Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation pdf

Chittipeddisensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Although these claims have had a significant impact on management theory and practice, they are controversial. Sensemaking, sensegiving and strategic management in danish higher education article pdf available in higher education 696 june 2015 with 997 reads how we measure reads. For each group, we identify conditions that sensegiving and conditions that it. This research seeks to better understand employee sensemaking and leader sensegiving in the context of large scale organizational changes such as mergers. The results identify the key role of sensemaking and sensegiving and build on earlier research showing how these processes change from mobilization to the implementation of change. Kumar chittipeddi management department, bryant college, smithfield, rhode island, u. Download citation sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation this paper reports an ethnographic study of the initiation of a strategic change effort. Sensegiving and the role of cognitive shifts in the work. We gained access to the case company soon after the new president announced the strategic change and were able to track the sensegiving by the president as well as the sensemaking of organizational members from the announcement of the strategic change until its actual implementation.

Finally, sensemaking calls for courage, because while there is a deep human need to understand and know what is going on in a changing world, illuminating the change. Middle managers, strategic sensemaking, and discursive competence. Managing sensemaking an inquiry into how organizational members break, demand, make and give sense to cope with change business administration student. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. N2 this paper reports an ethnographic study of the initiation of a strategic change effort in a large, public university. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Sensemaking and sensegiving as predicting organizational. However, before i revert to the study of sensegiving and sensemaking processes in the company fonodan, let me elaborate on the theoretical framing of the narrative analysis. Through leader participation beyond the initiation stages of strategic change, and the organisations positive positioning of time and metrics, these discourse opportunities enable a form of sensemaking associated with a number of positive organisational outcomes. This longitudinal, qualitative study examined sensemaking during an imposed shift from hierarchical to decentralized organization. This paper aims to present an in depth explanation for these failures and how change managers could avoid them. Pdf sensegiving and sensebreaking via emotion cycles and. Their combined citations are counted only for the first.

Rectors and deans are increasingly tasked with the responsibility of turning heis into more active, entrepreneurial actors in society, and are in this way required to take on and. Gioia robert and judith klein professor of management. This paper reports an ethnographic study of the initiation of a strategic change effort in a large, public university. In the future, well develop new products bringing in resources from all. Gioia and chittipeddis 1991 processes involved in strategic change. Organizational sensemaking is not an established body of knowledge. It develops a new framework for understanding the distinctive character of the. This dissertation is a study of how new college presidents simultaneously learn about the organization while being in charge.

Based on qualitative data from participant observation and informal and formal interviews, this study analyzes how emotion cycles between judges and bailiffs help provide sensegiving and sensebreaking cues to. Doing sohas enabled us tomake three contributions in particular. Theoretical perspectives over the past 20 years, an increasing number of organizational theorists interested in. Gioia d, thomas j 1996 identity, image, and issue interpretation. Rectors and deans are increasingly tasked with the responsibility of turning heis into more active, entrepreneurial actors in society, and are in. Municipal courtroom employees face a variety of positive and negative emotional interactions, especially when defendants are encountering the criminal justice system for the first time. Abstract this paper is an exploration of how sensemaking patterns amongst management groups influence the actual practices of strategising over extended periods of time. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation at a library near you. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Sensemaking, sensegiving and absorptive capacity in.

We identified a replacement pattern of schema development in which middle managers moved from shared through clustered sensemaking, to shared but differentiated sensemaking. Unless it is part of a reciprocal sensemaking process, sensegiving can, for instance, lead to sensebreaking or sensehiding, the withdrawal or suppression of. When facing a crisis, leaders sensemaking can take a considerable amount of time due to the need to develop consensus in how to deal with it so that vision formation and sensegiving can take place. An equal third were at baccalaureate colleges, masters college and universities, and research universities. Sensemaking, sensegiving and strategic management in. Sensemaking patterns by management groups in strategic innovation and change. T1 sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Administrative science quarterly, v41 n3 p370403 sep 1996. Lawrence, year2007 drawing on a longitudinal study of sensegiving in organizations, we investigate the conditions associated with sensegiving by stakeholders. Pdf sensemaking, sensegiving and strategic management in.

The qualitative diary analysis provides rich insights into the specific organisational practices that can enable middle manager sensemaking, while also highlighting those practices that can disable their role during strategic change. In the first paper, a qualitative examination of the initial thoughts and concerns of the middle managers about recently announced organizational changes was conducted. Gioia smeal college of business administration, the pennsylvania state university. Four forms of organizational sensemaking maitlis, 2005 49. As change becomes a constant in organizational life, middle managers charged with interpreting, communicating, and implementing change often struggle for meaning.

Sensegivingforothers is the process of disseminating new understandings to audiences to in. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation gioia, dennis a chittipeddi, kumar strategic management journal. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation created date. In this article, we posit that middle managers are crucial actors in performing this work and maintaining the hybridity of logics. We build on theories of institutional work and on sensemakingsensegiving to describe the middle managers process of meeting competing demands of the initiative. Organizational restructuring and middle manager sensemaking. Sensegiving and the role of cognitive shifts in the work of. Our findings provide evidence that different change processes lead to different. While this research is critical to understanding leadership, the focus on individual leaders obscures collective leadership processes that may also be in play. Sensegiving and the role of cognitive shifts in the work of leadership erica gabrielle foldya. Sensemaking in organisations towards a conceptual framework. These include middle manager sensegiving across the organisation, the. Drawing on sensemaking and sensegiving theory and political literature, middle managers divergent actions during change implementation are examined. It considers the potential roles of designers output in strategic sensemaking and sensegiving.

Eighteen semistructured interviews were completed with new presidents who were organizational outsiders and firsttime presidents. Pdf triggers and enablers of sensegiving in organizations. Drawing on a longitudinal study of sensegiving in organizations, we investigate the conditions associated with sensegiving by stakeholders and by leaders. Presidents were also quickly relied upon for new meaning and direction sensegiving which came in several forms, such as prioritysetting, framing, setting forth an inspiring future image, constructing crisis as a means to initiate change, and relabeling and reorganizing. A conceptual model of sensemaking, sensegiving and absorptive capacity in complex procurements. The politics of middle management sensemaking and sensegiving. A vital perspective entailed in this is that sensegiving speaks to the way that the audience is perceived, i. Conceptual model of properties of sensemaking and the organizing model. An inquiry into otherness of a strategy process, authorhenrika franck, year2012. Senior managers sensemaking and responses to strategic change. It is often claimed that 5090% of strategic initiatives fail. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation dennis a. Designed artifacts play wellknown roles as communication media.

Sep 25, 2014 strategic management and leadership has been a vital catchphrase in most european higher education reforms over the past decade, and has in many countries resulted in a strengthening of the top level management tiers. An exploratory study of the simultaneous being and learning of new college and university presidents show all authors. Decoupling between policy and practice through the lens of sensemaking and sensegiving. Download citation sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation this paper reports an ethnographic study of the initiation of a strategic change effort in a large, public university. The findings showed that sensemaking and influence emerged as fundamental processes in the instigation of strategic change. We build on theories of institutional work and on sensemaking sensegiving to describe the middle managers process of meeting competing demands of the initiative. In another set of wellknown studies, weick and his colleagues have studied the use and impact of socially shared codes and conventions on the sensemaking and sensegiving of individuals in tightly coupled. Jun 28, 2017 the current study examined crisis management and the signals that indicate its appearance. It develops a new framework for understanding the distinctive character of the beginning stages of strategic change by tracking the first year of the change through four phases labeled as envisioning, signaling, revisioning, and energizing. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation gioia, dennis a chittipeddi, kumar 19910901 00. Strategic management and leadership has been a vital catchphrase in most european higher education reforms over the past decade, and has in many countries resulted in a strengthening of the top level management tiers.

Sep 03, 2018 change management projects typically fail because they meet employee resistance created by emotional sensemaking processes. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. Gioia smeal college of business administration, the pennsylvania state university, university park, pennsylvania, u. The data were collected to cover mulcos strategic change process from 2005 to 2009. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation, strategic management journal, no. Based on cognitive and social psychology theories, we explored how senior and nonsenior employees engage in sensemaking and sensegiving activities prior to and during crisis. The leader who demonstrates that an organizations strategy has not been successful, for example, may clash with those who want to.

Our findings provide evidence that different change. To explore change and managerial sensemaking, we conducted action research at the danish lego company. Organizing and the process of sensemaking organization science. Central to the sensemaking perspective is the notion that explanations of organizational issues cannot be. Although largely absent from mainstream journals, action. It develops a new framework for understanding the distinctive character of the beginning stages of strategic change by tracking the first year of the change through four phases labeled as envisioning, signaling, re. Decoupling between policy and practice through the lens of. Glola smeal college of business administration, the pennsylvania state university, university park, pennsylvania, u.

This paper responds to the call for new approaches to the study of sensemaking as an ongoing practice within organisations. Integrating these analyses across organizational actors, we show that, generally. Middle managers, strategic sensemaking, and discursive. The following discussion is divided into sections in which the case description, the theoretical framework, and the case analysis are presented continuously. In particular, the research investigates the main characteristics of the employee sensemaking process. Both processes were symbolically based and varied in directionality over the life of the task force internally directed in the embryonic phases, and externally directed in the mature phases.

The findings suggest that middle managers have an influence on superiors sensemaking by. However, research into emerging cognitive consensus when leaders deal with a crisis over time is lacking. Thus sensemaking involvesand indeed requiresan articulation of the unknown, because, sometimes trying to explain the unknown is the only way to know how much you understand it. Understanding sensemakingsensegiving in transformational. Government agencies, foundations, business and industry, and other important higher education stakeholders continue to invest in important and deep changes. Lancaster university abstract this paper seeks to better understand the way middle managers contribute strategically to the development of an organization by examining how they enact the strategic roles allocated to. Based on qualitative data from participant observation and informal and formal interviews, this study analyzes how emotion cycles between judges and bailiffs help provide sensegiving and. Finally, sensemaking calls for courage, because while there is a deep human need to understand and know what is going on in a changing world, illuminating the change is often a lonely and unpopular task.