Thirty-five years of sensemaking in the business & management research: a bibliometric analysis, review and discussion

Abstract

Sensemaking is widely acknowledged as providing valuable guidance on how individuals and groups organize to perceive issues at stake, thereby lessening the negative impacts of future unknowns. Sensemaking is not a new field, yet events surrounding the recent COVID-19 pandemic may benefit from a sensemaking perspective. While prior reviews have considered sensemaking research, this is arguably the first bibliometric review of sensemaking and its application across the entire business and management domain. From 2,838 articles, we used performance analysis and science mapping techniques to offer propositions and avenues for future research. We advance theory and offer practical implications by identifying and providing context about prominent theorists, authors, journals, articles, and environments where sensemaking has been studied. Thirty-five years after the first article on sensemaking was published, this paper offers an extensive review demonstrating the evolution, current interests, and future directions of sensemaking research in the business and management discipline.