scholarly journals The spoken (he)art of strategy: A metaphor analysis of the strategy discourse of 10 South African business executives

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Foster-Pedley ◽  
D. Bond ◽  
R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Business Executives ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Metaphor Use ◽  
Analytical Frameworks

This paper investigates the importance of metaphor in strategy in several ways. Firstly it considers the problematic nature of ‘strategy’ itself. Next, it outlines some views on how metaphor is used in strategy discourse, with particular emphasis on innovation, emergent processes and sense-making. It is then proposed that not only is metaphor useful in describing or making sense of strategy, but it is also central to ‘doing’ strategy - that strategy is, in important ways, metaphoric.This paper explores the proposition that research methods based on metaphor analysis can provide fundamental and useful insights into how business strategy is performed and understood. It also raises questions about the way strategy is taught. A description follows providing the results of research carried out on ten senior business executives in South Africa. A number of conclusions are derived from this research:(i) metaphor, which is useful in communicating ideas and meanings, appears to emerge as required to emphasize, construct new meaning and persuade rather than as a tool to support any particular dominant interest(ii) metaphor opens up paradoxical space(iii) metaphor is fundamental in articulating strategy(iv) speakers were generally not aware of their use of metaphor, in spite of a frequent richness of metaphor use(v) when the speakers were made aware of their use of metaphor, they were less able to engage in further discussion using metaphor and(vi) when ceasing to use metaphor, they seemed less able to engage in discussion and thought about strategy.Finally, some questions are raised from a more ‘critical’ perspective. The critical analysis in our paper tests a synthesis of the analytical frameworks of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and Fairclough (1989;1992b) to see what can be 'surfaced’ through this type of metaphor analysis, and consider what implications there may be for management education.Ultimately, the heart of strategy may lie in the art of sense-making and creativity via discourse and conversation. Part of this spoken art lives in and by metaphor, which lightens and eases the paths to new understandings, new directions and to new configurations of individuals, firms and markets.

scholarly journals Reseña: Cappuccio, M.; T. Froese, T, eds. 2014. Enactive Cognition at the Edge of Sense-making. Making Sense of Non-sense. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science, 317 pp.

Open Insight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Susana Ramírez Vizcaya
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Enactive Cognition ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
New Directions

Reseña de Cappuccio, M.; T. Froese, T, eds. 2014. Enactive Cognition at the Edge of Sense-making. Making Sense of Non-sense. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science, 317 pp.

Coping by metaphors: the versatile function of metaphors in blogs about living with advanced cancer

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna W Gustafsson ◽  
Charlotte Hommerberg ◽  
Anna Sandgren
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Coping Processes ◽  
Complex Functions ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Use ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Coping

Living with a life-limiting cancer illness can entail a turmoil of feelings such as constant fear of loss, suffering and dying. Because patients live longer with life-limiting illness, there is a need for enhanced understanding of how people make sense of and cope with the complicated aspects that this life situation brings on. In this article, we explore how bloggers with advanced cancer use metaphors as ways of making sense of their experiences. Our study is theoretically grounded in Conceptual Metaphor Theory, where metaphors are seen as a powerful phenomenon that both reflects and affects our thinking. The data consist of a corpus of blogs written in Swedish by individuals with advanced cancer, and the findings from our linguistic metaphor analysis are consistently interpreted against the backdrop of literature on coping. Our study thus highlights the intersection of linguistic metaphor analysis and psychological theories of coping by illustrating the many and complex functions metaphors can have as part of sense-making processes. Our hermeneutic approach enables us to show some differences among the three most pervasive metaphor domains in our material, battle, journey and imprisonment: the journey and imprisonment domains are more flexible than the battle domain in terms of the different kinds of coping strategies that are actualised by the bloggers’ use of metaphors. One particular finding from our analysis is the way in which the bloggers make use of metaphors to compartmentalise experiences and emotions. Our contention is that careful attention to the metaphors used by patients can improve communication in healthcare and enhance understanding of the complex role language use plays in coping processes more generally. By highlighting the relation between metaphor use and coping, our analysis also provides a way to discuss coping strategies based on the patient’s own use of language.

Making sense of continuous development of digital infrastructures

2021 ◽  
pp. 026839622110466
Author(s):  
Karen Osmundsen ◽  
Bendik Bygstad
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Continuous Development ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Digital Infrastructure ◽  
Definition Of

Continuous development extends the agile approach and focuses on bringing valuable services to users with the aim of achieving a continuous flow of learning and development in short cycles. The objective of this work is to theorize the idea of continuous development in the context of digital infrastructure evolution and explore the organizational interactions underlying continuous development. By drawing on literature on digital infrastructure theory and continuous development as it has emerged as an idea from the DevOps thinking expanded from agile, we outline main characteristics of continuous development and propose a theoretical definition of continuous development in organizational contexts. Then, in answering our research question “which patterns of interactions can be identified in the continuous development of digital infrastructures?”, we conducted a longitudinal case study at a Norwegian grid company and explored how a specific digital infrastructure evolved through continuous development. We identified generic interaction patterns with two cycles of sense-giving and sense-making between organizational actors, enabling the continuous development of the digital infrastructure. Our findings and model of interaction patterns offer a nuanced perspective on both digital infrastructure evolution and established views of sense-making and sense-giving mechanisms, as well as new ways to think about digitalization in incumbent firms.

scholarly journals Shared sense-making strategies in curriculum reform: District-level perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiina Soini ◽  
Janne Pietarinen ◽  
Kirsi Pyhältö
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
District Level ◽  
School Level ◽  
Development Work ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Hands On ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Intermediary Role

Curriculum reform that has an effect on the everyday practices in schools always entails translation of new ideas into new educational practices. This takes place primarily through shared sense making. However, our understanding of the different ways in which shared sense making is carried out is still scarce. In Finland, the district level plays an important intermediary role in orchestrating curriculum development work at the municipalities and in translating and mediating reform into school-level development work. The study explores different shared sense-making strategies employed by 12 district-level curriculum reform steering groups around Finland, including participants from 54 municipalities. Three hands-on strategies of shared sense making including comparison, standardisation and transformation were identified. The results indicated that different hands-on strategies have different functions in the process of making sense of the reform objectives. To a certain extent, the strategies can be viewed as hierarchical. Overall, results suggest that district-level actors aim to foster shared sense making; however, a more intentional use of strategies is needed.

scholarly journals Tecendo relações entre sentido e não-sentido na cognição enativa

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Renata Fischer da Silveira Kroeff ◽  
Póti Quartiero Gavillon ◽  
Cleci Maraschin
Keyword(s):  
Sense Making ◽  
Enactive Cognition ◽  
Making Sense

Neste artigo, discutimos a definição de não-sentido e sua relação com a produção de sentido na teoria enativa da cognição. Tomamos como ponto de partida a publicação “Enactive Cognition at the Edge of Sense-Making: Making Sense of Non-Sense”, organizada por Massimiliano Cappuccio e Tom Froese, por ser uma obra pioneira em relação ao tema. A importância da produção de sentido para a relação entre percepção e ação é abordada a partir de diferentes aspectos. Discutimos as proposições centrais das teorias da autopoiese e da enação, a partir das quais são produzidas três formas de compreender o não-sentido segundo uma perspectiva enativa. Nessas três abordagens, os autores contemporâneos sugerem que o não-sentido se constitui como elemento intermediário ou mediador em processos de produção de sentido. Por fim, discutimos a relação entre não-sentido e sentido, sugerindo uma articulação entre os domínios sensório-motor e linguístico a partir de uma definição não antagônica de saber-sobre e saber-fazer.

scholarly journals Strategic positioning of EAP in South African workplaces

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Matlhape
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Employee Satisfaction ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Chain Model ◽  
Employee Assistance ◽  
Strategic Positioning ◽  
And Performance ◽  
A Company

Two phenomena are having a profound effect on management and industry in the 21st century. The first one is the increasing rate and depth of competition locally, regionally, and globally, and the consequent increase in focus on achieving competitiveness by companies. The second phenomenon is the increasing appreciation of the importance of employees in assisting the company to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Employee Assistance Programmes have been used as part of the business strategy to enhance employee functioning, loyalty, and performance in organisations around the world for a good part of the 20th century. In South Africa this service did not gain much momentum until the 1980. Despite the growth of EAP in South Africa, however, in most cases it still remains on the periphery of real business activities and is often regarded as a "nice to have" rather than as a business imperative. The location of EAP within a company is very important in determining its impact within the organisation. Because of EAPs capacity to impact on both individual employees and the organisation as its primary client, it has potential to make a great impact in organisations' business processes, where these interface with individual output and wellbeing. A service-profit-chain model was introduced as a link between employee satisfaction and company profitability. This article gives an in-depth focus on EAP and the important role it can play in achieving employee satisfaction.

scholarly journals Perancangan Aplikasi Knowledge Management di Instansi Kearsipan Berbasis Model Choo-Sense Making

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Eko Nur Hermansyah ◽  
Danny Manongga ◽  
Ade Iriani
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Knowledge Dissemination ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Data Collecting ◽  
Space Result

<p align="center"><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p>Intansi Kearsipan memiliki berbagai pengetahuan yang digunakan untuk pengelolaan arsip yang dimilikinya, <em>knowledge management</em> digunakan untuk mengumpulkan, mengelola, dan menyebarluaskan pengetahuan yang dimiliki, sehingga pengetahuan yang dimiliki oleh instansi kearsipan dapat digunakan untuk kemajuan intansi dan tidak hilang. Penelitian ini dilakukan di Dinas Perpustakaan dan Kearsipan Kota Salatiga. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan wawancara petugas kearsipan untuk mengumpulkan data tentang pengetahuan yang dimiliki dan cara penyimpanan serta penyebarluasan yang diterapkan di intansi kearsipan. Analisis data dilakukan dengan mengelompokkan pengetahuan yang dimiliki oleh intansi kearsipan sesuai dengan model <em>Choo-Sense Making</em>, untuk kemudian diterapkan di <em>Confluence</em> sesuai dengan hasil dari pengolahan data dengan model <em>Choo-Sense Making</em>. Hasil dari penelitian ini untuk model <em>Choo-Sense Making</em> pengetahuan di intansi kearsipan dibagi atas 3 tahap yaitu <em>Sense Making</em> yang berisi tentang pengetahuan yang berasal dari luar intansi dibuatkan wadah sebagai media diskusi, <em>chatting,</em> <em>Knowledge Creating</em> berisi tentang pengetahuan-pengetahuan yang dimiliki intansi kearsipan yang telah di dokumentasikan diubah dalam betuk <em>softfile</em> kemudian diunggah kedalam <em>space</em> untuk memudahkan penyimpanan serta penyebarluasan pengetahuan yang dimiliki, dan <em>Decision Making</em> yang berisi tentang jadwal-jadwal intansi dan evaluasi yang dilakukan intansi kearsipan. Hasil dari model <em>Choo-Sense Making</em> dimasukan ke <em>Confluence</em>, memperoleh hasil <em>space</em> yang dapat memudahkan menyimpan pengetahuan yang dimiliki berupa file aplikasi, <em>softfile</em>, serta memudahkan dalam pencarian kembali dan penyerluasan pengetahuan yang dimiliki. Penerapan <em>Choo-Sense Making</em> selain untuk mempermudah penyimpanan dan penyerbaluasan serta komunikasi, dapat mengurangi resiko kehilangan pengetahuan yang dimiliki oleh intansi kearsipan.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Kata kunci<em>: </em></strong><em>Knowledge Management, Model Choo-Sense Making, Confluence</em>, Perpustakaan dan Arsip</p><p align="center"><em>Abstract</em></p><p><em>Archival Agency has several knowledge that are used to manage the owned archive, knowledge management is used to collect, manage and disseminate the owned knowledge so that the knowledge that the archival agency has can be used for the agency progress and it will not missing. The research is conducted in Dinas Perpustakaan dan Kearsipan Kota Salatiga. Data collecting is conducted by interviewing the archival officer to gather data related to its knowledge, the storage system and dissemination applied in this archival agency. Data analysis is conducted by categorizing the agency knowledge according to Choo-Sense Making model and then it is applied in Confluence in accordance with the result of the data analysis from the Choo-Sense Making model. The result of this research, for Choo-Sense Making model, the knowledge in the archival agency is divided into 3 steps; Sense Making, Knowledge Creating and Decision Making. Sense Making contains knowledge coming from the outside of the agency that has forum as discussion media, chatting. Knowledge Creating contains knowledge that owned by the archival agency that has been documented and changed in the form of softfile then uploaded into space to ease the storage and the knowledge dissemination. Decision Making is about agency schedules and evaluation toward the activity in this archival agency. The result of Choo-Sense Making Model is input into Confluence, get space result that ease to save the knowledge in the form of application file, softfile, and ease to search and disseminate the owned knowledge. The application of Choo-Sense Making eases the storage system, dissemination, and communication. It also reduces the risk of losing knowledge owned by the archival agency.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: <em>Knowledge Management, Model Choo-Sense Making, Confluence, Library and Archive</em></p>

scholarly journals Making Sense of an Unknown Terrain

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas D. Hughes ◽  
Louise Locock ◽  
Sue Simkin ◽  
Anne Stewart ◽  
Anne E. Ferrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Narrative Interviews ◽  
Considerable Effort ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
The Impact

Self-harm is common in young people, and can have profound effects on parents and other family members. We conducted narrative interviews with 41 parents and other family members of 38 young people, aged up to 25, who had self-harmed. Most of the participants were parents but included one sibling and one spouse. This article reports experiences of the parent participants. A cross-case thematic analysis showed that most participants were bewildered by self-harm. The disruption to their worldview brought about by self-harm prompted many to undergo a process of “sense-making”—by ruminative introspection, looking for information, and building a new way of seeing—to understand and come to terms with self-harm. Most participants appeared to have been successful in making sense of self-harm, though not without considerable effort and emotional struggle. Our findings provide grounds for a deeper socio-cultural understanding of the impact of self-harm on parents.

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