Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Who is responsible—and for what? An antenarrative perspective on organizational members’ crisis sensemaking of responsibility during a corporate scandal

Frandsen, Sanne LU ; Svane, Marita and Humle, Didde LU (2023) In Human Relations
Abstract
We investigate organizational members’ crisis sensemaking and construction of
responsibility at the peak of a corporate scandal. We focus on those organizational
members, who are not directly involved in the scandal but are still affected by it, as they
are questioned about their collective and moral responsibility for being members of an
organization that has engaged in wrongdoing. Our study is based on interviews with and
observations of frontline employees and their managers at Danske Bank, a bank involved
in a money laundering scandal of historical magnitude. We propose an antenarrative
crisis sensemaking framework that enables us to contribute to the literature on crisis
sensemaking in two significant... (More)
We investigate organizational members’ crisis sensemaking and construction of
responsibility at the peak of a corporate scandal. We focus on those organizational
members, who are not directly involved in the scandal but are still affected by it, as they
are questioned about their collective and moral responsibility for being members of an
organization that has engaged in wrongdoing. Our study is based on interviews with and
observations of frontline employees and their managers at Danske Bank, a bank involved
in a money laundering scandal of historical magnitude. We propose an antenarrative
crisis sensemaking framework that enables us to contribute to the literature on crisis
sensemaking in two significant ways. First, we advance existing knowledge on crisis
sensemaking by focusing on the less visible, unfinished, fragmented, and polyphonic
sensemaking of organizational members during a corporate scandal. Second, we
demonstrate that organizational members at the peak of a scandal place responsibility
in different timespaces as they construct others’ and their own responsibility both
retrospectively and prospectively. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
antenarrative, corporate scandals, crisis sensemaking, responsibility, space, storytelling, time
in
Human Relations
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85175450544
ISSN
0018-7267
DOI
10.1177/00187267231205781
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
39c2eebf-7514-4284-9ac3-e91f18b83069
date added to LUP
2023-10-20 09:05:18
date last changed
2023-12-06 12:45:32
@article{39c2eebf-7514-4284-9ac3-e91f18b83069,
  abstract     = {{We investigate organizational members’ crisis sensemaking and construction of<br/>responsibility at the peak of a corporate scandal. We focus on those organizational<br/>members, who are not directly involved in the scandal but are still affected by it, as they<br/>are questioned about their collective and moral responsibility for being members of an<br/>organization that has engaged in wrongdoing. Our study is based on interviews with and<br/>observations of frontline employees and their managers at Danske Bank, a bank involved<br/>in a money laundering scandal of historical magnitude. We propose an antenarrative<br/>crisis sensemaking framework that enables us to contribute to the literature on crisis<br/>sensemaking in two significant ways. First, we advance existing knowledge on crisis<br/>sensemaking by focusing on the less visible, unfinished, fragmented, and polyphonic<br/>sensemaking of organizational members during a corporate scandal. Second, we<br/>demonstrate that organizational members at the peak of a scandal place responsibility<br/>in different timespaces as they construct others’ and their own responsibility both<br/>retrospectively and prospectively.}},
  author       = {{Frandsen, Sanne and Svane, Marita and Humle, Didde}},
  issn         = {{0018-7267}},
  keywords     = {{antenarrative, corporate scandals, crisis sensemaking, responsibility, space, storytelling, time}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Human Relations}},
  title        = {{Who is responsible—and for what? An antenarrative perspective on organizational members’ crisis sensemaking of responsibility during a corporate scandal}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00187267231205781}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/00187267231205781}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}