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Telling tales out of school: Sensemaking and narratives of legitimacy in an organizational change process

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  • Thurlow, Amy
  • Helms Mills, Jean

Abstract

In this study we take a critical sensemaking approach to investigate organizational narratives of change at a Canadian community college to show how individuals make sense of the change process. In particular, we draw upon the property of plausibility to show how the president and CEO of the college legitimized the change narratives by drawing on rhetorical strategies of legitimation, which resonated with sensemakers in the organization. As plausibility is enhanced through legitimation, individuals in the organization become engaged in a sensemaking process, which resonates with their experiences and organizational identity. We contend that the organizational narratives constructed through this sensemaking process reflect a legitimation of plausible meaning. Plausibility emerges in this case study as a critical element in the sensemaking process, and highlights the importance of narrative practices of legitimation in sensemaking around organizational change.

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  • Thurlow, Amy & Helms Mills, Jean, 2015. "Telling tales out of school: Sensemaking and narratives of legitimacy in an organizational change process," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 246-254.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:scaman:v:31:y:2015:i:2:p:246-254
    DOI: 10.1016/j.scaman.2014.10.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Patriotta, Gerardo & Brown, Andrew D., 2011. "Sensemaking, metaphors and performance evaluation," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 34-43, March.
    2. Karl E. Weick, 2010. "Reflections on Enacted Sensemaking in the Bhopal Disaster," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 537-550, May.
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    5. Gerardo Patriotta, 2003. "Sensemaking on the Shop Floor: Narratives of Knowledge in Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 349-375, March.
    6. Karl E. Weick & Kathleen M. Sutcliffe & David Obstfeld, 2005. "Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 409-421, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Patricio Osorio-Vega, 2019. "The Ethics of Entrepreneurial Shared Value," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 981-995, July.
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    3. Hadi Al-Abrrow & Jaber Ali & Alhamzah Alnoor, 2022. "Multilevel Influence of Routine Redesigning, Legitimacy and Functional Affordance on Sustainability Accounting: Mediating Role of Organizational Sense-making," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 23(2), pages 287-312, April.
    4. Elizabeth Hewitt, 2021. "Contradictory Conservation: The Role of Leadership in Shaping Energy Efficiency Culture in Urban Residential Cooperative Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-19, January.

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