The emergence of collective reflection as a dynamic practice: Increasing organizational awareness over time by dealing with surprise
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
Collective reflection has been a long-term issue for scholars and practitioners. Yet, being conceptualized as a shared, discursive practice that is dynamic and supported by structures in organizing, existing studies fall short on explaining and illustrating empirically how collective reflection emerges as such a practice in organizations over time. We apply a Heideggerian-inspired practice perspective to address this gap. Drawing on a longitudinal study of a lean implementation in a Swiss regional hospital, we illustrate the development of various communicative platforms and coordinating mechanisms and explain how these together and over time result in an increase in organizational awareness. The research generates two core insights: First, we empirically identify that collective reflection results from coping with different types of surprises: communicative platforms are established or further developed over time as a reaction to surprise. Second, we show how coordinating mechanisms allow collective reflection to travel through time and space in organizing. These insights complement and extend existing theory on collective reflection in organizations in three important aspects: we explain and illustrate the emergence of collective reflection as a practice, we propose and illustrate collective reflection as active communicative structuring and as a knotted net of activities. We conclude by discussing boundary conditions, future research and practical implications.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Event Title
79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
Event Location
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Event Date
August 9-13
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Contact Email Address
simone.gutzan@unisg.ch
Eprints ID
256898
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Name
Gutzan&Tuckermann_2019-AOM-emergence of collective reflection.pdf
Size
421.83 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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