Session Summary

Session Number:199
Session ID:S68
Session Title:Joint Sensemaking and Sensegiving: The Reflective Practitioner and the Practicing Academic
Short Title:S: Academic-Pract. Sensemaking
Session Type:Showcase Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt West
Floor:LL1
Room:Water Tower
Time:Wednesday, August 11, 1999 10:40 AM - 12:00 PM

Sponsors

ODC  (Rami Shani)ashani@calpoly.edu (805) 756-1756 
RM  (Karen Golden-Biddle)karen.golden-biddle@ualberta.ca (403) 492-8901 

General People

Chair Ayas, Karen  Erasmus U., Rotterdam kayas@msn.com (617)-492-0871 
Discussant Schein, Edgar H. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Scheine@mit.edu 617-253-3636 

Submissions

Organizing for Joint Sensemaking and Knowledge Creation 
Presenter Senge, Peter M. MIT/Society for Organizational Learning psenge@mit.edu (617)-253-1575 
Insider/Outsider Team Research: An Outsider Researcher's Proposals and An Insider Organizational Member's Responses 
Presenter Bartunek, Jean M. Boston College bartunek@bc.edu 617-552-0455 
Presenter Kehoe, J. Kimball  Profitlink Inc. kehoemck@neosoft.com (281)-376-5759 
On the Co-generation of Theory and Linking Research to Practice 
Presenter Tushman, Michael  Harvard U. mtushman@hbs.edu (617)-495-5442 
Exploring New Models for Management Research: A Case of Academic-Practitioner Collaboration 
Presenter Amabile, Teresa M. Harvard U. tamabile@hbs.edu (617)-495-6871 

Abstract

This symposium responds to the call of several presidents of the Academy to develop more effective collaboration between academics and managers. Such collaboration should enhance the significance of research and benefit both practice and theory. Attempts to foster knowledge-sharing between academics and practitioners often have not succeeded, partly because the type of knowledge produced by academics was tangentially relevant to knowledge needed by managers. In contrast, we focus on joint sensemaking, in which academics and practitioners work together to understand issues of relevance to practice and theory. We consider circumstances under which joint sensemaking happens or does not happen. Operationalizing joint sensemaking is extremely difficult, constrained by operating models and assumptions in both communities. Peter Senge will describe the approach to joint sensemaking upon which the Society for Organizational Learning is built. Jean Bartunek and Kimball Kehoe will present an academic-practitioner dialog on conditions necessary for successful joint sensemaking. Michael Tushman will describe how his work has evolved out of interactions between researchers and managers. Teresa Amabile will share the challenges faced by her research group which involves academics and practitioners. Edgar Schein will frame dilemmas that arise in pursuing joint sensemaking.