The Role of Emotions in Middle Managers’ Sensemaking and Sensegiving Practices During Post-merger Integration
通过深度案例研究，揭示了中层管理者在并购后整合中，情绪如何影响其意义建构与意义给予实践，并提出了“寻求意义”和“理性化”等过程模型，对组织管理研究有重要启示。
In this in-depth, qualitative case study, we elucidate how the emotions of middle managers impact their sensemaking and sensegiving practices during post-merger integration (PMI). The recursive and reciprocal interactions between emotions, sensemaking, and sensegiving we observed led to the development of a process model illustrating how middle managers make sense of the PMI phase through the processes of “senseseeking” and “rationalizing.” The model further demonstrates two important sensegiving practices, “emotional reversal” and “emotional hiding,” which turned out to be essential drivers for enacting (positive) emotions among organization members. Our findings have important implications for research on sensemaking and sensegiving, the crucial role of middle managers in organizations, and studies on PMI.