... focused largely on planned transitions and firm-level outcomes, less is known about how sudden departures shape employee sensemaking and why reactions vary in intensity. We investigate how relational proximity to the departed leader and perceived procedural legitimacy condition employees’ interpretive...

... 07 09 2025 31 12 2025 20 02 2026 11 03 2026 Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflict of interest. Patrycja Paleń-Tondel can be contacted at: patrycja.palen-tondel@ue.wroc.pl Organisational adaptation Sensemaking Person–organisation fit Values...

... under similar institutional contexts. Design/methodology/approach Based on 25 expert interviews with digital professionals in PAOs, the study applies sensemaking theory and the Gioia methodology to reconstruct how organizations assign meaning to digital initiatives and shape distinct strategies...

... public service media narratives have wider implications in possibly shaping the future attractiveness of the industry and organizational members' understanding of their identity. Originality/value This research contributes to sensemaking literature in that it explores the role of power – explicitly...

...Charlott Hübel Purpose This paper adopts a sensemaking lens to explore the process of entrepreneurship-driven organizational transformation for sustainability. Design/methodology/approach Analysis is based on an in-depth case study of a large European meat company. Sensemaking by top...

... professionalism and volunteerism which are problematised in the paper. Originality/value The originality of the paper is found in the insight it provides in the sensemaking of volunteer firefighters and public managers of diverse of change regions and fire stations during the regionalization process...

...Noora Jansson; Nina Lunkka; Marjo Suhonen; Merja Meriläinen; Heikki Wiik Purpose The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of how sensemaking occurs as a holistic, processual phenomenon during an organisational change. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal, qualitative case...

...Hongxia Peng Purpose The role of imagination ( Gioia et al., 2002 ; Weick, 1995, 2005, 2006 ) and the potential of distributed sensemaking (Weick et al., 2005) are highlighted in existing sensemaking studies in a distinct manner. The purpose of this paper is to articulate...

... phase is not simply passive waiting time for organizational members. Evidence from a three-year research project demonstrates how organizational members engage in recurring patterns of sensemaking, positioning and scripting of possible futures in preparation for the organizational changes that next...

...Amer Saleem Khan Purpose Scholarly research has increasingly emphasised the need for more research that provides fine-grained empirical accounts of how context plays a role in sensemaking. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth look at how broader institutional context shapes...

...Sevda Helpap; Sigrid Bekmeier-Feuerhahn The results broaden the horizons because they suggest a model of “emotionally primed” enacted sensemaking for employees during organizational change by offering a new theoretical framework (enacted sensemaking and substantive processing) and a new...

... the properties of reciprocity in making sense of urgent strategic change, then developing them through the lens of a gift exchange. Design/methodology/approach – The author draws on several qualitative methods to study sensegiving and sensemaking processes in Alpha and Beta from 2011 to 2014: insider...

...Norbert Steigenberger Purpose – Following various calls for research, the purpose of this paper is to adopt theories of emotion and action to understand the affective dimension of sensemaking processes in organizational change endeavors. Design/methodology/approach – This paper...

...Luigi De Bernardis; Luca Giustiniano Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible coexistence of single and multiple organizational identities (OIs) after mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In particular, it describes how the sensemaking process leads the acquired and acquiring...

.... The paper demonstrates how stories are used not only in retrospective sensemaking of existing problems but also in giving prospective sense to the possibilities for resolving protracted problems through innovative solutions that in turn facilitates a level of collective acceptance and commitment to opening...

... provides an example as to how change agents can engage people within their organizations in the change process through a systematic process of sensemaking that grants moral legitimacy to company's initiatives. Originality/value – The paper draws attention to the importance of religious discourse...

...Gazi Islam Purpose The current study aims to explore the role of stories in organizational sensemaking processes. Rather than positioning stories as one among many different sensemaking mechanisms, it is argued that stories allow a particular kind of sensemaking that is inherently open‐ended...

... in the sensemaking tradition. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides a rhetorical analysis of Weick's response to the author's critique, showing that it is directed at the ethos of the critic. For the purpose of the analysis, ethos is conventionally defined as the character, competence and goodwill...

...Joana R.C. Kuntz; Jorge F.S. Gomes Purpose The purpose of the present paper is to advance a testable model, rooted on well‐established control and self‐regulation theory principles, explaining the causal links between change‐related sensemaking, interpretation, readiness and subsequent behavioural...

...Michal Izak Purpose The purpose of this research is to enable the examination of sensemaking mechanisms, inherent in the discourse of organizational spirituality (OS), which embed meanings this discourse creates. In order to achieve this goal the paper explores the pivotal notion of “spirituality...