Sensemaking & Decision Making in Uncertainty : A case study on how tech leaders´ navigate the Metaverse

Abstract: The Metaverse constitutes a unique and radical business field that decision-makers try to make sense of and make decisions in without knowing what it will become, or even if it will exist in the near future. This situation lays the foundation for investigating sensemaking and decision making in a present-day, fast-moving, and highly uncertain environment. This thesis investigates howdecision-makers have gone about making sense of the Metaverse and how those learnings are used when making decisions therein. A qualitative case study was conducted through field observations and semi-structured interviews with eight influential tech leaders. Our findings indicate that sensemaking is an integral part of decision-making and is performed through enacting, bracketing and retaining experiences through interacting with others. Furthermore, when making decisions in the Metaverse, our respondents pointed towards initially learning, experimenting, and tweaking decisions to make more thought through and goal-oriented choices as they become more knowledgeable. We conclude that decision-makers gain more knowledge and make better decisions by initially engaging in an effectuation approach to strategy. As a result, the study contributes knowledge to the literature on sensemaking and decision making under uncertainty, how decision-makers act regarding the Metaverse, and why some might be better at navigating a business in uncertainty.