IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02312245.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Strategic concepts as micro‐level tools in strategic sensemaking

Author

Listed:
  • Kari Jalonen

    (Aalto University School of Science and Technology [Aalto, Finland], Hanken School of Economics)

  • Henri A. Schildt

    (Aalto University, School of Business and School of Science)

  • Eero Vaara

    (Aalto University, School of Business and School of Science, EM - EMLyon Business School, Lancaster University)

Abstract

Research Summary: The purpose of this article is to illuminate the role of concepts in strategic sensemaking. Based on a longitudinal real‐time study of a city organization, we demonstrate how the concept of "self‐responsibility" played a crucial role in strategic sensemaking. We develop a theoretical model that elucidates how strategic concepts are used in meaning‐making, and how such concepts may be mobilized for the legitimation of strategic change. Our main contribution is to offer strategic concepts as a missing micro‐level component of the language‐based view of strategic processes and practices. By so doing, our analysis also adds to studies on strategic ambiguity and advances research on vocabularies.Managerial Summary: Our analysis helps to understand the role of strategic concepts, that is, specific words or phrases with established and at least partly shared meanings, in an organization's strategy process. We show how adopting the concept "self‐responsibility" helped managers in a city organization to make sense of environmental challenges and to promote change. Our analysis highlights how such concepts involve ambiguity that can help managers to establish common ground, but can also hinder implementation of specific decisions and actions if it grows over time. We suggest that under environmental changes, development of new strategic concepts may be crucial in helping managers to collectively deal with environmental changes and to articulate a new strategic direction for the organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Kari Jalonen & Henri A. Schildt & Eero Vaara, 2018. "Strategic concepts as micro‐level tools in strategic sensemaking," Post-Print hal-02312245, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02312245
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.2924
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02312245
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-02312245/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.2924?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. W. Graham Astley & Raymond F. Zammuto, 1992. "Organization Science, Managers, and Language Games," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 443-460, November.
    2. Saku Mantere, 2013. "What Is Organizational Strategy? A Language-Based View," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(8), pages 1408-1426, December.
    3. Candace Jones & Massimo Maoret & Felipe G. Massa & Silviya Svejenova, 2012. "Rebels with a Cause: Formation, Contestation, and Expansion of the De Novo Category “Modern Architecture,” 1870–1975," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1523-1545, December.
    4. Eero Vaara & Richard Whittington, 2012. "Strategy as practice : Taking Social Practices Seriously," Post-Print hal-02276672, HAL.
    5. C. Marlene Fiol & Anne Sigismund Huff, 1992. "Maps For Managers: Where Are We? Where Do We Go From Here?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 267-285, May.
    6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14564 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. William Ocasio & Tomi Laamanen & Eero Vaara, 2018. "Communication and attention dynamics: An attention‐based view of strategic change," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 155-167, January.
    8. Blake E. Ashforth & Ronald H. Humphrey, 1997. "The Ubiquity and Potency of Labeling in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(1), pages 43-58, February.
    9. Joseph F. Porac & Howard Thomas & Charles Baden‐Fuller, 1989. "Competitive Groups As Cognitive Communities: The Case Of Scottish Knitwear Manufacturers," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 397-416, July.
    10. Eero Vaara & Philippe Monin, 2010. "A Recursive Perspective on Discursive Legitimation and Organizational Action in Mergers and Acquisitions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 3-22, February.
    11. Michael K. Mauws & Nelson Phillips, 1995. "Crossroads Understanding Language Games," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 322-334, June.
    12. Eero Vaara & Richard Whittington, 2012. "Strategy as practice : Taking Social Practices Seriously," Post-Print hal-02312709, HAL.
    13. Dalvir Samra‐Fredericks, 2003. "Strategizing as Lived Experience and Strategists’ Everyday Efforts to Shape Strategic Direction," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 141-174, January.
    14. Chahrazad Abdallah & Ann Langley, 2014. "The Double Edge of Ambiguity in Strategic Planning," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 235-264, March.
    15. Joep P. Cornelissen & Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara, 2014. "The Contraction of Meaning: The Combined Effect of Communication, Emotions, and Materiality on Sensemaking in the Stockwell Shooting," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 699-736, July.
    16. Dennis A. Gioia & Kumar Chittipeddi, 1991. "Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 433-448, September.
    17. Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara, 2008. "On the Problem of Participation in Strategy: A Critical Discursive Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 341-358, April.
    18. William Ocasio & Tomi Laamanen & Eero Vaara, 2018. "Communication and Attention Dynamics : an Attention-Based View of Strategic Change," Post-Print hal-02312047, HAL.
    19. Robert A. Burgelman & Steven W. Floyd & Tomi Laamanen & Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara & Richard Whittington, 2018. "Strategy processes and practices: Dialogues and intersections," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 531-558, March.
    20. John Sillince & Paula Jarzabkowski & Duncan Shaw, 2012. "Shaping Strategic Action Through the Rhetorical Construction and Exploitation of Ambiguity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 630-650, June.
    21. Steven W. Floyd & Joep P. Cornelissen & Mike Wright & Andrew Delios, 2011. "Processes and Practices of Strategizing and Organizing: Review, Development, and the Role of Bridging and Umbrella Constructs," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 933-952, July.
    22. Beth A. Bechky, 2003. "Sharing Meaning Across Occupational Communities: The Transformation of Understanding on a Production Floor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 312-330, June.
    23. Julia Balogun & Claus Jacobs & Paula Jarzabkowski & Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara, 2014. "Placing Strategy Discourse in Context: Sociomateriality, Sensemaking, and Power," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 175-201, March.
    24. Sarah Kaplan & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2013. "Temporal Work in Strategy Making," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 965-995, August.
    25. Linda Rouleau & Julia Balogun, 2011. "Middle Managers, Strategic Sensemaking, and Discursive Competence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 953-983, July.
    26. Catherine Durnell Cramton, 2001. "The Mutual Knowledge Problem and Its Consequences for Dispersed Collaboration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(3), pages 346-371, June.
    27. Zuckerman, Ezra W. & Kim, Tai-Young & Ukanwa, Kalinda & James, von Rittmann, 2003. "Robust Identities or Non-Entities? Typecasting in the Feature Film Labor Market," Working papers 4291-02, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    28. Linda Rouleau, 2005. "Micro‐Practices of Strategic Sensemaking and Sensegiving: How Middle Managers Interpret and Sell Change Every Day," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(7), pages 1413-1441, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vitaly L. Tambovtsev & Irina A. Rozhdestvenskaya, 2020. "Higher education quality management: What is “quality” and what is “higher education”?," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 2-14, March.
    2. Virpi Sorsa & Eero Vaara, 2020. "How Can Pluralistic Organizations Proceed with Strategic Change? A Processual Account of Rhetorical Contestation, Convergence, and Partial Agreement in a Nordic City Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 839-864, July.
    3. Daehun Chung & Dongyoub Shin, 2021. "When do firms invest in R&D? Two types of performance feedback and organizational search in the Korean shipbuilding industry," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(5), pages 583-617, November.
    4. Schuler, Benedikt Alexander & Orr, Kevin & Hughes, Jeffrey, 2023. "My colleagues (do not) think the same: Middle managers’ shared and separate realities in strategy implementation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Martin Kornberger & Renate E Meyer & Markus A Höllerer, 2021. "Exploring the long-term effect of strategy work: The case of Sustainable Sydney 2030," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(16), pages 3316-3334, December.
    6. Gino Cattani & Daniel Sands & Joe Porac & Jason Greenberg, 2018. "Competitive Sensemaking in Value Creation and Capture," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 632-657, December.
    7. Clément Desgourdes & Daniel Leroy, 2019. "Measuring the influence of sensegiving on employees' commitment to work during a period of organizational change [Mesure de l’influence du sensegiving sur l’engagement au travail des salariés en pé," Post-Print hal-02442644, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kari Jalonen & Henri Schildt & Eero Vaara, 2018. "Strategic concepts as micro‐level tools in strategic sensemaking," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(10), pages 2794-2826, October.
    2. Julia Balogun & Claus Jacobs & Paula Jarzabkowski & Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara, 2014. "Placing Strategy Discourse in Context: Sociomateriality, Sensemaking, and Power," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 175-201, March.
    3. Shameen Prashantham & Mark P. Healey, 2022. "Strategy as Practice Research: Reflections on its Rationale, Approach, and Contributions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(8), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Eero Vaara & Laura Fritsch, 2022. "Strategy as language and communication: Theoretical and methodological advances and avenues for the future in strategy process and practice research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1170-1181, June.
    5. Virpi Sorsa & Eero Vaara, 2020. "How Can Pluralistic Organizations Proceed with Strategic Change? A Processual Account of Rhetorical Contestation, Convergence, and Partial Agreement in a Nordic City Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 839-864, July.
    6. Eero Vaara & Juha-Antti Lamberg, 2016. "Taking historical embeddedness seriously : Three historical approaches to advance strategy process and practice research," Post-Print hal-02276732, HAL.
    7. Paula Jarzabkowski & Sarah Kaplan, 2015. "Strategy tools-in-use: A framework for understanding “technologies of rationality” in practice," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 537-558, April.
    8. Lionel Garreau & Raphaël Maucuer, 2015. "The mise-en-sens tactics of civil society organizations to influence strategy," Post-Print hal-01787991, HAL.
    9. Tomi Laamanen, 2019. "Dynamic attention-based view of corporate headquarters in MNCs," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Kohtamäki, Marko & Heimonen, Jesse & Sjödin, David & Heikkilä, Vili, 2020. "Strategic agility in innovation: Unpacking the interaction between entrepreneurial orientation and absorptive capacity by using practice theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 12-25.
    11. Saku Mantere, 2013. "What Is Organizational Strategy? A Language-Based View," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(8), pages 1408-1426, December.
    12. Schuler, Benedikt Alexander & Orr, Kevin & Hughes, Jeffrey, 2023. "My colleagues (do not) think the same: Middle managers’ shared and separate realities in strategy implementation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Demir, Robert, 2014. "Strategic Activity as Bundled Affordances," Ratio Working Papers 243, The Ratio Institute.
    14. Allard-Poesi, Florence, 2015. "Dancing in the dark: Making sense of managerial roles during strategic conversations," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 338-350.
    15. Linden, Erik, 2021. "Pandemics and environmental shocks: What aviation managers should learn from COVID-19 for long-term planning," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Gino Cattani & Daniel Sands & Joe Porac & Jason Greenberg, 2018. "Competitive Sensemaking in Value Creation and Capture," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 632-657, December.
    17. Höglund, Linda & Svärdsten, Fredrik, 2018. "Strategy work in the public sector—A balancing act of competing discourses," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 225-232.
    18. Kohtamäki, Marko & Rabetino, Rodrigo & Einola, Suvi & Parida, Vinit & Patel, Pankaj, 2021. "Unfolding the digital servitization path from products to product-service-software systems: Practicing change through intentional narratives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 379-392.
    19. Eero Vaara & Andrea Whittle, 2022. "Common Sense, New Sense or Non‐Sense? A Critical Discursive Perspective on Power in Collective Sensemaking," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 755-781, May.
    20. Ericson, Mona, 2014. "On the dynamics of fluidity and open-endedness of strategy process toward a strategy-as-practicing conceptualization," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-15.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02312245. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.