THE SOCIAL PROCESSES OF ORGANIZATIONAL SENSEMAKING , By: Maitlis, Sally, Academy of Management Journal, 00014273, Feb2005, Vol. 48, Issue 1
METHODS
This study used a qualitative methodology to address its two research questions. Qualitative methods are well suited to the study of dynamic processes, especially where these processes are constituted of individuals' interpretations (Gioia & Thomas, 1996; Hinings, 1997). Because qualitative research typically examines issues from the perspective of the participant (rather than from that of the researcher), it is especially appropriate, and therefore frequently used, in the study of organization members' constructions and accounts (e.g., Dutton & Dukerich, 1991; Isabella, 1990). Furthermore, because of its sensitivity to organizational context and its potential for focusing upon activity sequences as they unfold, qualitative research is a valuable means of investigating dynamic processes in organizations (Pettigrew, 1992).
The aim of this study was theory elaboration, drawing on and extending important ideas from research on organizational sensemaking. Theory elaboration is often used when preexisting ideas can provide the foundation for a new study, obviating the need for theory generation through a purely inductive, grounded analysis (Lee, Mitchell, & Sablynski, 1999). This study used a multiple case design (Lee, 1999; Yin, 1994), in which I traced organizational sensemaking processes in real time, as they unfolded over a two-year period in nine different issue domains for each of three matched organizations. This design offered a strong foundation for elaborating theory: the similarity of the three organizations allowed for meaningful comparisons across the social processes and actors involved, while the diversity of issue domains and the differences between the organizations provided a reasonable basis for generalizability.
INSTITUTIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN EMERGING FIELDS: HIV/AIDS TREATMENT ADVOCACY IN CANADA , By: Maguire, Steve, Hardy, Cynthia, Lawrence, Thomas B., Academy of Management Journal, 00014273, Oct2004, Vol. 47, Issue 5
METHODS
This article draws on a qualitative case study of new practices of consultation and information exchange among pharmaceutical companies and HIV/ AIDS community organizations. Our aim was theory elaboration by extending and refining current understandings of institutional entrepreneurship so as to ascertain its particular dynamics in emerging fields. Qualitative research is well suited to examining poorly understood phenomena and ill-structured links among actors (Marshall & Rossman, 1995). Moreover, as Lee argued, qualitative research is appropriate when "(a) contextualization, (b) vivid description, (c) dynamic (and possible causal) structuring of the organizational member's socially constructed world, and (d) the worldviews of the people under study" (1999: 43) are important. This is the situation here: understanding institutional entrepreneurship demands rich, detailed, interpretive analysis that takes into account characteristics of the particular context in which it occurs (Garud et al., 2002).
