Amy Thurlow

Making sense of sensemaking: the critical sensemaking approach

– The purpose of this paper is to revisit the oft cited but as yet not operationalized Weicks sensemaking framework, in order to provide suggested ways forward. Development of a method based on Weicks sensemaking is suggested as a starting point for a heuristic that takes into account missing elements from his original model while operationalizing (critical) sensemaking as an analytical tool for understanding organizational events., – Following the trajectory of sensemaking, the limitations of Weicks model were discussed (i.e. failure to address power and context) and the critical sensemaking was developed as a method that takes into account agency in context. Empirical studies that apply sensemaking were discussed., – It is concluded that plausibility and identity construction are key to understanding how some voices are heard over others and through critical sensemaking sense that can be made of such phenomena as the gendering or organizational culture and discriminatory practices in organizations., – A heuristic can help people to understand the socio‐psychological properties involved in behavioural outcomes., – Critical sensemaking builds on and operationalizes Weicks original sensemaking approach and demonstrates how it can be used in a range of empirical studies, something that Weick himself suggested was lacking.

Change, talk and sensemaking

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the change experience of a regional health centre that was merged in the late 1990s and shows how organizational talk becomes privileged in the change process, and how some talk becomes meaningful in the constitution of organizational identity.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes the process through which some talk is privileged in the organizational change process. The deconstruction of language used throughout this analysis highlights the relationship between sites of power and the ability to affect sensemaking among organizational members. Using a post‐structuralist approach, the authors apply the analytic framework of critical sensemaking (CSM) and critical discourse analysis.Findings – Organizational talk is presented as the enactment of a sensemaking process and insights are offered into the process of how organizational identities are maintained, altered or constrained during change. The discursive effects of the language of change, inc...

GHOSTS IN THE HALLWAYS: UNSEEN ACTORS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

When considering successful organizational change strategies, the prescriptions usually include some strong sense of leadership; a champion for the cause of change. Likewise there is often the suggestion of the requirement for a commitment to change on the part of others in the organization. Yet organizations and their associated actors are held in a social context which is both fluid and persistent at different times and locations. This study suggests that we may gain some useful insights about organizational change through following the breadcrumb trails that these actors leave in their stories about what they did and how change happened. Through employing actor network theory (ANT) and following the trails found in interviews regarding change at an eastern North American community college, this study explores the intersecting stories and persistent actors that contribute to the implementation of an organizational change strategy. This is an examination of the particular situation of a change leader who leaves the organization part-way through the story. In his account, it becomes discernable just how some actors become more or less persistent, indeed punctualized, allowing an examination of the manners in which such actors are able to enroll others in their cause. This tracing of how the messages and enactment of change (or lack of change) persist allows the uncovering of evidence concerning durable actors. This is especially poignant in situations involving invisible or absent actors such as this organizations retired Chief Executive Officer, and thus has the potential to reveal some important attributes of persistent actors in organizational change situations.

Canada—Development and Expansion of Public Relations

For over a century, the dominant narrative in Canadian public relations history has been starkly American. However, while in its infancy, a growing body of literature is now emerging to illuminate the ways in which the Canadian public relations experience is distinctly Canadian. This broader narrative is beginning to show how Canada’s focus on public policy and immigration together formed the pillars of current PR practice. While more study is needed, there is every indication that this is a significant departure from the Americanized approach that was once unequivocally accepted.