Evolving Interpretations as a Change Unfolds: How Managers Construe Key Organizational Events
- 1 March 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Academy of Management in The Academy of Management Journal
- Vol. 33 (1) , 7-41
- https://doi.org/10.5465/256350
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to develop a model of how managers construe organizational events as a change unfolds. The model, built from in-depth interviews with 40 managers, suggests that interpretations of key events unfold in four stages—anticipation, confirmation, culmination, and aftermath—linked to the process of change. The construed reality and interpretive tasks at each stage as well as the triggers that impel managers to move from one stage to another are described. Implications for organizational research and the management of change are discussed.Keywords
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