Communication, Meaning, and Organized Action

Donnellon, Anne; Gray, Barbara; Bougon, M.

doi:10.2307/2392765

Cited by 283 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…It is neither analysis nor synthesis of common attributes of associated things. Donellon, Gray and Bougon (1986) argue that metaphors create original interpretation of experience by asking the listener to see one thing in terms of something else and create new ways of experiencing reality.…”

Section:  Metaphorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working with tacit knowledge: An empirical investigation in glass blowing tradition in Sweden

Kurti¹

2012

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Tacit knowledge is argued to be a crucial resource to organizations' competitive advantage. The majority of research on tacit knowledge is oriented towards the conversion of tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, thus assuming that all knowledge can be made explicit and captured in formal ways. These approaches overlook the intangible nature of tacit knowledge by overestimating that explicit knowledge. This study takes a human centered approach with the aim to examine the factors that are necessary for an environment that works with tacit knowledge. A theoretical framework derived from the literature review and served as guidance for the data collection and analysis. Hermeneutics is the underlying philosophy that guides this study. The study is qualitative study conducted in the glass blowing in Sweden, respectively in two sites Pukeberg and Transjö Hytta. Participants of the study were masters and apprentices from these two settings. Data collection methods included literature studies, documents, participant observation, informal interviews and semi-structured interviews.Results from the analysis show the significance of several social factors that need to be present in an environment that involves tacit knowledge. These factors appeared to be related to each other. Data analysis indicated that not all factors are equally important, thus they have been classified into primary and secondary factors. III Executive summaryIn the knowledge-driven society, tacit knowledge is argued to have become the primary resource for sustainable competitive advantage for organizations. The intangible nature that characterizes tacit knowledge is argued to provide organizations with unique market positions. Despite its importance, tacit knowledge has often been an ambiguous notion and often attributed as the opposite of the explicit knowledge. The majority of approaches focus towards the codification of tacit knowledge and ways of storing it into different Information Technology systems. These approaches treat knowledge as an object that can be detached from the humans, stored, transferred and shared.This study has taken a human centred approach aiming to identify the necessary factors that enable effective working with tacit knowledge. The study is conducted in the glass blowing tradition in Sweden, respectively in two glass blowing facilities. The rationale on focusing the study in this tradition relies on the fact that this tradition has preserved the traditional master/apprentice relation. Data is collected from both settings through literature studies, documents, participant observations, informal interviews and semi-structured interviews.Results from the data analysis show the significance of several social factors that need to be present in an environment that involves tacit knowledge. These factors appeared to be related to each other, some contributing to the others. Data analysis indicated that not all factors are equally important. Thus they have been classified into primary and secondary factors. Data collect...

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Section:  Metaphorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working with tacit knowledge: An empirical investigation in glass blowing tradition in Sweden

Kurti¹

2012

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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“…Communication allows information to be seen in a broader context, specifically by individuals who might use or be influenced by it (Slater & Narver, 1995). Rather than necessitating a single interpretation, communication is a mechanism allowing for organized action despite interpretative differences (Donnellon, Gray, & Bougon, 1986) and is a central component of sensemaking (Weick et al, 2005). Thus, through communication, defined as the exchange of strategic informa tion, organizations make sense of their environment.…”

Section: Communicative: Strategic Information Exchangementioning

confidence: 99%

Developing the organization's sensemaking capability: Precursor to an adaptive strategic marketing response

Neill

McKee

Rose

2007

Industrial Marketing Management

111

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Effective strategic planning demands that organizations develop an understanding of the forces shaping the situation by engaging the collective efforts and interpretive capabilities of various representatives of the organization. This study investigates the mechanisms by which such an understanding develops and, subsequently, shapes marketing strategy. Specifically, organizations are examined as sensemaking units stimulated by perceived environmental turbulence, cultural open-mindedness, and team functional diversity. These factors are modeled as determinants of an organization's sensemaking capability, which is comprised of communicative, interpretive, and analytical dimensions. This study argues that a developed sensemaking capability increases the potential range of strategic responses and, ultimately, enhances customer-based performance. The results from a sample of wholesale distributors suggest that organizations that maintain greater internal variety are better able to sense and respond to the environment.

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“…Past research has demon strated that firms can and do act in complex environments despite interpretive differences (Donnellon et al, 1986;Fiol, 1994). In fact, ambiguity may facilitate strategic change (Eisenberg, 1984;Gioia and Chittipeddi, 1991) with contradictions serving as a potential source of novel ideas and actions (Fiol, 1995).…”

Section: Levers To Market-focused Strategic Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving adaptive ends through equivocality: A study of organizational antecedents and consequences

Neill¹,

Rose²

2007

Journal of Business Research

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Confronting complex situations is the hallmark of strategic decision-making. While these situations may be perceived as equivocal, organizations must cope, act, and thrive within such ambiguities. This study explores the manifestation and regulation of equivocality during strategic marketing decision-making. The results indicate that organizations that tolerate ambiguity perceive greater equivocality in problem situations and exhibit greater adaptive behavior; however, the findings come with a caveat: while experienced firms may enjoy these benefits, the situation is more complex for firms with limited product-market knowledge.Keywords: Marketing decisions; Equivocality; Innovation; Performance; Knowledge In dynamic environments, understanding is transitory. Given the novel, complex, and indefinite nature of strategic decisions (Mintzberg et al., 1976), organizations may benefit from an open and broad interpretive capability in order to effectively model and adapt to external forces. Formulaic thinking is better suited to closed-systems where maintenance and stability are present and learning is not necessary. The challenge is in managing and remaining attuned to the equivocal inputs that manifest during strategic decision-making in information intensive environ ments while not succumbing to equivocality's befuddling effect. While prior studies (e.g., Day, 1994;Sinkula et al., 1997) suggest that the organization should broaden its perception and be open-minded, unresolved is the mechanism that allows for the emergence of equivocality without succumbing to its disorient ing nature, which might dampen performance.This study examines the relationship between organizational interpretation and action by capturing both the emergence and effect of equivocality during strategic marketing decisionmaking. The paper directly examines equivocality and its ante cedents and consequences. Equivocality is defined as a problem situation with multiple, possibly contradictory, interpretations that manifest during decision-making (Daft and Lengel, 1986). When viewed as interpretation systems (Daft and Weick, 1984), organizations may be challenged when confronted with equivo cality. Thus, several questions guide this research: 1) what are the organizational levers to equivocality and strategic change? 2) how do organizations regulate equivocality during strategic marketing decision-making? and 3) what are the consequences of equivocality? To examine these questions, we first present a conceptual framework and develop hypotheses, then describe the study method. After reporting the analyses and results, we discuss the study's findings, limitations, and implications.

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Communication, Meaning, and Organized Action

Cited by 283 publications

References 10 publications

Working with tacit knowledge: An empirical investigation in glass blowing tradition in Sweden

Working with tacit knowledge: An empirical investigation in glass blowing tradition in Sweden

Developing the organization's sensemaking capability: Precursor to an adaptive strategic marketing response

Achieving adaptive ends through equivocality: A study of organizational antecedents and consequences

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