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Finding a Space for Story: Sensemaking, Stories and Epistemic Impasse

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  • Gazi Islam

    (MC - Management et Comportement - EESC-GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management)

Abstract

The current study explores the role of stories in organizational sensemaking processes. Rather than positioning stories as one among many different sensemaking mechanisms, it is argued that stories allow a particular kind of sensemaking that is inherently openended, distinguishing it from theoretical and propositional explanations for organizational phenomena. Drawing on previous Foucaultian discussions of epistemes, I introduce the notions of epistemic impasse and epistemic spillover, arguing that cross-functional interaction can cause tensions between incompatible epistemic bases, and that stories can act as a mechanism to overcome such tensions. I illustrate this mechanism in an ethnographic, participant-observer study of a university student-support center, showing how storytelling led to an increasingly open although ultimately totalizing tendency within the center, thus demonstrating both the potentials and limits of using stories within organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Gazi Islam, 2013. "Finding a Space for Story: Sensemaking, Stories and Epistemic Impasse," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00969278, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:gemptp:hal-00969278
    DOI: 10.1108/09534811311307897
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: http://hal.grenoble-em.com/hal-00969278
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Boje & Jo Tyler, 2009. "Story and Narrative Noticing: Workaholism Autoethnographies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 173-194, January.
    2. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari, 2011. "On the Narrative Construction of Multinational Corporations: An Antenarrative Analysis of Legitimation and Resistance in a Cross-Border Merger," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 370-390, April.
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