scholarly journals Finding Sense in Organization Studies: Assumptions and Features of K. Weick’s Sensemaking Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 283-304
Author(s):  
Elena Gudova
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Jazz Improvisation ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Organizational Activity ◽  
Cultural Maps ◽  
Karl Weick

This article discusses some of the theoretical foundation of the sensemaking approach introduced by Karl Weick within the fields of organizational psychology and organizational theory. Weick, Sutcliffe, and Obstfeld wrote that “Sensemaking involves the ongoing retrospective development of plausible images that rationalize what people are doing” (2005: 409), or, in more general terms, making sense out of what is happening in order to reduce uncertainty and to act upon it. For this purpose, according to Weick, an individual deals with two questions: “What is going on? and, what should I do about it?” Answers to these questions and their following implications in the individual’s actions depend on the seven characteristics of the sensemaking: the individual’s identity, retrospective, enactment, social activity, ongoing [events and flux of experience], cues, and plausibility. Weick offers a “navigation of social space [of organization] with cultural maps in hand”, and draws inspiration from the analysis of jazz improvisation. His works, still lacking attention in Russia, offer an instrument for both crisis situations with dramatic “loss of sense” and quite common everyday events. Weick’s ideas were broadly developed within research on communication, identity, language, narratives, power, and other aspects of organizational activity. At the same time, sensemaking is believed to be one of the main theoretical inspirations for the processual approach in organization studies, which is focused on organizational becoming, or organizing.

Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Making Sense of Organizing: in Honor of Karl Weick’

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 1573-1578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Sutcliffe ◽  
Andrew D. Brown ◽  
Linda L. Putnam
Keyword(s):  
Special Issue ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Karl Weick ◽  
Final Essay

This collection of essays arose from a call for papers issued by Organization Studies in 2004 to celebrate and critically engage the scholarship of Karl Weick; to carry forward his thinking into new contexts and take stock of recent developments in the themes, issues and theories that have preoccupied Weick in his more than 40 years of scholarship. The first seven papers included here accomplish these objectives. In the final essay, in response to our request, Weick himself reflects on continuing themes in his work and major influences on his scholarship.

Cultural learning process: lesson from microhistory

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianyuan Yu ◽  
Albert J. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Accumulation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Historical Accounts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the cultural learning process (namely, the development, practice and enhancement of cultural intelligence (CQ)) of a successful entrepreneur – Harold Bixby, a Pan American Airways expatriate, as reflected in the memoir of his experiences in China during 1933–1938. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a microhistory approach as a methodology for studying history and the past while ultimately requiring evaluations informed by the present. This paper first identifies the literature gap on CQ development and the need to study historical accounts of the past in assessing the CQ development process. This study then outlines the four key foci of microhistory as a heuristic for making sense of on-going and past accounts of selected phenomena. Findings This paper finds that specific personality traits (namely, openness to experience and self-efficacy), knowledge accumulation through deep cultural immersion (namely, extensive reading/study, visiting/observation and interacting/conversation), critical incident and metacognition all contributed to Bixby’s CQ development, which was a time-consuming process. Originality/value The study contributes to debates around cultural learning and historical organization studies by providing a rich, qualitative study of CQ assessment and CQ development through microhistory. This study highlights the importance of cognitive CQ and the function of extensive reading/studying in the process of knowledge accumulation. This paper draws attention to critical incidents as an underexplored way of learning tacit knowledge. Moreover, this study suggests metacognitive CQ can be enhanced through meditative and reflexive teaching and research practices. These findings have significant implications for cross-cultural training programs.

scholarly journals Translation as a Social Activity: Towards a Bourdieusian Understanding of Pickthall’s Translation of the Quran

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Holy Quran ◽  
English Translations ◽  
The Holy Quran ◽  
Sociological Work

This paper argued for a fresh understanding of Pickthall’s The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation (1930) in light of Bourdieu’s sociological work. The main objective of this study was to develop an initial sociological model for understanding the production of Pickthall’s English translation of the meaning of the Holy Quran. By hypothesizing a field which could be called ‘the field of English translations of the meaning of the Holy Quran’, the researchers aspired to understand the dynamics of this field and its structure through delineating the socio-cultural and socio-political forces. After conducting an analysis at the macro level, the researchers analyzed the paratextual elements of the translation, the data of which represent the starting point for Bourdieusian insights into the production of Pickthall’s translation. The findings revealed that Pickthall’s capitalization is evident in the paratextual zone to secure his position within the field in question. The study concluded that Pickthall’s is a social activity, situated in a social space, and carried out by translating agents, both individuals and organizations, who are in a ceaseless struggle over accumulating capital at stake in the field.

Introduction: Making Sense of Rules and Materiality: The New Challenge for Management and Organization Studies?

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
François-Xavier de Vaujany ◽  
Nathalie Mitev ◽  
Giovan Francesco Lanzara ◽  
Anouk Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Organization Studies ◽  
Making Sense

The Politics of Performance in Organizational Theatre-Based Training and Interventions

2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 817-839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Nissley ◽  
Steven S. Taylor ◽  
Linda Houden
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Organizational Studies ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Improvisational Theatre ◽  
The Spectator ◽  
A Performance

In this article, we first ‘set the stage’, taking our focus as theatre inorganizations, in contrast to the more traditional approach within the field of organizational studies of the use of ‘theatre’ as a metaphorical means of making sense of organizational life (organizations astheatre). More specifically, we examine the phenomenon of theatrebased training and interventions. However, we move beyond the practitioner-oriented ‘how-to’ understanding of theatre-based training, instead undertaking a more critical examination of the phenomenon. We analytically look ‘behind the curtain’, exposing the ‘politics of performance’ in theatre-based training and interventions by considering who controls the script and who controls the role in a performance. Lastly, we close with an ‘offer’ to the organization studies scholar — similar to the kind of ‘offer’ found in improvisational theatre. We offer a Boalian perspective of organizational theatre. We intentionally mean to be provocative by using Boal’s language (for example, ‘theatre of the oppressor’ to describe more corporate-controlled performances and ‘liberation of the spectator’ to describe more worker-controlled performances); yet, we firmly believe that the Boalian perspective may offer an ‘other’ way of looking at organizational theatre — particularly, the politics of performance in organizational theatre.

The Many Faces of Culture: Making Sense of 30 Years of Research on Culture in Organization Studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Giorgi ◽  
Christi Lockwood ◽  
Mary Ann Glynn
Keyword(s):  
Organization Studies ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Many

scholarly journals Shaping of the systems of greenery in the districts of Lublin Cooperative Housing (LSM) in the context of planning and implementation of the project

1970 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Kamila Boguszewska ◽  
Natalia Przesmycka
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
Urban Planner ◽  
Activity Spaces ◽  
Urban Plan ◽  
Cooperative Housing ◽  
Collective Housing ◽  
The City

Collective Housing districts of Lublin Cooperative Housing (LSM) were the example of model multifamily developments of the second half of the twentieth century, conceptually designed by Roman Dylewski (architect and urban planner) in the years 1956−1977. They were built in the southern part of the city, on the hills cut by dry valleys and ravines, which significantly influenced the form of the buildings and the way of shaping the architectural and landscape enclosures. The Housing district named after polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, designed by Felix Haczewski was based on the garden city concept. Famous visionary architect Oskar Hansen implemented his idea of a linear system and the principle of “absorbent background” into design of Juliusz Słowacki`s district. LSM housing districts were planned in detail, starting from the urban plan of the entire area, through architecture and meticulous arrangement of public spaces. Particular emphasis has been put on the nature of public and social activity spaces, as well as the surrounding greenery. Various species of trees, shrubs and perennials were planted as a complementary element of social space in the district, which was also a part of the city’s greenery system. Different elements of small architecture, such as: sculptures, ponds, and “rockeries” were placed there. The article aims to characterize the principles of landscape and greenery design, as an inseparable element of LSM district and its current condition. It is also interesting to study the transformation of the city sections deriving not only from the changing needs of users, but also from aesthetic preferences and the desire to follow a widely understood design trends.

scholarly journals SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS, LANGUAGE, AND SPACE: A DISCURSIVE-LINGUISTIC REFLECTION

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 687-701
Author(s):  
Carmem Caetano
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Social Events ◽  
The Social

Originating from the notion of space and language as formulated by Gunn (2002) and based on the theoretical foundation of Critical Discourse Analysis, as proposed by Norman Fairclough (2003), this paper deals with the investigation of identity (re)construction for teachers in special education classrooms in Brazil. Elements from Fairclough's theory are used to approach the category of space in language praxis for the purpose of investigating, specifically, how people involved in the social events of special education represent this social space and how issues of power and ideology are perceived in the discourse (s) of this education assistant model.

Durkheim and the Sociality of Space

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Schroer
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Spatial Turn ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Spatial Formations

This chapter explores the topic of space in Émile Durkheim’s writings. It shows that spatial formations play a key role in his theory of modernity. He assigns to social morphology the task of systematically investigating the material substratum of societies. Of major concern in this regard is how different types of societies relate to space in distinctive ways. His sociological approach encompasses both an epistemological and a social-theoretic perspective on “space.” In effect, it can be argued that Durkheim is not primarily concerned with a society’s dependence on space, but rather with how space is shaped socially. Space is not an abstract category of thought, but the collectively produced foundation for all social activity. Contrary to many subsequent conceptions of space, Durkheim does not differentiate between physical and social space, arguing that physical space is inherently shaped by social practices of classification and division. It is this theoretical notion which, in light of the renewed attention given to materiality and space by proponents of the material and the spatial turn, makes his work seem surprisingly contemporary.

Three studies in the philosophy of jazz

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Troy S. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Performance Practice ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Jazz Improvisation ◽  
Instrumental Performance ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Vocal Jazz ◽  
The Third ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The University ◽  
Comprehensive Discussion

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation comprises three studies which in turn discuss jazz ontology, jazz improvisation, and the question of whether jazz has ended as an artform. The first study discusses Andrew Kania's work on jazz ontology and attempts to clarify and extend his position regarding the principled exclusion of vocal jazz and jazz Fusion from his jazz ontology. Further, it introduces a quasi-realist strategy for making sense of jazz-work ontological discourse. The second study is a unique, comprehensive discussion of the jazz drummer's history and role in jazz improvisational contexts, in which the full range of instrumental performance practice (timekeeping, comping, and soloing) is explored. The third study is a provocative investigation of the possibility that the artform of jazz has "ended." Here, the end-of-art theses of Hegel and Danto are recalled and examined for their relevance in determining whether jazz has become a closed concept. The conclusion reached is that it is plausible to affirm that jazz has ended, even if it has not died.

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