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Enactment, Sensemaking and Decision Making: Redesign Processes in the 1976 Reorganization of US Intelligence

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  • James Douglas Orton

Abstract

Weick’s theories of organizing and sensemaking help enrich the assumptions in the organization design school. This study builds on Weick’s theories of sensemaking to illustrate how three fundamental organization design assumptions — dominant variables, causal laws and executive dictates — were found to be restrictive in the explanation of redesign processes in the 1976 reorganization of the US intelligence community. The assumption of dominant variables was challenged by the appearance of a multitude of events, or enactments, which were selected by organization members for further attention. The assumption of causal laws was challenged by the appearance of individual‐level cause maps which were filtered, through sensemaking processes, into organization‐level workable realities. The assumption of executive dictates was challenged by the appearance of attempts to punctuate redesign processes as organizational decisions. The study suggests value in moving from simple organization design assumptions to more reliable findings drawn from detailed observations of redesign processes.

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  • James Douglas Orton, 2000. "Enactment, Sensemaking and Decision Making: Redesign Processes in the 1976 Reorganization of US Intelligence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 213-234, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:37:y:2000:i:2:p:213-234
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-6486.00178
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    Cited by:

    1. Susan Scott & Nicholas Perry, 2012. "The enactment of risk categories: The role of information systems in organizing and re-organizing risk management practices in the energy industry," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 125-141, April.
    2. Guiette, Alain & Vandenbempt, Koen, 2013. "Exploring team mental model dynamics during strategic change implementation in professional service organizations. A sensemaking perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 728-744.
    3. Florence Allard-Poesi, 2005. "The Paradox of Sensemaking in Organizational Analysis," Post-Print hal-01251211, HAL.
    4. Scott, Susan V. & Perry, Nicholas, 2006. "The enactment of risk categories: organizing and re-organizing risk management practices in the energy industry," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 37868, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Mary Ann Glynn & Lee Watkiss, 2020. "Of Organizing and Sensemaking: From Action to Meaning and Back Again in a Half‐Century of Weick’s Theorizing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(7), pages 1331-1354, November.
    6. Karl E. Weick & Kathleen M. Sutcliffe & David Obstfeld, 2005. "Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 409-421, August.

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