From the chaos of transition economy to “normalized” managerial practices : the role of group interaction in creating meaning in managerial work

The purpose in this paper is to explore the interplay between managerial sensemaking, representations and identity in the context of a transition economy. Using the approach of theory of social representations (Moscovici, 1961), a thirteen year long observation of a group of twelve owners/managers was adopted. The research concluded that managerial practices emerged in social interaction. These practices existed in relations of co-production and were embedded in the social construct. During the transition period, the content of managerial actions, narratives and identity changed in the same way under the influence of shared culture, ideologies and day-to-day social practices. This is one of the rare longitudinal studies of transition economies where the process of emergence of a small social group was observed and the pattern of evolution identified.