The Role of Language in Organizational Sensemaking: An Integrative Theoretical Framework and an Agenda for Future Research

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth of research on organizational sensemaking and an acknowledgment of the critical role of language in the sensemaking process, the literature on sensemaking and language is fragmented. In particular, there is no systematic review that explains the roles and functions of different linguistic elements in meaning construction. The purpose of this review paper is to develop an integrative theoretical framework that organizes existing research in a way that allows us to better understand how different linguistic processes shape the construction of meaning in sensemaking. First, we explain how a cognitive linguistic perspective elucidates how language provides the cognitive associations, schema, and frames used in sensemaking. Second, we discuss how a focus on the social practices of language use, as in rhetorical, narrative, or interactionist approaches, illuminates the patterns of meaning-making among organizational members in social interaction. Third, we explain how a focus on discourse helps us to understand how discursive structures enable or constrain sensemaking and thereby reproduce or transform systems of thought. This leads us to turn to the differences in these perspectives and suggest how they can be brought together in an integrative theoretical framework. Finally, we discuss the contributions of our framework and propose an agenda for future research focusing on the multifaceted role of language in sensemaking, intertextual and multimodal links in the language of sensemaking, the agentic and structural role of language in sensemaking, episodic and latent aspects of language use in sensemaking, and the role of power in discursive sensemaking.

How managers' perceptions about dynamic complexity change: sensemaking catalyzed by shock and surprise

“…The surprise was an intense experience. Our findings suggest that there were two elements to the shock and surprise that were particularly material to the changes brought to sensemaking: first the intensity of the emotion and second the surprise element, which together brought about an embodied, physical, reaction (Whittle et al ., 2023) and loosened attachment to previous beliefs.…”

“…Whether other types of emotion would have the same effect would be an interesting avenue to explore. Our findings suggest that there were two elements to the shock and surprise that were particularly material to the changes brought to sensemaking: first the intensity of the emotion and second the surprise element, which together brought about an embodied, physical, reaction (Whittle et al ., 2023) and loosened attachment to previous beliefs. Whether this is to be found in other types of intense emotions or whether they need to be experienced together is an interesting avenue for further research.…”

“…Whether this is to be found in other types of intense emotions or whether they need to be experienced together is an interesting avenue for further research. As Whittle et al (2023) suggest, cognitive and psychological interests in emotions, with recent research on emotions as embodied phenomena, represent an important direction for future research.…”

“…Managers have many cognitive building blocks (Whittle et al, 2023) i.e. perceptions, opinions, beliefs, mental models about the expected market growth rate and the timing and strength of multiple drivers that limit growth and direction.…”

The Effects of Language-Related Misunderstanding at Work

“…By drawing on research across domains, our related goal is to spur new research avenues that will provide useful insights to manage this phenomenon in organizations (Cronin & George, 2023; Cronin, Stouten, & van Knippenberg, 2021). In doing so, our review builds on other reviews in organizational theory that consider alternate, distinct aspects of language, such as mechanisms that connect words to action (Lockwood, Giorgi, & Glynn, 2019), vocabularies (i.e., rhetoric, Loewenstein, Ocasio, & Jones, 2012), and sensemaking processes (e.g., Whittle, Vaara, & Maitlis, 2023). In addition, our review also expands on reviews in international business research that focus on the relationship between standard language diversity and the management of multinational organizations (e.g., Karhunen, Kankaanranta, Louhiala-Salminen, & Piekkari, 2018; Tenzer et al, 2017).…”