From Asking What-is to Answering What-if...? A Multi-Case Study on How Organizations Make Sense in Times of Uncertainty

Abstract: This thesis examines how accounting tools and information are employed by actors within organizations to make sense of uncertainty. By drawing upon sensemaking theory and a modified version of Kaplan and Orlikowski's (2013) temporal work model, we provide a more comprehensive view of how accounting tools and information are used to make and give sense under uncertainty. Through conducting a qualitative multi-case study of two organizations in the Nordic real estate sector during the COIVD-19 pandemic, we identify scenario analysis as an important accounting tool for both organizations to provide sense to the pandemic. We illustrate how scenario analysis enables actors to make and give sense through three primary mechanisms: envisioning, structuring and reflecting. By highlighting how these three mechanisms work to create a more dynamic understanding of uncertainty we find that scenario analysis enables actors to create a more plausible and coherent understanding already from the onset of the pandemic.