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Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)

Item

Title
Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)
Abstract/Description
When Karl Weick's seminal article, ‘Enacted Sensemaking in Crisis Situations’, was published in 1988, it caused the field to think very differently about how crises unfold in organizations, and how emergent crises might be more quickly curtailed. More than 20 years later, we offer insights inspired by the central ideas in that article. Beginning with an exploration of key sensemaking studies in the crisis and change literatures, we reflect on lessons learned about sensemaking in turbulent conditions since Weick (1988), and argue for two core themes that underlie sensemaking in such contexts: shared meanings and emotion. We examine when and how shared meanings and emotion are more and less likely to enable more helpful, or adaptive, sensemaking, and conclude with some suggestions for future research in the sensemaking field.
Date
2010
In publication
Journal of Management Studies
Volume
47
Issue
3
Pages
551-580
Resource type
en
Medium
en Print
Background/context type
en Conceptual
IRE Approach/Concept
Sensemaking/Interpretation
Open access/free-text available
en Yes
Peer reviewed
en Yes
Language
en
ISSN
1467-6486
Citation
Maitlis, S., & Sonenshein, S. (2010). Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988). Journal of Management Studies, 47(3), 551–580. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00908.x

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