Yes / As multinational enterprises (MNEs) increasingly disaggregate and disperse corporate headquarters (CHQ) activities, the allocation of regional management mandates (RMMs) to local operating subsidiaries is becoming more common. RMMs explicitly break with the traditional assumption of a clear separation between centralised and local decision-making. Yet we know little of how RMMs are enacted by the units involved, or how they evolve over time. Based on a case study of Unilever, we find that RMMs are inherently ambiguous, and identify circumstances under which ambiguity manifests and triggers cycles of sensemaking and sensegiving about the meaning of the mandate. These cycles result in the co-construction of the mandate by multiple units, with changes in RMM scope and governance over time. We also find that sensemaking and sensegiving are most intense among boundary-spanning middle managers. Our work challenges prevailing assumptions that mandates are largely unambiguous when assigned and are unilateral or dyadic accomplishments; demonstrates the importance of sub-unit level analysis in MNEs; and highlights the potential of structuration theory to enrich our understanding of sensemaking and sensegiving in organisations. / Funding from the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS)

No / There is growing demand for cost effective and reliable floating production systems to maximize marginal and new deepwater fields worldwide. Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels are considered to be the most economical and viable options to meet this demand. Yet, FPSO projects are prone to significant cost and schedule growth. On average, FPSOs have been reported to experience a 20% cost growth and are delayed by six months. Overruns and delays represent uncertainties for owners, contractors and financial institutions. In-depth interviews with twenty-three practitioners about their experiences with FPSO projects revealed that rework arising from design and construction errors were major contributors to cost and schedule growth. Key latent conditions contributing to rework are classified according to people, organization and project. Using retrospective sensemaking an examination of the determinant histories in a new build and conversion FPSO that experienced rework was undertaken. The sharing of experience(s) is deemed pivotal for reducing rework in future projects, particularly through the use of communities of practice that are able to stimulate situated learning to take place. A reduction in rework will not only reduce cost and schedule growth, improve operational performance and augment safety.

<p>As a result of organizational restructuring, the role of the middle managers has changed over time. Studies of change processes have increasingly placed focus on middle managers. According to researchers, middle managers play a key role in implementing the change. When putting the change into practice, there are factors affecting the middle managers. However, further research is needed regarding what constrains and enables the middle manager in these change processes.</p><p>Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the sensemaking and sensegiving process during organizational change, with focus on middle managers. To answer to the purpose, a theoretical model combining Balogun and Johnson’s (2005), Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) models and theories of middle management is developed. By using the model we analyze the centralization of the accounting departments at the Swedish energy company Vattenfall. This change process constitutes the case of this thesis.</p><p>The empirical findings are based on ten interviews and two group discussions with top management, middle managers, co-workers as well as other key actors in the project providing trustworthiness to our study. A qualitative method using an abductive approach is used in the thesis to explore the actors’ interpretation of the change and capture the complexity of the case.</p><p>The conclusion includes enablers and constraints during the sensemaking and sensegiving process for the middle managers during the centralization of Vattenfall’s accounting departments. The identified enablers are the communication channels, a middle manager’s awareness of employees’ approach of making sense, the provided tools used to adjust working processes, some Business Units’ initial negative attitude towards the change, as well as the rejuvenated spirit. Finally, the middle managers themselves enabled the change as a result of their unique role in the organization.</p><p>On the other hand, the recognized constraints in the sensemaking and sensegiving process of the middle managers are; concerns regarding middle managers’ future employment, their ‘stuck in the middle’ position, limited resources, new working processes not adopted by some co-workers, and positive attitudes that resulted to flaws in the planning at some Business Units.</p>

A lógica do business case em que as organizações consideram aspectos sociais e ambientais apenas se trazem retorno econômico, historicamente, tem sido predominante e praticamente não questionada tanto na literatura quanto na prática. Recentemente, contudo, diante da piora de questões sociais e ambientais complexas, tem havido a conclamação para que as empresas adotem uma postura de não somente reduzir o impacto que geram como também tomar ações no sentido de que contribuam efetivamente com soluções para tanto. Ao assumirem tal postura, porém, as empresas precisam tomar decisões no cotidiano organizacional que envolvem lidar com paradoxos, isto é, situações em que ocorrem simultaneamente elementos contraditórios, ainda que relacionados. Isto porque, no caso da sustentabilidade corporativa, frequentemente, não é possível alinhar os três pilares da sustentabilidade, conciliar objetivos de curto, médio e longo prazo e atender simultaneamente o interesse de diversos stakeholders. Diante de tamanho desafio à prática organizacional, pesquisadores da área da sustentabilidade corporativa começaram a investigar a adoção de uma perspectiva integrativa da sustentabilidade, que pressupõe reconhecer a existência desses trade-offs, de forma a tentar gerenciá-los e acomodá-los. A presente pesquisa contribui para a literatura de sustentabilidade corporativa no que tange ao gerenciamento desses trade-offs ao propor como objetivo entender como as empresas significam e lidam com os trade-offs relacionados à sustentabilidade corporativa. Para atender tal objetivo, empregou-se uma estratégia de pesquisa baseada em estudos de casos múltiplos de dez empresas com modelos de negócios sustentáveis de dois setores diferentes. Como lente teórica de análise, adotou-se a perspectiva do sensemaking. A partir da análise das dez empresas estudadas, identificou-se 65 incidentes que envolviam um ou mais trade-offs em relação à sustentabilidade corporativa. Analisou-se, então, os incidentes com uma abordagem indutiva, gerando-se três resultados principais. Primeiro, identificou-se 13 vetores diferentes que abrangem os trade-offs relacionados à sustentabilidade corporativa, agrupados em quatro diferentes categorias. Segundo, propôs-se um modelo que ajuda a explicar como é o processo de construção de significado pelo qual as empresas passam ao se engajarem na acomodação dos trade-offs relacionados à sustentabilidade corporativa. Por fim, identificou-se 14 estratégias que as empresas podem se utilizar para acomodar os trade-offs agrupados em seis diferentes categorias. / The logic of business case in which organizations consider social and environmental aspects only if they bring economic returns has historically been predominant and practically unquestioned in both literature and practice. Recently, however, faced with the worsening of complex social and environmental issues, there has been a call for companies to struggle not only to reduce the impact they generate but also to take actions in order to effectively address solutions. When assuming such a position, however, companies need to make decisions in the organizational practice that involve dealing with paradoxes, that is, situations in which contradictory, yet related, elements occur simultaneously. This is because, in the case of corporate sustainability, it is often not possible to align the three pillars of sustainability, to reconcile short-, medium- and long-term objectives while simultaneously meeting the interests of various stakeholders. Faced with such a challenge to organizational practice, researchers in the area of corporate sustainability have begun to investigate the adoption of an integrative perspective of sustainability, which presupposes recognizing the existence of these trade-offs in order to accommodate and manage them. This research contributes to the corporate sustainability literature regarding the management of these trade-offs by proposing as aim to understand how companies make sense and deal with the trade-offs related to corporate sustainability. In order to achieve this, a research strategy based on multiple case studies of ten companies with sustainable business models from two different sectors was employed. As a theoretical lens of analysis, the sensemaking perspective was adopted. From the analysis of the ten companies studied, 65 incidents that involved one or more trade-offs in relation to corporate sustainability were identified. The incidents were then analyzed with an inductive approach, producing three main results. First, 13 different vectors that encompass trade-offs related to corporate sustainability were identified, grouped into four different categories. Second, a model has been proposed that helps to explain how the process of sensemaking occurs in companies engaged in the accommodation of trade-offs related to corporate sustainability. Finally, 14 strategies that companies can use to accommodate trade-offs were identified, grouped into six different categories.

As a result of organizational restructuring, the role of the middle managers has changed over time. Studies of change processes have increasingly placed focus on middle managers. According to researchers, middle managers play a key role in implementing the change. When putting the change into practice, there are factors affecting the middle managers. However, further research is needed regarding what constrains and enables the middle manager in these change processes. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the sensemaking and sensegiving process during organizational change, with focus on middle managers. To answer to the purpose, a theoretical model combining Balogun and Johnson’s (2005), Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) models and theories of middle management is developed. By using the model we analyze the centralization of the accounting departments at the Swedish energy company Vattenfall. This change process constitutes the case of this thesis. The empirical findings are based on ten interviews and two group discussions with top management, middle managers, co-workers as well as other key actors in the project providing trustworthiness to our study. A qualitative method using an abductive approach is used in the thesis to explore the actors’ interpretation of the change and capture the complexity of the case. The conclusion includes enablers and constraints during the sensemaking and sensegiving process for the middle managers during the centralization of Vattenfall’s accounting departments. The identified enablers are the communication channels, a middle manager’s awareness of employees’ approach of making sense, the provided tools used to adjust working processes, some Business Units’ initial negative attitude towards the change, as well as the rejuvenated spirit. Finally, the middle managers themselves enabled the change as a result of their unique role in the organization. On the other hand, the recognized constraints in the sensemaking and sensegiving process of the middle managers are; concerns regarding middle managers’ future employment, their ‘stuck in the middle’ position, limited resources, new working processes not adopted by some co-workers, and positive attitudes that resulted to flaws in the planning at some Business Units.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis investigates the gap between rhetoric and reality in how organisations use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for marketing and brand differentiation. The rhetoric reality gap is the gap that develops between what organisations say they do and what they actually do. In terms of CSR, this gap is present as the phenomenon of greenwashing, whereby organisations embellish claims about their social and environmental activities. This leads to sceptical consumers and the discrediting of CSR activities in general. Left unmanaged, the gap presents significant reputation risk. However, the identification of the gap also has the potential for driving the organisation towards more responsible business practices. Previous research focused almost exclusively on organisations' CSR activities and the resultant outcomes and not on the views and judgments about CSR found inside organisations. A shift in focus towards the organisational sensemaking around CSR may better explain the dynamics of the rhetoric and reality gap. Basu and Palazzo's process model of sensemaking for the study of CSR, describes the cognitive, linguistic and conative aspects of sensemaking along seven dimensions to produce a CSR profile of organisations. The thesis uses Basu and Palazzo's model to study CSR in the food retail sector. Comparative case studies were undertaken in three of the largest retailers in South Africa in which various people involved with CSR were interviewed after Basu and Palazzo's (2008) model was operationalised. Thereafter a content analysis of the observed outcomes of organisations' CSR activities was undertaken. The observed outcomes were produced by analysing the organisations advertising strategy, website, use of social media, awards won, integrated reports and media reporting. Combining the content analysis with an analysis of the interviews produced a CSR profile for each of the cases which served as the basis for comparison. It was found that the rhetoric and reality gap of the organisations involved in this study could be explained by the organisations’ CSR profiles. The implications for the management of the rhetoric and reality gap varied between organisations. The success of the classification of the case studies meant that Basu and Palazzo’s model is able to produce a CSR profile for an organisation which can be linked to the observed CSR outcomes. In addition particular CSR profiles can explain the origins of specific rhetoric and reality gaps and how best to manage it. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis ondersoek die retoriek en realiteitsgaping wat ontstaan uit organisasies se Korporatiewe Sosiale Verantwoordelikheidsinisiatiewe (KSV). Die retoriek en realitietsgaping is 'n verskil tussen wat organisasies sê hulle doen en wat hulle werklik doen. In terme van KSV is die gaping teenwoordig as die fenomeen van "greenwashing", waar organisasies hulle bydraes tot sosiale en omgewingsake oordryf. Dit lei tot skeptiese verbruikers en maak KSV-aktiwiteite verdag in die algemeen. As hierdie gaping nie bestuur word nie, kan dit bydra tot merkbare reputasie risiko vir organisasies. Die gaping is nie net 'n risiko nie, maar het ook die potensiaal om organisasies na meer verantwoordelike besigheidspraktyk te dryf. Vorige navorsing oor KSV fokus op organisasies se KSV-aktiwiteite en die uitkomste daarvan en nie op die sienings en oordele oor KSV binne organisasies self nie. Organisatoriese singewingsteorie verskuif die fokus na hoe organisasies sin maak oor KSV en kan die aard van die retoriek en realiteitsgaping beter beskryf as hoofstroom navorsing. Basu en Palazzo (2008) se proses-model van singewing vir die studie van KSV beskryf die kognitiewe, taal en konnatiewe aspekte van singewing oor sewe dimensies om 'n KSV-profiel van organisasies te ontwikkel. In die tesis word Basu en Palazzo se model geoperasionaliseer om KSV in die Suid-Afrikaanse voedsel kleinhandelsektor te bestudeer. Vergelykende gevallestudies is onder drie van die vier grootste kleinhandelaars in Suid-Afrika onderneem waartydens onderhoude met sleutelpersone betrokke by KSV gevoer is. Daarna is 'n inhoudsanalise van die waargenome KSV-uitkomste in elke geval onderneem. Hierdie uitkomste is die resultaat van 'n analise van advertensie-strategieë, webblaaie, gebruik van sosiale media, toekennings, geïntegreerde verslagdoening en media-dekking. Die KSV-profiel is saamgestel deur die inhoudsanalise met die analise van die onderhoude te kombineer. Daar is gevind dat die retoriek en realiteitsgaping van die betrokke organisasies deur die KSV-profiele verduidelik kan word. Die implikasies vir die bestuur van die gaping het gevarieer tussen die drie organisasies. Die sukses van die klassifikasie van die gevallestudies beteken dat Basu en Palazzo se model 'n KSV-profiel kan produseer wat met waargenome KSV-uitkomste verband hou. Verder kan spesifieke KSV-profiele die oorsprong van spesifieke gapings verduidelik en beginpunte bied vir die bestuur daarvan.

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la construction de sens au travail, favorisant la poursuite, ou la reprise, de l’activité en cours dans les organisations (Weick, 1969-2009). Plus précisément, elle cherche à relier la perspective du Sensemaking à l’éthique. Elle s’appuie essentiellement sur l’analyse d’entretiens semi-structurés réalisés auprès de trois équipes d’un CHU. Après avoir constaté la quasi-absence de travaux prenant en compte la dimension éthique du Sensemaking (Maitlis et Christianson, 2014), elle s’est intéressée aux philosophies éthiques permettant de rendre compte des comportements organisationnels décrits lors des entretiens et de conceptualiser les données empiriques. Sur le plan théorique, le principal apport de cette thèse est d’incarner le Sensemaking en montrant la dimension éthique de ce processus à chacune de ses étapes clefs : situations empreintes d’enjeux éthiques interrompant ou entravant l’action ; mobilisation de ressources éthiques (sélection d’histoires en lien avec la vulnérabilité, compétences éthiques, production d’un récit éthique). Secondairement, elle prend en compte des aspects peu développés dans les travaux sur le Sensemaking : le rôle des émotions, la structuration de l’espace social, le rôle des acteurs de terrain dans les processus de sensegiving (création et transmission de sens). Sur le plan managérial, elle incite le leader à favoriser le Sensemaking, en général, et la narration éthique dans ce processus, en particulier, afin de prévenir et de gérer les crises. Elle l’invite à faire appel à la capacité réflexive des acteurs de terrain et à favoriser un climat éthique dans les organisations. / This thesis deals with the construction of meaning in the workplace, favoring the continuation, or the resumption, of the ongoing activity within organizations (Weick, 1969-2009). More specifically, it seeks to link the perspective of sensemaking to ethics. It is mainly based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with three hospital teams. After discussing the near-absence of analyses of the ethical dimension of sensemaking (Maitlis and Christianson, 2014), we focused on ethical philosophies in order to account for the organizational behaviors described during the interviews and to conceptualize the empirical data. On the theoretical level, the main contribution of this thesis is to embody Sensemaking demonstraing the ethical dimension of this process at each of its key stages: situations involving ethical issues, interrupting or hindering action; mobilization of ethical resources (selection of stories related to vulnerability, mobilization of ethical competencies, production of an ethical narrative), in order to reconstruct meaning. Second, it takes into account the less developed aspects in sensemaking’s research: the role of emotions, structuring of social space, the role of actors involved individuals in sensegiving (creating and assignment of meaning). On the managerial level, this dissertation encourages leaders to promote Sensemaking in general, and the ethical narration in this process; in particular, in order to prevent and manage crises. It invites them to use the reflective capacity of involved individuals and to encourage an ethical climate.

A lógica do business case em que as organizações consideram aspectos sociais e ambientais apenas se trazem retorno econômico, historicamente, tem sido predominante e praticamente não questionada tanto na literatura quanto na prática. Recentemente, contudo, diante da piora de questões sociais e ambientais complexas, tem havido a conclamação para que as empresas adotem uma postura de não somente reduzir o impacto que geram como também tomar ações no sentido de que contribuam efetivamente com soluções para tanto. Ao assumirem tal postura, porém, as empresas precisam tomar decisões no cotidiano organizacional que envolvem lidar com paradoxos, isto é, situações em que ocorrem simultaneamente elementos contraditórios, ainda que relacionados. Isto porque, no caso da sustentabilidade corporativa, frequentemente, não é possível alinhar os três pilares da sustentabilidade, conciliar objetivos de curto, médio e longo prazo e atender simultaneamente o interesse de diversos stakeholders. Diante de tamanho desafio à prática organizacional, pesquisadores da área da sustentabilidade corporativa começaram a investigar a adoção de uma perspectiva integrativa da sustentabilidade, que pressupõe reconhecer a existência desses trade-offs, de forma a tentar gerenciá-los e acomodá-los. A presente pesquisa contribui para a literatura de sustentabilidade corporativa no que tange ao gerenciamento desses trade-offs ao propor como objetivo entender como as empresas significam e lidam com os trade-offs relacionados à sustentabilidade corporativa. Para atender tal objetivo, empregou-se uma estratégia de pesquisa baseada em estudos de casos múltiplos de dez empresas com modelos de negócios sustentáveis de dois setores diferentes. Como lente teórica de análise, adotou-se a perspectiva do sensemaking. A partir da análise das dez empresas estudadas, identificou-se 65 incidentes que envolviam um ou mais trade-offs em relação à sustentabilidade corporativa. Analisou-se, então, os incidentes com uma abordagem indutiva, gerando-se três resultados principais. Primeiro, identificou-se 13 vetores diferentes que abrangem os trade-offs relacionados à sustentabilidade corporativa, agrupados em quatro diferentes categorias. Segundo, propôs-se um modelo que ajuda a explicar como é o processo de construção de significado pelo qual as empresas passam ao se engajarem na acomodação dos trade-offs relacionados à sustentabilidade corporativa. Por fim, identificou-se 14 estratégias que as empresas podem se utilizar para acomodar os trade-offs agrupados em seis diferentes categorias. / The logic of business case in which organizations consider social and environmental aspects only if they bring economic returns has historically been predominant and practically unquestioned in both literature and practice. Recently, however, faced with the worsening of complex social and environmental issues, there has been a call for companies to struggle not only to reduce the impact they generate but also to take actions in order to effectively address solutions. When assuming such a position, however, companies need to make decisions in the organizational practice that involve dealing with paradoxes, that is, situations in which contradictory, yet related, elements occur simultaneously. This is because, in the case of corporate sustainability, it is often not possible to align the three pillars of sustainability, to reconcile short-, medium- and long-term objectives while simultaneously meeting the interests of various stakeholders. Faced with such a challenge to organizational practice, researchers in the area of corporate sustainability have begun to investigate the adoption of an integrative perspective of sustainability, which presupposes recognizing the existence of these trade-offs in order to accommodate and manage them. This research contributes to the corporate sustainability literature regarding the management of these trade-offs by proposing as aim to understand how companies make sense and deal with the trade-offs related to corporate sustainability. In order to achieve this, a research strategy based on multiple case studies of ten companies with sustainable business models from two different sectors was employed. As a theoretical lens of analysis, the sensemaking perspective was adopted. From the analysis of the ten companies studied, 65 incidents that involved one or more trade-offs in relation to corporate sustainability were identified. The incidents were then analyzed with an inductive approach, producing three main results. First, 13 different vectors that encompass trade-offs related to corporate sustainability were identified, grouped into four different categories. Second, a model has been proposed that helps to explain how the process of sensemaking occurs in companies engaged in the accommodation of trade-offs related to corporate sustainability. Finally, 14 strategies that companies can use to accommodate trade-offs were identified, grouped into six different categories.

Face aux mutations auxquels sont confrontés les services publics, les cadres intermédiaires sont à la fois acteurs et objets des transformations managériales. La recherche empirique et qualitative menée dans une collectivité territoriale française décrit et modélise le rôle des cadres consistant à fabriquer du sens (« sensemaking »), à faire partager ce sens (« sensegiving ») et leur entremise au service de l’appropriation et de la mise en œuvre du changement. En s'inscrivant de façon longitudinale à différents niveaux de l'organisation, l'étude de cas permet d’approfondir les dimensions de son processus d'évolution, et sa capacité de changement, en relation avec le rôle des cadres intermédiaires. / Considering transformations faced by public services, managers are both actors and objects of managerial changes. The empirical and qualitative research conducted in a french local authority describes and models the managers’ role consisting of making sense ("sensemaking"), sharing sense ("sensegiving") and their agency to help for the appropriation and the implementation of change. By joining in a longitudinal way multi-levels of the organization, the case study enables to look into the dimensions of its evolutionary process, and its change capability, in relation with the middle managers' role.

Cette thèse s’éloigne des cadres habituels des recherches en gestion ayant étudié les tensions en matière de RSE pour adopter un nouveau cadre intégrateur afin d'explorer de manière descriptive son intégration à la fois aux niveaux individuel, organisationnel et institutionnel.Des analyses de contenus d’entretiens, de documents historiques et de récits de vie ont permis de mettre au point un modèle décrivant les conditions nécessaires à l’intégration de la RSE au sein d’un système social. Ainsi, les modalités des structures de signification, de légitimation et de domination sont examinées (Giddens, 1984) afin de révéler les caractéristiques et les mécanismes sous-tendant les schémas interprétatifs, normes et ressources mobilisés (Giddens, 1984).Cette thèse contribue à la littérature sur la RSE en remettant en question les idées conventionnelles selon lesquelles celle-ci est intrinsèquement complexe, et suggère que les éléments constitutifs de la RSE ne sont pas nécessairement divergents et difficiles à mettre en œuvre simultanément. En ce sens, elle démontre qu’une congruence peut se produire entre la structure institutionnelle et les actions RSE sous certaines conditions. / Constructed upon management research that has studied CSR tensions, this thesis shifts away from the usual frames toward a new integrative frame to descriptively explore the integration of CSR at the individual, organizational and institutional levels simultaneously.The content analyses of interviews, historic documents and self-narratives yielded insights which enabled us to build a model describing the necessary conditions for CSR integration to occur. In this way, the structural modalities of the signification, legitimation and domination structures are examined and the dynamics which attend the integration of CSR in the social system are explored in order to reveal the characteristics and mechanisms underlying the interpretative schemes, norms and resources (Giddens, 1984).Consequently, a model of a sustainable paradigm grounded in empirical data is developed and the theoretical implications discussed. This thesis contributes to the CSR literature by challenging the conventional ideas that CSR is inherently difficult in suggesting that the constitutive elements of CSR are not necessarily divergent and difficult to implement simultaneously. In this sense, it empirically demonstrates that congruence between the institutional structure and CSR may occur under certain conditions.