Making sense of organizational succession
Creators: name: Gephart, Robert Paul
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: This dissertation is an attempt to make social scientific sense of common sense knowledge involved in the social production of organizational succession, where succession is defined as the change in the incumbent of an organizational position. Past succession research is typified in terms of two approaches, both of which are made problematic by the present study. The conventional quantitative approach ignores concrete activities and actors' meanings involved in the succession process, and reifies the formal structure of organizations by literally interpreting them. The qualitative approach also reifies formal structures, and has failed to yield explicit theoretical propositions concerning succession. The present study attempts to overcome the limitations of previous research by engaging in theory construction which focuses on actors' meanings and sensemaking practices related to succession. Ethnomethodological concepts and concerns form the background to an approach which assumes succession is inextricably related to the interpretive procedures and practices actors utilize in accomplishing and discussing succession. The concept of programmatic construction is developed as a scientific concept describing an important sensemaking practice whereby structurings of the life world are methodically enacted and employed as interpretive schemes in common sensemaking. Such structurings or programmatically constructed entities include 1) the social order, 2) social institutions, 3) organizations and 4) persons. Persons are recurrently typified in terms of one or more of four analytically distinct selves; the physiological self, the financial self, the social-psychological self, and the professional self. Characteristics of these programmatically constructed entities and the process of programmatic construction which are discussed include the important suggestion that each entity is verbally constructed in one or more of three typical forms - as a model of functional integrity, compliance or style. Five substantive types of succession are outlined - succession due to the death of a predecessor, voluntary resignation, status degradation (demotion or firing), retirement and advancement. Stages in cases of succession are also discussed. Orienting propositions are then outlined as the basis for the current research. These propositions relate programmatic construction and sensemaking to the types of stages of succession. Data for elaboration of the orienting propositions were collected by preparing transcripts from tape recordings of unstructured interviews with ten administrators - five administrators from each of two different organizations, a government and a college. Each respondent described cases of each of the five types of succession. Qualitative analysis of the case descriptions is undertaken in five chapters where each chapter focuses on one type of succession by applying the theoretical concepts to the case descriptions. A low order substantive theoretical model of each type of succession is inductively constructed: propositions in the substantive, succession-type specific models relate programmatically constructed entities to respondents' determination of the causes and consequences of predecessor departure, successor selection, and the stages involved in succession. The substantive models therefore explain members' meanings and practical activities related to the accomplishment and common language description of each type of succession. The final chapter of the dissertation involves a comparative analysis of the types of succession, and a discussion of human sense-making as a general theoretical topic. Substantive succession-type models are integrated into higher order propositions which explain the similarities and differences among specific cases and types of succession. Programmatic construction of entities is found to be an important sense-making practice underlying the accomplishment of organizational succession and descriptions of succession. The concept of programmatic construction and the types of entities produced in succession cases are given extensive consideration. Other sensemaking practices involved in succession are then discussed: certain practices proposed in previous ethnomethodological studies are related to current findings, and several additions are offered to a preliminary list of sensemaking practices. Finally, the broad implications of the present research are discussed in terms of 1) differences among the present approach and more conventional approaches to succession research, 2) future research on succession and 3) the importance of studying human sensemaking in other substantive contexts.