Research Interests & Publications

Organizational life is ripe with ambiguity (too many meanings) and uncertainty (too few meanings). My research examines how individuals and groups engage in sensemaking--the processes used to construct meanings in response to ambiguity and uncertainty. My research ranges from interpretive studies using qualitative methods that focus on the collective construction of meanings to more positivist studies that unpack the antecedents, psychological mechanisms, and outcomes of different meaning constructions. What unites my research is a focus on the texts that individuals and organizations author, such as through personal and collective narratives, issue constructions and identity claims. These texts provide a window into how individuals and collectives make sense of and influence others about themselves and their environments.

The vast majority of my research on sensemaking falls into one or both of two domains: Social Change & Business Ethics and Organizational Change.