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Managing Change: How Middle Managers Navigate Organizational Change Through Sensemaking

Zetterqvist, Andreas LU and Ahlberg, Jakob LU (2025) MGTN59 20251
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Managing change is becoming increasingly crucial for organizations to survive in today’s contemporary work environment. However, change is “riddled” with ambiguity and uncertainty, affecting managers, employees, and organization as a whole. Middle managers, who are located in a peculiar position in the hierarchy are often tasked with having to interpret and guide others through change. This process is referred to as ‘sensemaking’, and is an essential way to understand why and how managers act during change processes. Therefore, the study aims to explore how middle managers interpret events during organizational change and how it shapes their actions in order to navigate themselves and their unit through the change. The research is based on... (More)
Managing change is becoming increasingly crucial for organizations to survive in today’s contemporary work environment. However, change is “riddled” with ambiguity and uncertainty, affecting managers, employees, and organization as a whole. Middle managers, who are located in a peculiar position in the hierarchy are often tasked with having to interpret and guide others through change. This process is referred to as ‘sensemaking’, and is an essential way to understand why and how managers act during change processes. Therefore, the study aims to explore how middle managers interpret events during organizational change and how it shapes their actions in order to navigate themselves and their unit through the change. The research is based on a qualitative methodology that explores middle managers' experiences when undergoing change, utilizing a broad scope including professionals within different industries. The findings provide a greater understanding of how identity shapes the middle managers interpretation and how they respond to challenges during change processes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Zetterqvist, Andreas LU and Ahlberg, Jakob LU
supervisor
organization
course
MGTN59 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Middle Managers, Organizational Change, Uncertainty, Ambiguity, Resistance, Paradoxes, Sensemaking
language
English
id
9208323
date added to LUP
2025-08-19 09:58:22
date last changed
2025-08-19 09:58:22
@misc{9208323,
  abstract     = {{Managing change is becoming increasingly crucial for organizations to survive in today’s contemporary work environment. However, change is “riddled” with ambiguity and uncertainty, affecting managers, employees, and organization as a whole. Middle managers, who are located in a peculiar position in the hierarchy are often tasked with having to interpret and guide others through change. This process is referred to as ‘sensemaking’, and is an essential way to understand why and how managers act during change processes. Therefore, the study aims to explore how middle managers interpret events during organizational change and how it shapes their actions in order to navigate themselves and their unit through the change. The research is based on a qualitative methodology that explores middle managers' experiences when undergoing change, utilizing a broad scope including professionals within different industries. The findings provide a greater understanding of how identity shapes the middle managers interpretation and how they respond to challenges during change processes.}},
  author       = {{Zetterqvist, Andreas and Ahlberg, Jakob}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Managing Change: How Middle Managers Navigate Organizational Change Through Sensemaking}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}