Chapter 1 - MANAGING AND ORGANIZATIONS:
OPENING, THINKING, CONTEXTUALIZING
Paradigm – a coherent set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitute a
way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual
discipline
Management – the process of communicating, coordinating, and accomplishing action in
the pursuit of organizational objectives
Sensemaking – the process through which individuals and groups give meaning to
something, especially to explain novel, unexpected or confusing events. Sensemaking is the
ongoing retrospective and prospective development of plausible images that rationalize
what people are doing and not doing.
Framing – by framing, we decide on what is relevant from the infinite number of stimuli,
behavioural cues, sense data and information that surround us
Sensebreaking – occurs when organizational members disrupt an existing sense to make an
alternative sense
Sensegiving – attempts to influence the sensemaking of others so that others come to
accept a preferred meaning
Managerialism – claims that managers manage on the grounds of exclusive education and
the possession of codified bodies of knowledge
Ideology – a coherent set of beliefs, attitudes, and opinions; the meaning is often pejorative,
with a contrast drawn between ideology and science
Economic rationalism – argues that markets and prices are the only reliable indices of value,
delivering better outcomes than states and bureaucracies
Profit – what accrues to the owners of organizations after all the costs of using capital have
been met
Capital – an asset owned with the intention of delivering a return to the owner, implying a
complex set of relations and associated obligations
Metaphor – frame sensemaking by using terms other than those of the subject under
discussion to describe that subject, such as a business organization aiming for the “premier
league”
Bounded rationality – producing satisfactory rather than optimally rational decisions, a
process referred to as “satisficing”, meaning accepting decisions that are both sufficient and
satisfying
Resistance to change – consists of those organizational activities and attitudes that aim to
thwart, undermine, and impede change initiatives. Resistance can sometimes be thought of
as an attempt to assert an alternative rationality
Organizations – tools; they are purposive, goal-oriented instruments to achieve a specific
objective
In holacracy – vertical hierarchy is replaced with overlapping and concentric circles
dedicated to specific functions in which circle members can pursue other projects if the
circle’s work is completed
Digitalization – the use of digital technologies and of data (digitized from non-digital sources
or originally created as such) to manage organizational processes
Knowledge intensive work – depends on tacit knowledge and explicit mastery
Tacit knowledge – enables you to speak grammatically or ride a bike: while you can do it,
explaining how it is done to a novice is difficult
, Gig economy – participation in a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-
term contracts of freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs (Uber)
Digital affordances – distinct organizations can work together, provided there is trust,
empathy and commitment on all sides
Digital nomads – mobile workers armed with a laptop and Wi-Fi, connecting from
anywhere, and choosing mobility rather than a fixed abode
EDI – equity, diversity, and inclusivity
New public management – replaces public sector bureaucracy with public managers and
citizens with customers, managed by targets and audits
CSR – corporate social responsibility
Microeconomic theory – anchored in a market-based model advocated downsizing
government, applying private-sector management principles to public-sector administration
Principal agency theory – has a fundamental premise that the provision of capital by
shareholders is a risk-based endeavour in which the risks can be minimized if the agents that
are managing individual’s capital are also themselves shareholders
Weick – sensemaking; “How can I know what I think until I see what I say?”; enactment is
the key
McCrae and Costa’s Big five – personality factors: Emotional stability, extraversion,
openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness
OPENING, THINKING, CONTEXTUALIZING
Paradigm – a coherent set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitute a
way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual
discipline
Management – the process of communicating, coordinating, and accomplishing action in
the pursuit of organizational objectives
Sensemaking – the process through which individuals and groups give meaning to
something, especially to explain novel, unexpected or confusing events. Sensemaking is the
ongoing retrospective and prospective development of plausible images that rationalize
what people are doing and not doing.
Framing – by framing, we decide on what is relevant from the infinite number of stimuli,
behavioural cues, sense data and information that surround us
Sensebreaking – occurs when organizational members disrupt an existing sense to make an
alternative sense
Sensegiving – attempts to influence the sensemaking of others so that others come to
accept a preferred meaning
Managerialism – claims that managers manage on the grounds of exclusive education and
the possession of codified bodies of knowledge
Ideology – a coherent set of beliefs, attitudes, and opinions; the meaning is often pejorative,
with a contrast drawn between ideology and science
Economic rationalism – argues that markets and prices are the only reliable indices of value,
delivering better outcomes than states and bureaucracies
Profit – what accrues to the owners of organizations after all the costs of using capital have
been met
Capital – an asset owned with the intention of delivering a return to the owner, implying a
complex set of relations and associated obligations
Metaphor – frame sensemaking by using terms other than those of the subject under
discussion to describe that subject, such as a business organization aiming for the “premier
league”
Bounded rationality – producing satisfactory rather than optimally rational decisions, a
process referred to as “satisficing”, meaning accepting decisions that are both sufficient and
satisfying
Resistance to change – consists of those organizational activities and attitudes that aim to
thwart, undermine, and impede change initiatives. Resistance can sometimes be thought of
as an attempt to assert an alternative rationality
Organizations – tools; they are purposive, goal-oriented instruments to achieve a specific
objective
In holacracy – vertical hierarchy is replaced with overlapping and concentric circles
dedicated to specific functions in which circle members can pursue other projects if the
circle’s work is completed
Digitalization – the use of digital technologies and of data (digitized from non-digital sources
or originally created as such) to manage organizational processes
Knowledge intensive work – depends on tacit knowledge and explicit mastery
Tacit knowledge – enables you to speak grammatically or ride a bike: while you can do it,
explaining how it is done to a novice is difficult
, Gig economy – participation in a labour market characterized by the prevalence of short-
term contracts of freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs (Uber)
Digital affordances – distinct organizations can work together, provided there is trust,
empathy and commitment on all sides
Digital nomads – mobile workers armed with a laptop and Wi-Fi, connecting from
anywhere, and choosing mobility rather than a fixed abode
EDI – equity, diversity, and inclusivity
New public management – replaces public sector bureaucracy with public managers and
citizens with customers, managed by targets and audits
CSR – corporate social responsibility
Microeconomic theory – anchored in a market-based model advocated downsizing
government, applying private-sector management principles to public-sector administration
Principal agency theory – has a fundamental premise that the provision of capital by
shareholders is a risk-based endeavour in which the risks can be minimized if the agents that
are managing individual’s capital are also themselves shareholders
Weick – sensemaking; “How can I know what I think until I see what I say?”; enactment is
the key
McCrae and Costa’s Big five – personality factors: Emotional stability, extraversion,
openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness
