During high-impact weather events like Hurricane Harvey, broadcast meteorologists take on the role of sensegiver, as they develop frameworks to help their viewers make sense of the storm. These frameworks are communicated through rhetorical choices evident in the language the meteorologists use to describe the storm’s threat and impact. This study investigates the rhetorical choices of KHOU broadcast meteorologists during Hurricane Harvey in order to make sense of the disaster, using an inductive thematic analysis. The results indicate that the KHOU broadcasters framed Harvey figuratively as an all-encompassing monster and a heat-seeking machine. The meteorologists used emotionally intense language to emphasize their concern about the forecast, to compare the event to previous flooding disasters, to describe Harvey’s catastrophic impact, and to express disbelief regarding the situation unfolding around them. These results show how sensegiving can be articulated rhetorically via specific language features like describing Harvey as a monster, or comparing Harvey’s impact to Hurricane Katrina. These specific language features identified here should be tested for their effectiveness in order to allow meteorologists across the weather enterprise to speak about threats and impacts in a more consistent manner.

I denna studie undersökte jag ledares uppfattningar av ledarskapsutbildning samt hur de själva anser att ledarskapsutbildning påverkat dem. Detta gjorde jag genom kvalitativa intervjuer med avdelningschefer på ett företag i Sverige. Urvalet bestämde jag i syfte att ta del av ledares olika uppfattningar av ledarskapsutbildning. Urvalet styrdes samtidigt av det antal ledare som fanns att tillgå för tillfället av studiens genomförande, samt av studiens begränsade tidsram. Jag utformade en intervjumall i syfte att förbereda mig inför intervjuerna. Frågorna i mallen testade jag i en pilotstudie. Intervjuernas utformning förankrade jag hos företagets personalchef samt VD. Åtta ledare blev tillfrågade om de ville delta på intervju. Samtliga av dessa var avdelningschefer varav sex av dem tackade ja. Jag valde att genomföra intervjuerna på avdelningschefernas arbetsplats. Intervjuerna spelade jag in för att sedan transkribera i sin helhet. Transkriberingarna analyserade jag genom att jämföra likheter samt olikheter mellan avdelningschefernas upplevelse av ledarskapsutbildning. Studiens resultat visade att ledare definierar ledarskapsutbildning väldigt olika. Resultatet av studien visade även att ledare hade olika åsikter angående ledarskapsutbildning. En del anser att ledarskapsutbildning bidrar med fördelar som ökad gemenskap i ledargruppen samt ett betryggande ställningstagande till utveckling från organisationens sida. Andra anser att ledarskapsutbildning också har en baksida där den förändring som ledarskapsutbildning medför, utgör stress samt påverkar ledaren negativt. Min tolkning av studien är att när ledare anammar den kunskap de tagit del av sker ett djupgående lärande. Det i sin tur innebär att ledaren tydligare förstår sin del i ett organisatoriskt sammanhang tack vare den ledarskapsutbildning hen genomgått. Min slutsats är att ledare i omfattande grad påverkas av ledarskapsutbildning. Vid ett initialt skede av ledarskapsutbildning är tydlighet vad gäller utbildningens syfte samt mål det primära för att ledare ska vara positiva till utbildningen. Ledare anser att utbildningen ska vara utvecklande. Organisationen skall ge dem utrymme för tid till reflektion samt genomförande av de förändringar som utbildningen innebär. Resultatet från denna studie visar även att ledares trivsel på arbetet påverkas av ledarskapsutbildning. Faktorer som organisationens struktur av utbildning, press till utveckling samt gemenskap mellan ledarkollegor är exempel på följderav utbildning som påverkar ledarnas trivsel. Ledare tycker det är viktigt att informationen kring utbildningen är tydlig samt att utbildningen har ett uttalat syfte. Ledarna anser även att de har ett eget ansvar att förvalta sin utbildning på ett effektivt sätt.

Businesses with failed quality initiatives lose revenue, experience high expenses, and have fewer market opportunities. Researchers attribute failed quality initiatives to human and social factors. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of employees in companies that received an Arkansas Governor's Quality Award between 2010 and 2015. No one knows how employees' experiences contribute to successful quality initiatives, or how their stories about their experiences influence quality management and continuous improvement. The conceptual framework consisted of Weick's theory of sense-making and Deming's system of profound knowledge. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with 11 participants across 8 organizations. Participants checked the member experience summary created from verbatim interview transcriptions analyzed per van Manen's whole-part-whole model. The analysis of the transcripts showed that participants' most meaningful experiences were those with people, followed by materials, feelings, time, and space. The study findings also showed that people transferred proven problem-solving methods from the workplace to their home and out into the community. The results of this study could contribute to positive social change by helping managers increase the potential for a successful quality initiative when they consider people's needs and contributions before adopting a set of quality management tools and practices.

Smart infusion pump technology (SIPT) was designed to enhance safety with intravenous medication administration, but has introduced new patient safety risks and harm when nurses initiate workarounds that bypass SIPT safety features. This study sought to develop a grounded theory explaining nurses' experiences with SIPT, their perceptions of safety features, the rules and resources used in response to safety features, the actions taken in response to SIPT workflow blocks, and conditions contributing to nurse-initiated workarounds. Corbin and Strauss's (2008) grounded theory approach guided this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 nurses who used SIPT across 13 adult patient care areas in a single Midwest teaching hospital. The grounded theory Nurse-Technology Interplay was developed through constant comparison analysis of transcribed interview data. The four categories of interacting with SIPT, making meaning, taking action, and consequences, were linked through relational statements and theoretically integrated to develop the grounded theory. The grounded theory explicates the continual interplay that occurs as nurses interact with SIPT, and the cognitive and physical processes used to resolve workflow blocks in the context of care delivery. Interacting with SIPT reflected the learning curves faced by nurses, the context of patient-care unit characteristics, and encountered workflow blocks. Making meaning reflected the cognitive processes used by nurses as they encountered workflow blocks with SIPT, and was influenced by individual perspectives, as well as shared learning. Taking action often occurred simultaneously with making meaning, and represented processes of doing, such as rechecking programming activities, seeking assistance, or engaging in workarounds. Consequences of using SIPT included patient outcomes with medication administration and the impact on practice as nurses experienced disruptions in care delivery, dependency on SIPT, a loss of calculation skills, and alarm overload. The grounded theory of Nurse-Technology Interplay provides an understanding of how nurses make sense of, and respond to, workflow blocks with SIPT safety features. The study yielded valuable insights into the complexity of SIPT implementation and the challenges nurses face while providing safe, effective, patient-centered care in the midst of juggling competing priorities. The findings have implications for nursing practice and nurse leaders. Critical to moving forward is a more purposeful approach to SIPT education and training within a patient safety framework, a systematic evaluation of organizational processes that impact SIPT, optimization the SIPT drug library to facilitate nurses' work, and promotion of a learning organization that capitalizes on the lessons that can be learned from workarounds.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks attributed the September 11 attacks on the U.S. homeland to the terrorists' exploitation of "deep institutional failings." These findings are similar to the conclusions of the Presidential Commission investigating the 1986 Challenger accident and the Columbia Accident Investigative Board (2003). Generally Commissions aim to provide the fullest possible account of events contributing to the catastrophe under investigation and to identify lessons learned, but avoid specifying responsibility and accountability. For this reason, various commission reports have been criticized for being abstract and shallow. These criticisms make a valid point. How commissions make sense of failures has real consequences in terms of preventing reoccurrences. If these accounts do not satisfactorily address the question, How did this happen?, clear prophylactic measures for the future also remain unspecified. This dissertation calls into question the usefulness of current constructions of system failure that focus solely on the abstract role of the institution or system in creating the conditions for failure. For the purpose of acquiring insight into our current narratives of system failure and accountability, the 9/11 Public Hearing Transcripts are analyzed. This research is a qualitative textual analysis of excerpts from the Transcripts related to both pre-9/11 intelligence failures and accountability. Using Weick's view of sensemaking to gain a better understanding of our current constructions of system failure/resilience and accountability, this research identifies the dominant constructions of pre-9/11 intelligence failures and accountability that are documented in the 9/11 Public Hearing Transcripts and the sensemaking resources that reinforce and solidify these constructions. Verbatim excerpts from the 9/11 documents are included to support claims. The theory of autopoiesis, a form of systems theory, is introduced as an alternative resource for constructing narratives on system-environment relationships and accountability. Leadership practices that foster system resilience and individual accountability for system-wide performance are presented.

This dissertation presents a comprehensive qualitative study of the decision-making aspects of emergency department (ED) triage at a large urban Trauma I hospital in the Southeast. Specifically, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) What do triage nurses perceive as the primary role of the triage process? (2) How do triage nurses interpret patient performances? These questions are explored through illuminating the intricacies of triage decision-making by the use of semi-structured interviews and observations. The findings of this study indicate: (1) a better understanding of the triage decision- making process yielding more practical insights related to the informal, emergent, and often improvisational ways patients are received, categorized, and treated was needed, and (2) providing a clearer understanding of the processes involved in sorting patients may provide much-needed insight regarding clinical concerns and/or issues regarding patient categorization, adverse clinical events, and excessive patient wait times. These findings are of particular importance due to the widespread overuse of EDs for nonemergent care. Essentially, EDs are designed for patients to visit due to an alteration in their physical and/or mental state. Once a patient enters the ED, a medical professional is tasked with the responsibility of interpreting the physical and/or mental state of the patient, which is generally achieved by interpreting the patient story - the precipitating event that brought them into the ED. What this study contributes to the literature is a deeper understanding of the communicative processes that ED triage nurses leverage to make sense of patient stories.

Abstract This study focuses on the process of communication between government agencies and the public during crisis situations, and the development of an effective response strategy when a significant threat to public health and/or safety is believed to exist. My specific research interests are (1) the nature of the decision-making process that influences the communicative choices made during such events, and (2) how decision-makers make sense of an evolving, ambiguous, and unpredictable situation, in order to establish credibility with the public, determine the appropriate response strategy, and gain the public's trust in order to influence its behavior. This is a qualitative research study based on a series of in-depth interviews conducted with key staff members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the CDC's organizational response to the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic. As global public health threats have the potential to significantly affect critical areas of the U.S. economy, national security policies are evolving to include strategic planning for issues related to global public health threats. However, despite having faced several serious public health threats during the past decade, governments worldwide and the global public health community continue to struggle with developing sufficient contingency plans and effective response strategies to meet the challenges of unexpected, highly unpredictable, and potentially devastating public health crises. My research addresses gaps identified in exploring the experience of crisis response participants in order to understand the process of response development. Additionally, I identify practices, processes, and recommendations that will be useful for future response teams confronted with equally challenging emerging threat and/or crisis scenarios.

<p>Internationalization is an important strategic issue for survival for most business schools of today. Following this, various international accreditation bodies have in recent years been very succes­s­ful in promoting accreditation as a means of gaining status and prove high quality. These business school accreditation schemes clearly state their targets against top quality international schools and programs. Internationalization of the business school opera­tions can thus be stated to be of vital impor­tance for schools aiming for one or more of these accreditations. The intention of this study is to turn the issue around and explore to which extent, and with what kind of impact, the accreditation processes in turn have on the area of interna­tiona­li­­­zation within the business school organization.</p><p> </p><p>The theoretical framework consists of three main areas: ’The Business School Environment’, ‘Strategy as Practice’ and ‘Institutional Theory’. The first part aims to reach an understanding for the environment and situation that business schools of today are facing. It also highlights major challenges for the future. In the second part, Strategy as Practice research theories are used to gain understanding for strategy behaviour and strategy creation within plu­ra­listic organi­zations, such as the higher education insti­tution. The third part deals with issues on Quality Frameworks with the aim to reach understanding for the im­pact such processes can have on the organization. Sensemaking Theory is further used to illustrate the rational behind decision making of busi­ness school leaders and the concluding part connects theories on quality frameworks to Identity Creation, linking together identity with culture and image.</p><p> </p><p>The research approach for this qualitative study is the abductive one and the empirical data is collected through a number of semi-structured interviews with business school repre­sen­tatives at various levels working in the area of international relations.</p><p> </p><p>Main findings are presented within the framework of a time structured (past, present, future) model connected to the study’s five objectives: The development of internationali­zation within the school; the view on internationalization among organizational members; the charac­teristics of decision making and implementation processes; the main impact factors of accreditation and the expectations of major future challenges.</p><p> </p><p>The results indicate that although accreditation has shown to have had a substantial impact on the success of business school operations in an international perspective, it is to a much lesser extent a concrete tool for change and improvement within the area of internatio­nali­zation as such. Accreditation has shown to be strongly connected to previous develop­ment and view on internationalization within the organizations. Also, a strong belief in, and commit­ment to, internationalization among influential organizational members has proved to be vital for the accreditation processes. Furthermore, a number of unique charac­teristics connected to the identities’ of the organiza­tions studied, showed to have notable impact on the success of the schools’ international opera­tions, so also the accreditation processes. This includes organiza­tional culture and tradition; working methods; dissemi­nation of information; strong social connections; knowledge, dedication and commitment by individuals and management’s ability to provide organizational members with trust, respect, autonomy and encouragement.</p>

<p>This study aims to understand, describe, and analyze the factors that lead employees resist organizational change efforts. More specifically, by locating various types of roots and symptoms of resistance, we have developed a framework which managers or individuals, who plan to initiate a change program, can use to manage resistance and to benefit, if exist, from the constructive value of resistant behaviors of employees. Findings are drawn from the reinterpretation of two case studies which were conducted on the area. While the first one involves introduction of activity-based costing system in a Portuguese telecommunications company, second one analyzes implementation of a new management program, called BATON, in a university funded research organization. By relying on these case studies, existing models and concepts related to resistance were tested, reinterpreted and an alternative framework to manage resistance is developed. As a result of the study, it is found that despite the amount of theoretical concepts and tools, there is still an important deficiency in terms of resistance management, and managers usually tend to employ pre-set methods to overcome resistance in change management. Findings of the thesis provide those who plan to start and implement change programs with a comprehensive framework to locate, understand and analyze resistance and to take appropriate managerial actions in organizational change efforts.</p>

<p>Örebro University</p><p>Department of Humanities</p><p>Media and Communication Studies</p><p>Bachelor Thesis, Spring 2007</p><p>Title: Organisational Communication in Dutch Branches in Swedish Companies - A study of Securitas Systems, Volvo Trucks and Electrolux in the Netherlands</p><p>By: Patrik Edvardsson</p><p>Supervisor: Inger Larsson</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how top management in three Swedish companies view the communication within the company. Aspects that are investigated are organisational structure, how core values are used in this communication and what role different communication forms such as intranet, organisational newspaper and face-toface communication play in value creation.</p><p>Theories</p><p>Theories in communication theory, PR, Intercultural communication and organisational theory are used as theoretical framework for the study. Important concepts that are used are sensemaking in organisations, core values, mission and vision as well as organisational structure as well as different communication forms.</p><p>Method</p><p>The method used in this thesis is semi-structured qualitative interviews with five people in top management, working in the three companies in this study. The interviews were</p><p>conducted at each company and took between 30 min and one hour.</p><p>Results</p><p>The study shows that all companies have clear core values that are communicated within the companies. They are communicated though different channels such as intranet and</p><p>magazines but also though dialogue; Securitas even have a game that is used to promote understanding and discussion concerning core values.</p><p>The organisational structure, which encourages informal communication, is crucial in the process of sensemaking in all companies. The companies have weak hierarchical</p><p>structures, which promote empowerment. The management believe that it is important for them to be good examples and live up to the core values, as well as maintaining an</p><p>environment that encourage communication and sensemaking among the employees. face-to-face meeting are important to build lasting networks.</p><p>Keywords</p>