SeungYoon Rhee

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Making Sense of Organizational Actions in
Response to TragedyVirtue Frames and
Organizational Attachment

• Seung-Yoon Rhee
• Jane E. Dutton
• University of Michigan
• Richard P. Bagozzi
• Rice University

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Topics of Interest

• Sensemaking
• Members interpret organizational ACTIONS to
  understand the organization.
• Virtue frames as sensemaking lenses
• Members use virtue frames to infer the meaning of
  organizational actions.
• Meaning-making and organizational attachment
• Meaning that members apply to organizational
  actions has implications for their level of
  organizational attachment.

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Research Question

• How do members sensemaking of virtuousness of
  organizational actions affect their
  organizational attachment?
• Our approach
• Study 3 How do members interpretations of
  organizational actions affect their
  organizational attachment?
• Study 2 How do members assess the meaning of
  organizational actions?
• Study 1 How do organizations respond differently
  to the same event?

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Research Context

• The events of September 11th, 2001
• Study 3 Midwestern University students
  sensemaking of the universitys actions
  and their attachment to the university
• Study 2 Midwestern University students
  sensemaking of the
  universitys actions
• Study 1 34 universities actions in response to
  the events of
  September 11th

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Study 1 How do organizations respond
differently to the same event?

• Goal Capture the range and diversity of actions
  taken by 34 top universities in response to the
  events of September 11th
• 2 take-aways
• Breadth of the responses varied across
  universities.
• Intensity of the responses changed over time.

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Study 2 How do members assess the
meaning of organizational actions?

• Goal Find out whether there were meaningful
  differences in the type and degree of
  virtuousness of organizational actions.
• 2 take-aways
• Members judgments of humaneness, justness, and
  courageousness differed across organizational
  actions.
• Members assessed humaneness, justness, and
  courageousness of the same organizational action
  differently.

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Study 3 How do members interpretations of
organizational actions affect their
organizational attachment?
Members Responses (Head Heart)
Members Organizational Attachment
Virtuous Organizational Action
Humane Organizational Action

Positive Emotions




Just Organizational Action
Virtuous Self-construals

Cognitive Identification
Affective Commitment





Courageous Organizational Action
Virtuous Image of Organization


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Study 3 Results
Members Responses (Head Heart)
Members Organizational Attachment
Virtuous Organizational Action
Humane Organizational Action
Positive Emotions
Just Organizational Action
Virtuous Self-construals
Cognitive Identification
Affective Commitment
Courageous Organizational Action
Virtuous Image of Organization
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Contributions

• Sensemaking
• Members interpret different organizational
  actions differently.
• Virtue frames as sensemaking lenses
• Members use virtue frames to interpret
  organizational actions.
• Virtue frames evoke positive emotions.
• Meaning-making and organizational attachment
• Positive emotions associated with virtue frames
  contribute to organizational attachment.