Doctoral Degrees (Information Science)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Information Science) by Author "Maasdorp, Christiaan Hendrik"

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    Narrativity and organisation : an investigation in sensemaking theory
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Maasdorp, Christiaan Hendrik; Kinghorn, J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Information Science.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : The dissertation argues that Karl E. Weick's organisational sense-making theory lacks the resources to properly study organisational phenomena that requires interpretation and can benefit from aspects of philosophical hermeneutics. Whilst sensemaking is often depicted as a hermeneutical approach to organisations, the dissertation traces its theoretical roots and situates it in social psychology and interpretivist sociology. It is argued that Weick's distinction between sensemaking and interpretation is untenable from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics and that it is based on a too narrow understanding of interpretation. The operations of action- and belief-driven sensemaking, based on the metaphor of the framing of cues, are contrasted with the philosophical her meneutic view of coming to an understanding as a negotiated event, captured in the metaphor of the fusion of horizons. A critical analysis of the role of stories as vocabularies of sensemaking that yield either cues or generates future frames in the form of plausible stories concludes that Weick's theorisation of narrative is too brief to offer a conception of narrativity that resonates with his theory of organisational sensemaking. The philosophy of Paul Ricoeur provides better theorisation about the role of narrative in structuring experience. It is argued that narratives, conceived in the way Ricoeur does, offer a stronger and richer concept than the cue-frame-relation triad of sensemaking theory since it not only opens up proposed worlds, but also connects the past and the present. Therefore narrative should be regarded as more than mere content for sensemaking, and instead should be considered a constitutive element for the sensemaking process alongside the notion of enactment. The prospects for incorporating aspects from hermeneutic theories of narrative into sensemaking theory is investigated in the context of the problem area of organisational identity. It is argued that organisational identity is a problem requiring both interpretation and action. Weick's view of identity construction and Ricoeur's view of narrative identity offer two wmys into this field. Finally Weick's emphasis on enactment and Ricoeur's emphasis on narrative continuity are integrated in a restatement of the model of organisational sensemaking processes based more fully on the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics.