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Reflections on Enacted Sensemaking in the Bhopal Disaster

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  • Karl E. Weick

Abstract

An updated analysis of the Bhopal disaster suggests that problems of abduction, awareness, reliability, and certainty were more serious than was first thought. Expanded analysis shows that the tight coupling between cognition and action, normally associated with enacted sensemaking, broke down at Bhopal. The breakdowns included a low standard of plausibility, minimal doubt, infrequent updating of both mental models and current hunches, and mindless action. The modest enactment that did occur prolonged rather than shortened the crisis.

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  • Karl E. Weick, 2010. "Reflections on Enacted Sensemaking in the Bhopal Disaster," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 537-550, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:3:p:537-550
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00900.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Ogliastri, Enrique & Zúñiga, Roy, 2016. "An introduction to mindfulness and sensemaking by highly reliable organizations in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4429-4434.
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    3. Ivana Milosevic & A. Erin Bass & Ben Schulte, 2023. "The Interplay of Conflicting and Complementing Institutional Logics in Sustainability Practices," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 469-506, June.
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    5. Matilal, Sumohon & Adhikari, Pawan, 2020. "Accounting in Bhopal: Making catastrophe," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Louise Yngve, 2022. "Individual Actors Coping with Institutional Complexity Within a State-civil Society Partnership: The Role of Sensemaking," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1237-1255, December.
    7. Efpraxia D. Zamani & Nancy Pouloudi & George Giaglis & Jonathan Wareham, 2021. "Accommodating Practices During Episodes of Disillusionment with Mobile IT," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 453-475, April.
    8. Genevieve Musca & Linda Rouleau & Caroline Facq-Mellet & Frédérique Sitri & Sarah de Vogüé, 2018. "From boat to bags: The role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking," Post-Print hal-01928127, HAL.
    9. Giustiniano, Luca & Cunha, Miguel Pina e & Clegg, Stewart, 2016. "Organizational zemblanity," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 7-21.
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    11. Noort, Mark C. & Reader, Tom W. & Gillespie, Alex, 2019. "Speaking up to prevent harm: a systematic review of the safety voice literature," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100774, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Genevieve Musca & Linda Rouleau & Caroline Mellet & Frédérique Sitri & Sarah de Vogüé, 2018. "From boat to bags: The role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking," Post-Print hal-01975340, HAL.
    13. Jose C. Alves & Tan Cheng Lok & Yubo Luo & Wei Hao, 2020. "Crisis challenges of small firms in Macao during the COVID-19 pandemic," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-23, December.
    14. Brown, Andrew D., 2018. "Making sense of the war in Afghanistan," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 43-56.
    15. Anita, Mendiratta & Shveta, Singh & Yadav Surendra, S. & Arvind, Mahajan, 2023. "When do ESG controversies reduce firm value in India?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    16. Hong, Paul & Doll, William J. & Revilla, Elena & Nahm, Abraham Y., 2011. "Knowledge sharing and strategic fit in integrated product development proejcts: An empirical study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 186-196, August.
    17. Sally Maitlis & Scott Sonenshein, 2010. "Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 551-580, May.
    18. Joep P. Cornelissen & Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara, 2014. "The Contraction of Meaning: The Combined Effect of Communication, Emotions, and Materiality on Sensemaking in the Stockwell Shooting," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 699-736, July.
    19. Sandra Waddock & Erica Steckler, 2016. "Visionaries and Wayfinders: Deliberate and Emergent Pathways to Vision in Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 719-734, February.
    20. Lindberg, Ola & Rantatalo, Oscar & Hällgren, Markus, 2017. "Making sense through false syntheses: Working with paradoxes in the reorganization of the Swedish police," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 175-184.
    21. Susara E. Merwe & Reinette Biggs & Rika Preiser, 2020. "Sensemaking as an approach for resilience assessment in an Essential Service Organization," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 84-106, March.
    22. Mesa, William B., 2019. "Accounting students’ learning processes in analytics: A sensemaking perspective," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 50-68.
    23. Nick Oliver & Thomas Calvard & Kristina Potočnik, 2017. "Cognition, Technology, and Organizational Limits: Lessons from the Air France 447 Disaster," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 729-743, August.
    24. Thurlow, Amy & Helms Mills, Jean, 2015. "Telling tales out of school: Sensemaking and narratives of legitimacy in an organizational change process," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 246-254.

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