Navigating uncertainty and finding purpose in social mission-driven organizations

Emma Sandström

Navigating uncertainty and finding purpose in social mission-driven organizations

Julkaisun otsikon käännös: Navigating uncertainty and finding purpose in social mission-driven organizations

Emma Sandström

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Tutkimustuotos: Doctoral Thesis › Collection of Articles

Abstrakti

Väitöskirjani tutkii sosiaalisten yritysten työtä epävarmoissa konteksteissa. Tutkimus tarjoaa oivalluksia siitä, miten disruptiiviset tapahtumat vaikuttavat organisaation missioon ja tarkoitukseen, sekä organisaation jäsenten kokemukseen merkityksellisyydestä. Nämä oivallukset voivat auttaa yrityksiä positiivisen sosiaalisen muutoksen luomisessa myös hyvin epävarmoissa olosuhteissa. Analysoin näitä aiheita kolmen empiirisen tutkimuksen avulla. Ensimmäinen essee selvittää, miten tiimi selviytyy dynaamisesta epävarmuudesta suunnitellessaan tulevaa tapahtumaa keskellä pitkittynyttä kriisiä. Esseen tulokset edistävät kirjallisuutta "merkityksellistämisestä" ja epävarmuudesta. Ne osoittavat, miten tiimit voivat eri strategioiden avulla edistää yhteisen ymmärryksen luomista muokkaamalla jaettuja taustaoletuksia sekä ymmärrystä ajallisista ulottuvuuksia. Toisessa esseessä tarkastelen paikallisten avustustyöntekijöiden työtä kriisitilanteessa. Tämä tutkimus edistää kirjallisuutta merkityksellisestä työstä osoittamalla, miten yhteiskunnalliset tapahtumat voivat horjuttaa merkityksellisyyden tunnetta ja miten organisaation jäsenet tarkoituksellisen ja tietoisen pyrkimyksen kautta voivat palauttaa sen. Kolmas essee tutkii organisaatiojäsenten vaikutusta organisaation tarkoituksen muodostumiseen ja kehittymiseen aloittavassa sosiaalisessa yrityksessä. Tämä essee avaa uusia näkökulmia kirjallisuuteen korostaen jäsenten roolia tässä prosessissa ja teoretisoimalla, kuinka organisaation tarkoitus auttaa kytkemään organisaation jäsenet heille tärkeisiin yhteiskunnallisiin kysymyksiin. Empiirisessä analyysissämme näytämme, miten jäsenet muokkaavat yrityksen tarkoitusta kohti jaettua ymmärrystä ja toimintamalleja, jotka tarjoavat konkreettisempia hyötyjä avunsaajille. Nämä kolme erilaista näkökulmaa sosiaalisiin yrityksiin epävarmoissa konteksteissa edistävät ymmärrystämme sosiaalisista organisaatioista avaamalla niiden kohtaamia haasteita sekä sosiaalisten yritysten ja niiden jäsenten välistä dynamiikkaa.

Julkaisun otsikon käännös	Navigating uncertainty and finding purpose in social mission-driven organizations
Alkuperäiskieli	Englanti
Pätevyys	Tohtorintutkinto
Myöntävä instituutio	Aalto-yliopisto
Valvoja/neuvonantaja	Schildt, Henri, Vastuuprofessori Kodeih, Farah, Ohjaaja
Kustantaja	Aalto University
Painoksen ISBN	978-952-64-1384-6
Sähköinen ISBN	978-952-64-1385-3
Tila	Julkaistu - 2023
OKM-julkaisutyyppi	G5 Artikkeliväitöskirja

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http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-64-1385-3

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@phdthesis{ff39303ad0e5446aa61a2d43f6f0ee43,

title = "Navigating uncertainty and finding purpose in social mission-driven organizations",

abstract = "This doctoral dissertation investigates the work of social mission-driven organizations operating in contexts of uncertainty. By understanding how disruptive events affect organizations and their members' sense of purpose and meaningfulness, research can provide valuable insights into how these organizations can continue to create social impact in turbulent times. My thesis thus examines how uncertainty impacts social mission, purpose, and organizational members' perceptions of meaningful work in these shifting contexts. I explore these questions through three empirical studies. The first essay explains how a social initiative copes with dynamic uncertainty while planning a future event in a highly uncertain context. The findings contribute to the literature on sensemaking and uncertainty by showing how teams, through different strategies, can facilitate collective sensemaking under dynamic uncertainty by shaping the premises and temporal scope of the sensemaking situation. In the second essay, I examine the work of host-country aid workers during a compound crisis. This research contributes to the literature on meaningful work by demonstrating how societal events can undermine a sense of meaningfulness and how organizational members can restore it through {"}meaningfulness work{"}. The third essay explores how members influence the formation and evolution of organizational purpose in a nascent social venture. This essay contributes to the literature by highlighting the organizational members' role in this process and theorizing organizational purpose as a nexus that connects organizational members to the social issues, they find important. Our empirical analysis shows how members create bottom-up pressures that shift the social purpose towards having a concrete impact on beneficiaries. The three different perspectives on social organizations in contexts of uncertainty contribute to our understanding of social mission-driven organizations by examining their specific challenges and dynamics of organizational membership.",

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AB - This doctoral dissertation investigates the work of social mission-driven organizations operating in contexts of uncertainty. By understanding how disruptive events affect organizations and their members' sense of purpose and meaningfulness, research can provide valuable insights into how these organizations can continue to create social impact in turbulent times. My thesis thus examines how uncertainty impacts social mission, purpose, and organizational members' perceptions of meaningful work in these shifting contexts. I explore these questions through three empirical studies. The first essay explains how a social initiative copes with dynamic uncertainty while planning a future event in a highly uncertain context. The findings contribute to the literature on sensemaking and uncertainty by showing how teams, through different strategies, can facilitate collective sensemaking under dynamic uncertainty by shaping the premises and temporal scope of the sensemaking situation. In the second essay, I examine the work of host-country aid workers during a compound crisis. This research contributes to the literature on meaningful work by demonstrating how societal events can undermine a sense of meaningfulness and how organizational members can restore it through "meaningfulness work". The third essay explores how members influence the formation and evolution of organizational purpose in a nascent social venture. This essay contributes to the literature by highlighting the organizational members' role in this process and theorizing organizational purpose as a nexus that connects organizational members to the social issues, they find important. Our empirical analysis shows how members create bottom-up pressures that shift the social purpose towards having a concrete impact on beneficiaries. The three different perspectives on social organizations in contexts of uncertainty contribute to our understanding of social mission-driven organizations by examining their specific challenges and dynamics of organizational membership.

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Navigating uncertainty and finding purpose in social mission-driven organizations

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