Process, Sensemaking, and Organizing

by Hernes, Tor; Maitlis, Sally

• ISBN13: 9780199655564
• ISBN10: 0199655561
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Process, Sensemaking, and Organizingis the first in a series of volumes which explore perspectives on process theories, an emerging approach to the study of organizations that focuses on (understanding) activities, interactions, and change as essential properties of organizations rather than structures and state - an approach which prioritizes activity over product, change over persistence, novelty over continuity, and expression over determination. Process and sensemaking may be seen as mutually interlocking phenomena and, as such, are cornerstones in process thinking, This volume brings together contributions from an international group of scholars energized by process organization studies. The collection offers perspectives from different disciplines, insights from diverse theoretical traditions and contexts, and parallels made with a range of cultural forms, including art, poetry, and cookery. At the same time, the chapters exhibit a clear emphasis on a process ontology, process theorizing, and narrative thinking. Across this rich and varied collection recurrent themes emerge that distinguish process theorizing from the more logico-scientific, variance-oriented research that dominates organization studies today. This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and graduate students in management, organization studies, and sociology who wish to better understand the emergent, changing, and flow-like character of organizational life and expand their understanding of the nature of sensemaking as a basis for organizing.

Author Biography

Tor Hernes is Professor of Organization Theory at Copenhagen Business School. Among his books are Understanding Organization as Process: Theory for a Tangled World (London: Routledge, 2007) and Actor-network Theory and Organizing (edited with Barbara Czarniawska, 2005, Copenhagen Business School). Tor Hernes works from a combination of process philosophy, systems theory and Actor-Network Theory.


Sally Maitlis is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia. Her work has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, MIT Sloan Management Review, Organization Science, and Organization Studies. She is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Organization Studies.

Table of Contents

Introducing Perspectives on Process Organization Studies, Ann Langley and Haridimos Tsoukas
Process, Sensemaking, and Organizing: an Introduction, Tor Hernes and Sally Maitlis
Stop Making (Philosophical) Sense: Notes towards a Process Organizational-thinking beyond 'Philosophy', John Mullarkey
Co-Constitution, Causality, and Confluence: Organizing in a World without Entities, Kenneth J. Gergen
Adopting a Process Orientation....in Practice: Chiasmic Relations, Language, and Embodiment in a Living World, John Shotter
The Poetics of Process: Theorizing the Ineffable in Organization Studies, Karl E. Weick
Rediscovering Becoming: Insights from an Oriental Perspective on Process Organization Studies, Robert Chia
Going Back to Go Forward: On Studying Organizing in Action Nets, Barbara Czarniawska
Actor-Network Theory, Callon's Scallops, and Process-based Organization Studies, Tor Hernes
Organizational Learning through Problem Absorption: a Processual View, Sergey E. Osadchiy, Irma Bogenrieder, and Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens
Temporal Sensemaking: Managers' Use of Time to Frame Organizational Change, Elden Wiebe
Studying Metaphors-in-use in their Social and Institutional Context - Sensemaking and Discourse Theory, Silvia Jordan and Hermann Mitterhofer
Future-oriented Sensemaking: Temporalities and Institutional Legitimation, Robert P. Gephart, Jr., Cagri Topal, and Zhen Zhang