O papel da história de vida do fundador em uma empresa atacadista: uma análise a partir do conceito sensemaking

Abstract

This article has as its theme the way the construction of meaning occurs in a company, from the concept of sensemaking. The research problem: how is the life story of the founder of an organization used in the construction of sensemaking? The objective of the study is to analyze the characteristics of sensemaking in the use of the history of the life of the founder of a company in the wholesale sector. The theoretical foundation was based on the concept of sensemaking disseminated by Karl Weick (1995). In the research procedures, the qualitative approach and the method of the case study were used, realized in a company of the wholesale sector, with headquarters in the city of Uberlândia (MG). The data collection technique consisted of documentary research, using four sources: a book on the history of the company's founder, the website and a social network of the organization, and videos available on the Youtube platform. This material was analyzed using the content analysis method. The results show the characteristics of the sensemaking process in the studied context: the construction of identity, retrospective nature, the relationship with the environment, the social aspect, the dynamism, and the identification of clues present in the process and its plausibility. The analysis of the results showed that the history of the founder plays an important role in the company’s sensemaking process since such history legitimizes the construction of meaning in the corporate context and brings an authenticity that contributes to the formation of the organization’s identity. These results show the relevance of research on the concept of sensemaking and the life stories of the founders in organizations from different countries, to broaden the understanding of these stories in organizational dynamics, in corporate culture, in processes of identification of employees and customers with the organization, even the implications for the style of decision making adopted in organizations.