Analyzing Organizational Change: A Sensemaking Perspective

Abstract

Exploring and explaining organizational change have emerged to be among the most recurring and challenging themes in organizational research. Over the years, attempts have been made to study change using various perspectives. A visible trend in recent change literature is its focus on social constructionism as a broad lens to explain change. This paper attempts to discuss the possibilities of using ‘sensemaking’, a perspective based in the social constructionism tradition, as an alternative approach to study change. Based on a comprehensive review of existing literature on sensemaking and organizational change, this paper tries to identify gaps for future research in the area.