ensures the well-functioning of fair value accounting, metaphorically qualifying this notion as a “necessary evil”, a “passage obligé”, and a “parking lot” resolving fair value-related issues and aberrations. Auditors also metaphorize OCI as a “purifier” that allows “polluted”, “noisy”, and “unloved” items to be “parked” outside net income.

Practical implications

The study’s findings further the understanding of auditors’ tendency to remain uncritical throughout their sensemaking process. Making sense of professional standards of practice through metaphors indubitably involves shadowing and silencing other worldviews.

Originality/value

This paper extends knowledge of auditors’ sensemaking, specifically showing how auditors easily make sense of complex notions even in the absence of conceptual grounds. This study also highlights that metaphors are a powerful sensemaking device that auditors mobilize to render complex notions intelligible and mitigate IFRS inconsistencies.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2023

Yi Zhu

This study explores the politics of ideology in the process of sensegiving and sensemaking at a Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. Studies on power and politics are scarce despite…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the politics of ideology in the process of sensegiving and sensemaking at a Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. Studies on power and politics are scarce despite key role of power and politics in understanding the factors behind the conflict between the management's policy legitimization (sensegiving) and employees' policy interpretation (sensemaking). By using the three dimensions proposed in the critical sensemaking approach (discourse, rules and contexts), this paper explores the complex mechanism of power and politics in sensemaking and sensegiving.

Design/methodology/approach

Using 15 months of participant observation as a salesperson, this paper discusses how the Japan-centric customer service philosophy (dominant discourse), customer service policies and practices (organizational rules) and asymmetric power structure between the Japanese global headquarters and Hong Kong subsidiaries (formative contexts) are presented and perpetuated through the sensegiving–sensemaking process.

Findings

Dominant discourse was observed in the management's sensegiving, which placed the Japanese style of customer service over others. This ethnocentric dominant discourse informed the creation of customer service policies, although the realization of the discourse was determined by the employees' conflicting interpretations of the organizational rules. As a formative context, an asymmetric power structure was present that positioned the Hong Kong subsidiary as subservient to the global headquarters in Japan. This shows that the political process of sensegiving and sensemaking deeply implicates the dominant discourse, organizational rules and power structure as central forces that determine the level of perpetuating ideology.

Originality/value

This research illustrates the wider implications of power and politics in sensegiving–sensemaking studies and provides a complex picture of ethnocentric management.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Nilupulee Liyanagamage and Mario Fernando

Socially responsible firms are known to improve competitive advantage and create workplaces that protect employees and the society in the long-term. Yet, the transitionary and…

Abstract

Purpose

Socially responsible firms are known to improve competitive advantage and create workplaces that protect employees and the society in the long-term. Yet, the transitionary and project-based nature of the construction industry makes it difficult to espouse socially responsible practices. This study aims to adopt a person-centric conceptualisation of social responsibility by drawing on processes of individual sensemaking to gain a deeper understanding of small-business social responsibility (SBSR).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 people from the construction industry in Sri Lanka to develop retrospective narratives.

Findings

The findings suggest that individuals in small-business construction firms rely on intraindividual, organisational and wider societal considerations to make sense of SBSR. What drives these interviewees to be responsible is determined not so much by profitability or reputation but by their own SBSR sensemaking process.

Originality/value

This study examines how individuals make sense of social responsibility in transitionary project-based small businesses in the construction industry.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 19 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Efpraxia D. Zamani, Anastasia Griva, Konstantina Spanaki, Paidi O'Raghallaigh and David Sammon

The study aims to provide insights in the sensemaking process and the use of business analytics (BA) for project selection and prioritisation in start-up settings. A major focus…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to provide insights in the sensemaking process and the use of business analytics (BA) for project selection and prioritisation in start-up settings. A major focus is on the various ways start-ups can understand their data through the analytical process of sensemaking.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a comparative case study of two start-ups that use BA in their projects. The authors follow an interpretive approach and draw from the constructivist grounded theory method (GTM) for the purpose of data analysis, whereby the theory of sensemaking functions as the sensitising device that supports the interpretation of the data.

Findings

The key findings lie within the scope of project selection and prioritisation, where the sensemaking process is implicitly influenced by each start-up's strategy and business model. BA helps start-ups notice changes within their internal and external environment and focus their attention on the more critical questions along the lines of their processes, operations and business model. However, BA alone cannot support decision-making around less structured problems such as project selection and prioritisation, where intuitive judgement and personal opinion are still heavily used.

Originality/value

This study extends the research on BA applied in organisations as tools for business development. Specifically, the authors draw on the literature of BA tools in support of project management from multiple perspectives. The perspectives include but are not limited to project assessment and prioritisation. The authors view the decision-making process and the path from insight to value, as a sensemaking process, where data become part of the sensemaking roadmap and BA helps start-ups navigate the decision-making process.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2023

Paul Langley and Alison Rieple

This empirical study uncovers emotional sensemaking factors that cause changes in management perceptions about wicked strategic problems under dynamic complexity. These perception…

Abstract

Purpose

This empirical study uncovers emotional sensemaking factors that cause changes in management perceptions about wicked strategic problems under dynamic complexity. These perception changes improve understanding of, and solutions to, the wicked problem.

Design/methodology/approach

Senior managers from three large organizations in different sectors participated in gaming simulation workshops. The strategic issues at stake were intractable and divisive. Qualitative methods captured participants' perceptions of the problems and the dynamic complexity that they faced and how they changed.

Findings

Flawed management perceptions were revised as sensemaking processes were catalyzed by emotions of shock/surprise that came from experiencing unexpected stakeholder conduct within a simulation. The plausibility of the conduct was strengthened because managers were role-playing stakeholders. The shock/surprise emotion uncoupled attachment to entrenched beliefs, leading to a willingness to revise the flawed perceptions. The changed perceptions created new insights for a solution to the wicked problem.

Practical implications

Practical implications are how management practitioners can improve the tackling of wicked strategic problems through the use of shock and surprise in a gaming simulation.

Originality/value

This research extends theory on the role of emotions in sensemaking under dynamic complexity. The authors uncover how a hierarchy of managers' emotions used in sensemaking explains the catalytic effect of the shock and surprise of unexpected stakeholder conduct on revisions to their perceptions of the outcomes of the dynamic complexity.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2023

Adamu Abbas Adamu, Syed Hassan Raza and Bahtiar Mohamad

Communication with employees during times of crisis has become a crucial aspect of crisis management for building organizational resilience knowledge. Thus, explaining how…

Abstract

Purpose

Communication with employees during times of crisis has become a crucial aspect of crisis management for building organizational resilience knowledge. Thus, explaining how internal crisis management promotes positive employee behaviour has become imperative. This study aims to investigate the relationship between internal crisis communication, job engagement, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour towards the Environment, Communicative behaviour for sensemaking and sensegiving and organizational resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted with 483 full-time employees in Pakistan. The structural equation modelling technique was employed to assess the study's hypotheses.

Findings

The findings of this study demonstrate that internal crisis communication can boost employee job engagement, organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment, sensemaking and sensegiving, which will also have a downstream effect on organizational resilience.

Practical implications

The findings of this study indicated that effective internal communication can aid managers in making well-informed decisions, coordinating response efforts and disseminating vital information to relevant stakeholders. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on internal crisis management by incorporating employee behavioural intention towards the environment. It provides managers and practitioners with knowledge on managing employees during a crisis.

Originality/value

Surprisingly, the conservation of resource theory (COR) does not explain communicative conduct (sensegiving) and environmental (e.g. organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment) components. This research combines the tenets of COR theory that have yet to be researched with the employees' environmental responses element. The mechanisms of cognition and communication were also ignored in earlier studies. This study sheds light on the process through which higher levels of job engagement, organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment and the capacity for comprehension (e.g. sensemaking) and meaning-transmission (e.g. sensegiving) ultimately help organizations navigate the crisis successfully.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 November 2023

Albert James Mills, Päivi Eriksson, Eeva Aromaa and Outi-Maaria Palo-Oja

The purpose of this article is to address research gaps relating to agency and institutionalism in new institutional theory (NIT) and institutional work (IW) and use the critical…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to address research gaps relating to agency and institutionalism in new institutional theory (NIT) and institutional work (IW) and use the critical sensemaking (CSM) approach to bridge the debates around agency, especially on issues of language and discourse, actor network theory (ANT) and history.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual analysis of the literature is performed to discuss issues of agency in IW and CSM in organizations, and examples of empirical studies are used to illustrate connectivity, contrast and fusion.

Findings

The analysis illustrates points of distance (rather than disconnect), but most importantly, connectivity and the potential for further developments between the literature on IW and CSM.

Social implications

Discussion around new possibilities to focus on agency has the potential to contribute to humanist thinking about the (agentic) character of organizations and the potential for social change.

Originality/value

The article contributes to the discussion of agency in the organization through a starting point (i.e. CSM) outside of NIT.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 December 2022

Frida Nyqvist and Eva-Lena Lundgren-Henriksson

The purpose of this research is to explore how an industry is represented in multimodal public media narratives and to explore how this representation subsequently affects the…

1914

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore how an industry is represented in multimodal public media narratives and to explore how this representation subsequently affects the formation of public sense-giving space during a persisting crisis, such as a pandemic. The question asked is: how do the use of multimodality by public service media dynamically shape representations of industry identity during a persisting crisis?

Design/methodology/approach

This study made use of a multimodal approach. The verbal and visual media text on the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic that were published in Finland by the public service media distributor Yle were studied. Data published between March 2020 and March 2022 were analysed. The data consisted of 236 verbal texts, including 263 visuals.

Findings

Three narratives were identified– victim, servant and survivor – that construct power relations and depict the identity of the restaurant industry differently. It was argued that multimodal media narratives hold three meaning making functions: sentimentalizing, juxtaposing and nuancing industry characteristics. It was also argued that multimodal public service media narratives have wider implications in possibly shaping the future attractiveness of the industry and organizational members' understanding of their identity.

Originality/value

This research contributes to sensemaking literature in that it explores the role of power – explicitly or implicitly constructed through media narratives during crisis. Furthermore, this research contributes to sensemaking literature in that it shows how narratives take shape multimodally during a continuous crisis, and how this impacts the construction of industry identity.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

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