Power in Sensemaking Processes

This article examines the effects of power on sensemaking processes, bridging two major, yet traditionally separate, literatures in organization studies. Dividing power into its systemic and episodic forms, we elaborate how power shapes not only the content of sensemaking, but also the form of sense...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization studies Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 241 - 265
Main Authors: Schildt, Henri, Mantere, Saku, Cornelissen, Joep
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2020
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:
Automatic processes
Organization studies
Power
Sensemaking
sensegiving
sensebreaking
coherence
interpretation
plausibility
sensemaking
power
contradiction
discourse
ISSN:0170-8406, 1741-3044
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article examines the effects of power on sensemaking processes, bridging two major, yet traditionally separate, literatures in organization studies. Dividing power into its systemic and episodic forms, we elaborate how power shapes not only the content of sensemaking, but also the form of sensemaking processes. We explicate the distinct ways in which power works in four archetypal sensemaking processes: automatic (preconscious and committed), improvisational (preconscious and provisional), algorithmic (conscious and committed) and reflective (conscious and provisional). These ideal-type processes help us theorize how influences related to systemic and episodic power induce more or less conscious and provisional forms of sensemaking. This refined understanding of sensemaking processes enables further explication of episodic power into distinctive kinds of sensegiving and sensebreaking activities.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0170-8406
1741-3044
DOI:10.1177/0170840619847718