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Article
Publication date: 27 November 2018

Eeva Aromaa, Päivi Eriksson, Jean Helms Mills, Esa Hiltunen, Maarit Lammassaari and Albert J. Mills

The purpose of this paper is to analyze current literature on critical sensemaking (CSM) to assess its significance and potential for understanding the role of agency in…

1122

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze current literature on critical sensemaking (CSM) to assess its significance and potential for understanding the role of agency in management and organizational studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis involves an examination of a selection of 51 applied studies that cite, draw on and contribute to CSM, to assess the challenges and potential of utilizing CSM.

Findings

The paper reveals the range of organizational issues that this work has been grappling with; the unique insights that CSM has revealed in the study of management and organizations; and some of the challenges and promises of CSM for studying agency in context. This sets up discussion of organizational issues and insights provided by CSM to reveal its potential in dealing with issues of agency in organizations. The sheer scope of CSM studies indicates that it has relevance for a range of management researchers, including those interested in behavior at work, theories of organization, leadership and crisis management, diversity management, emotion, ethics and justice, and many more.

Research limitations/implications

The main focus is restricted to providing a working knowledge of CSM rather than other approaches to agency.

Practical implications

The paper outlines the challenges and potential for applying the CSM theory.

Social implications

The paper reveals the range of problem-solving issues that CSM studies have been applied to.

Originality/value

This is the first major review of the challenges and potential of applying CSM; concluding with a discussion of its strengths and limitations and providing a summary of insights for future work.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 November 2023

Albert James Mills, Päivi Eriksson, Eeva Aromaa and Outi-Maaria Palo-Oja

The purpose of this article is to address research gaps relating to agency and institutionalism in new institutional theory (NIT) and institutional work (IW) and use the critical…

942

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to address research gaps relating to agency and institutionalism in new institutional theory (NIT) and institutional work (IW) and use the critical sensemaking (CSM) approach to bridge the debates around agency, especially on issues of language and discourse, actor network theory (ANT) and history.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual analysis of the literature is performed to discuss issues of agency in IW and CSM in organizations, and examples of empirical studies are used to illustrate connectivity, contrast and fusion.

Findings

The analysis illustrates points of distance (rather than disconnect), but most importantly, connectivity and the potential for further developments between the literature on IW and CSM.

Social implications

Discussion around new possibilities to focus on agency has the potential to contribute to humanist thinking about the (agentic) character of organizations and the potential for social change.

Originality/value

The article contributes to the discussion of agency in the organization through a starting point (i.e. CSM) outside of NIT.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 25 August 2020

Eeva Aromaa, Päivi Eriksson, Tero Montonen and Albert J. Mills

Adopting the critical sensemaking (CSM) lens to the micro-level interaction between leader and employees, the article offers a theoretically informed example of leading with soft…

777

Abstract

Purpose

Adopting the critical sensemaking (CSM) lens to the micro-level interaction between leader and employees, the article offers a theoretically informed example of leading with soft power and positive emotions that blurs boundaries in democratic organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology involves videography and interpretive analysis of video-recorded interactions that combines focused ethnography with video analysis. The analysis focuses on face-to-face meeting interactions between a leader and employees in a small service firm.

Findings

The findings illustrate how restoring the sense of the democratic organisation is an accumulating and complex phenomenon where explicit and implicit organisational rules and changing identity positions are enacted by constructing affective loyalties, moral and reflex emotions that serve as soft power capacities helping the leader and employees to enact meanings attached to a democratic rather than hierarchical organisation.

Practical implications

The article provides new insight for human resources practitioners and leaders who want to build resilient organisations and pay attention to shared, distributed and relational leadership practices, co-creative work and collective decision-making processes.

Originality/value

The power explored in previous sensemaking studies has been power over, which is most often associated with the negative aspects of power, such as domination and suppression, in the pursuit of specific performance. The applications of videography method linking ethnography and interpretive analysis of video-recorded interactions are still rare in organisation studies.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1998

Päivi Eriksson and Keijo Räsänen

This paper focuses on the processes by which different manager groups can influence product mix changes. The paper analyses three different types of process ‐ dominance…

2238

Abstract

This paper focuses on the processes by which different manager groups can influence product mix changes. The paper analyses three different types of process ‐ dominance, compromise and integration ‐ through which the extensiveness and renewal of a product mix was shaped by groups of marketing and production managers, general managers and owner‐managers. Each of the groups developed their own understanding, or “logic of action”, about the most desirable product mix. It is shown that these logics of action play an important role in product mix changes, not as isolated elements but in interaction with one another and the industry context. This paper provides a detailed empirical analysis of a product mix pattern over a long duration by illustrating the three different forms of managerial interaction by which the product mix was achieved. The contribution of the study is twofold. First, the study shows that historical and contextual studies are required in order to understand the role and relevance of marketing activities and marketing based actors in business firms. Second, the study gives evidence for the usefulness of inter‐disciplinary research and discussion within the field of marketing studies.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 32 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 25 September 2009

Päivi Eriksson, Saija Katila and Mervi Niskanen

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of gender on the usage of different funding sources in a sample of Finnish small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The…

1175

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of gender on the usage of different funding sources in a sample of Finnish small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim is also to embed the results into the country‐context, which is characterized by the long history of women's economic activity and bank‐based capital markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The database includes variables on terms of credit for the firms' most recent loans and detailed information on the firms' banking relationships. The total number of firm‐year observations in the database is 3,519. The analysis is based on multivariate tests.

Findings

The funding patterns of women‐owned SMEs (WOS) and men‐owned SMEs (MOS) in the data are different: WOS are more likely to use additional equity investments by current owners as a funding source. They do so at least partly because of their positive attitudes towards this funding source. The results also contradict prior studies, which indicate that MOS have easier access to bank lending. The results suggest that there are no gender‐related differences in the use of bank debt. Also in contrast to prior studies, the paper finds no differences in firm size or profitability between WOS and MOS.

Research limitations/implications

The results of study both confirm and contradict the results of prior research and the paper suggests that this is due to the context‐specific features of the Finnish labour market and the gender system as well as the bank‐centered financial markets.

Practical implications

Concerning the issues of gender and finance, policy makers and financial experts in any country should not uncritically rely on the research results arrived at in other countries.

Originality/value

Only a handful of studies have investigated issues of gender and finance in SMEs embedding the results into the country‐context.

Details

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-6266

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 16 August 2013

Mauri Laukkanen and Päivi Eriksson

The paper's first objective is to develop a new conceptual framework for categorizing and designing cognitive, specifically comparative, causal mapping (CCM) research by building…

571

Abstract

Purpose

The paper's first objective is to develop a new conceptual framework for categorizing and designing cognitive, specifically comparative, causal mapping (CCM) research by building upon the theory‐centred and participant‐centred perspectives. The second purpose is to enable the discerned study prototypes by introducing a new CCM software application, CMAP3.

Design/methodology/approach

Building upon the distinction between theory‐centred (etic) and participant‐centred (emic) perspectives in social research, we first construct and apply a conceptual framework for analysing and categorising extant CCM studies in terms of their objectives and basic design. Next, after noting the important role and basic tasks in computerising causal mapping studies, we present a new CCM software application.

Findings

The theory‐centred/participant‐centred perspectives define four causal mapping study prototypes, each with different goals, basic designs and methodological requirements. Noting the present lack of widely accessible software for qualitatively oriented CCM studies, we introduce CMAP3, a new non‐commercial Windows application, and summarise how it is used in related research.

Originality/value

The framework and the studies representing the prototypes demonstrate the versatility of CCM methods and that the proposed framework offers a new, systematic approach to categorising and designing CCM studies. Research technically, CMAP3 can support the defined CCM‐prototypes, based on a low‐structured (inductive/qualitative) or a structured (nomothetic/quantitative) methodological approach/stance, and having therefore different needs of data acquisition, processing, coding, aggregation/comparison, and analysis of the emerging aggregated cause maps’ contents or structure.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 October 2023

Ilpo Helén and Hanna Lehtimäki

The paper contributes to the discussion on valuation in organization studies and strategic management literature. The nascent literature on valuation practices has examined…

712

Abstract

Purpose

The paper contributes to the discussion on valuation in organization studies and strategic management literature. The nascent literature on valuation practices has examined established markets where producers and consumers are known and rivalry in the market is a given. Furthermore, previous research has operated with a narrow meaning of value as either a financial profit or a subjective consumer preference. Such a narrow view on value is problematic and insufficient for studying the interlacing of innovation and value creation in emerging technoscientific business domains.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors present an empirical study about value creation in an emerging technoscience business domain formed around personalized medicine and digital health data.

Findings

The results of this analysis show that in a technoscientific domain, valuation of innovations is multiple and malleable, entails pursuing attractiveness in collaboration and partnerships and is performative, and due to emphatic future orientation, values are indefinite and promissory.

Research limitations/implications

As research implications, this study shows that valuation practices in an emerging technoscience business domain focus on defining the potential economic value in the future and attracting partners as probable future beneficiaries. Commercial value upon innovation in an embryonic business milieu is created and situated in valuation practices that constitute the prospective market, the prevalent economic discourse, and rationale. This is in contrast to an established market, where valuation practices are determined at the intersection of customer preferences and competitive arenas where suppliers, producers, service providers and new entrants to the market present value propositions.

Practical implications

The study findings extend discussion on valuation from established business domains to emerging technoscience business domains which are in a “pre-competition” phase where suppliers, customers, producers and their collaborative and competitive relations are not yet established.

Social implications

As managerial implications, this study provides insights into health innovation stakeholders, including stakeholders in the public, private and academic sectors, about the ecosystem dynamics in a technoscientific innovation. Such insight is useful in strategic decision-making about ecosystem strategy and ecosystem business model for value proposition, value creation and value capture in an emerging innovation domain characterized by collaborative and competitive relations among stakeholders. To business managers, the findings of this study about valuation practices are useful in strategic decision-making about ecosystem strategy and ecosystem business model for value proposition, value creation and value capture in an emerging innovation domain characterized by collaborative and competitive relations among stakeholders. To policy makers, this study provides an in-depth analysis of an overall business ecosystem in an emerging technoscience business that can be propelled to increase the financial investments in the field. As a policy implication, this study provides insights into the various dimensions of valuation in technoscience business to policy makers, who make governance decisions to guide and control the development of medical innovation using digital health data.

Originality/value

This study's results expand previous theorizing on valuation by showing that in technoscientific innovation all types of value created – scientific, clinical, social or economic – are predominantly promissory. This study complements the nascent theorizing on value creation and valuation practices of technoscientific innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 6 November 2018

265

Abstract

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Stefanie Ruel

6067

Abstract

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 21 January 2019

Abstract

Details

Stem-Professional Women’s Exclusion in the Canadian Space Industry
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-570-2

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