Adam Smith Business School

Professor David Seidl, University of Zurich. 

Entanglement of Process and Content in Strategic Sensemaking

Monday, 30 March 2026. 12:00-13:30, Room 383, The Adam Smith Business School Building.

Abstract

Research summary: The purpose of this article is to explore sensemaking of strategy process and how it shapes sensemaking of strategy content. Drawing on a longitudinal case study, we reveal that strategic sensemaking is a dual process wherein sensemaking of strategy process invisibly governs sensemaking of strategy content. We develop a theoretical model that illustrates three different patterns of sensemaking of strategy process, each with its own distinct dynamics and different linkages to sensemaking of strategy content. Conceptualizing strategic sensemaking as a dual process uncovers subtle dynamics beyond winning framing contests whereby actors influence the development of strategy content. This conceptualization also reveals new types of strategy-making breakdowns which can be resolved by actors shifting between sensemaking processes.

Managerial summary: During strategic planning or strategic change initiatives, managers are continuously confronted with processual interruptions which impair the development of strategy content. Addressing these interruptions requires reconciling different understandings of the strategy process, which in turn structure how actors contribute to the development strategy content. Our study shows that interpreting processual issues necessitates process knowledge and influence, which is distinct from managers’ content knowledge and influence. When strategy making breaks down due to processual issues, managers need to shift to using their process knowledge and influence, which provides them with subtle and, until now undiscovered, opportunities to exert power over strategy making. Even managers who lack power over the development of strategy content can use their process expertise to exert power over the formation of strategy process which indirectly shapes the emergence of strategy content.

 

Keywords: Sensemaking, strategy content, strategy process, strategy as practice, power

 

Bio

David Seidl is a full professor of organization and management at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. His research focusses on practice-theoretical and systems-theoretical approaches to organization and strategy. His research has been published widely in leading international journals including Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science and Strategic Management Review. He has served as Associate Editor for the journals Organization Studies and Organization Theory, and co-edited several special issues and books; including most recently the Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice (CUP, 2025) and the Elgar Encyclopedia of Strategy as Practice (EE, 2026).

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First published: 16 February 2026