Strategy Implementation and Non-linearity- The matter of professional context and sensemaking

Abstract: Within the field of organizational studies, strategy has for long been a subject of interest to academics as well as practitioners. An area of interest in this respect has been strategy implementation and how recipients perceive initiatives of change. In the light of this quest, a recent approach to study this phenomenon has been to more broadly look at the whole organization – from a practical perspective. Stressing the significance of intra-organizational individuals and saluting a holistic view, the strategy as practice (s-as-p) tradition provides good support in that it puts focus on what people actually do while exposed to strategic tasks. In this paper, attention is dedicated a particular change initiative in a large international corporation. Based on the information given to individuals within the organization at an early stage, this study illuminates varying perceptions of the change initiative. It contributes to the s-as-p tradition by showing how professional contexts influence sensemaking in respect to a strategic initiative, and by so provides support to the view that strategy implementation is far from a linear process.