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Unconscious Processes of Organizing: Intergroup Conflict in Mental Health Care

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  • Elisabeth Naima Mikkelsen
  • Barbara Gray
  • Anne Petersen

Abstract

A critical but overlooked issue in Weick’s seminal work, The Social Psychology of Organizing (1969/1979), concerns ‘the heat’ of organizing processes, namely, the underground emotional processes underpinning the organizing of conflictual work relationships. We present a qualitative case study of psychiatric agencies mandated by public policy to collaborate but instead engaged in persistent conflict despite its deleterious effects on their working relationship and on the wellbeing of the clients they intended to serve. To explain these conflictual features of organizing, we integrate Weick’s organizing theory with systems psychodynamics to deepen the understanding of emotions in organizing, specifically the motivational forces underpinning sensemaking and actions between interacting psychiatric agencies. This integration of theories reveals a critical feature of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious organizing processes: When a threat is involved, sensemaking and action are overtaken by social defences, resulting in dysfunctional organizing of the primary task. Drawing on these findings, we enrich Weick’s seminal work by developing a model that portrays organizing as the ritualized interaction of emotions, sensemaking and behavioural responses.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabeth Naima Mikkelsen & Barbara Gray & Anne Petersen, 2020. "Unconscious Processes of Organizing: Intergroup Conflict in Mental Health Care," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(7), pages 1355-1383, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:57:y:2020:i:7:p:1355-1383
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12611
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Haridimos Tsoukas & Gerardo Patriotta & Kathleen M. Sutcliffe & Sally Maitlis, 2020. "On the way to Ithaka[1]: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Publication of Karl E. Weick’s The Social Psychology of Organizing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(7), pages 1315-1330, November.
    2. Marlys K. Christianson & Michelle A. Barton, 2021. "Sensemaking in the Time of COVID‐19," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 572-576, March.
    3. 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.
    4. Karl E. Weick, 2020. "Sensemaking, Organizing, and Surpassing: A Handoff," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(7), pages 1420-1431, November.

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