Process, Sensemaking, and Organizing is the first in a series of volumes which explore perspectives on process theories, an emerging approach to the study of organizations that focuses on (understanding) activities, interactions, and change as essential properties of organizations rather than
structures and state - an approach which prioritizes activity over product, change over persistence, novelty over continuity, and expression over determination.
Process and sensemaking may be seen as mutually interlocking phenomena and, as such, are cornerstones in process thinking, This volume brings together contributions from an international group of scholars energized by process organization studies. The collection offers perspectives from different
disciplines, insights from diverse theoretical traditions and contexts, and parallels made with a range of cultural forms, including art, poetry, and cookery. At the same time, the chapters exhibit a clear emphasis on a process ontology, process theorizing, and narrative thinking. Across this rich
and varied collection recurrent themes emerge that distinguish process theorizing from the more logico-scientific, variance-oriented research that dominates organization studies today. This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and graduate students in management, organization studies, and
sociology who wish to better understand the emergent, changing, and flow-like character of organizational life and expand their understanding of the nature of sensemaking as a basis for organizing.
Industry Reviews
`Review from previous edition Praise for the series:
"As we become more willing to convert reified entities into differentiated streams, the resulting images of process have become more viable and more elusive. Organization becomes organizing, being becomes becoming, construction becomes constructing. But as we see ourselves saying more words that end in "ing," what must we be thinking? That is not always clear. But now, under the experienced guidance of editors Langley and Tsoukas, there is an annual forum that moves us toward continuity and
consolidation in process studies. This book series promises to be a vigorous, thoughtful forum dedicated to improvements in the substance and craft of process articulation."'
Karl E. Weick, Rensis Likert Distinguished University Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology, University of Michigan, USA
`"Perspectives on Process Organization Studies will be the definitive annual volume of theories and research that advance our understanding of process questions dealing with how things emerge, grow, develop, and terminate over time. I applaud Professors Ann Langley and Haridimos Tsoukas for launching this important book series, and encourage colleagues to submit their process research and subscribe to PROS."'
Andrew H. Van de Ven, Vernon H. Heath Professor of Organizational Innovation and Change, University of Minnesota, USA
`"The recent decades witnessed conspicuous changes in organization theory: a slow but inexorable shift from the focus on structures to the focus on processes. The whirlwinds of the global economy made it clear that everything flows, even if change itself can become stable. While the interest in processes of organizing is not new, it is now acquiring a distinct presence, as more and more voices join in. A forum is therefore needed where such voices can speak
to one another, and to the interested readers. The series Perspectives on Process Organization Studies will provide an excellent forum of that kind, both for those for whom a processual perspective is a
matter of ontology, and those who see it as an epistemological choice."
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Barbara Czarniawska, Professor of Management Studies, School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden