Browsing by Subject "uncertainty management"

Managing uncertainty in change: a case study on communication and uncertainty in the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District Besides the changes that have occurred in the Finnish security authorities’ operational environment, cuts in the financial resources of the Finnish Border Guard have intensified internal pressures for change in the line-and-staff organisation and the need to create new modes of operation. In this Master’s Thesis, the relationship between the uncertainty associated with change and the internal communication of the organisation was examined from the viewpoint of the complexity theory. The purpose of this case study was to extend our understanding of the phenomenon of uncertainty and to try and find better ways of managing uncertainty arising from change in the communication processes of the Finnish Border Guard. From the perspective of the philosophy of science, this study is based on hermeneutical thinking, in which knowledge is constructed through interpretation, layer by layer, from preliminary understanding to conclusions. The empirical data consist of eleven themed interviews of employees of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District, which were analysed by means of theory-led content analysis. The interview data were supplemented with documentary material, including a plan for economic and financial adjustment drawn up within the Finnish Border Guard. The perceptions of the interviewees were structured as narratives formed at different administrative levels of the organisation and were examined through the lenses of uncertainty, complexity, and change. The attained understanding of the uncertainty arising from change was deepened by means of a complexity-theoretical framework and the concept of sensemaking. It was found that the problem of managing a complex communication network and dynamic organisational processes boils down to information and interaction amongst the various actors. The experience of uncertainty is situative and subjective. Regardless of whether uncertainty in the organisation was examined from the point of view of external or internal change, uncertainty was seen as a factor impairing the organisation’s performance. The conclusion was drawn in the study that the uncertainty arising from change can be managed more effectively if the narrative of change is created from the points of view of both the organisation and the individual employee. Other helpful measures are ensuring the continuity of the communicative narrative and promoting multifaceted dialogue and interaction amongst the administrative levels. The results indicate that the organisation’s problem-solving ability is largely based on the management of uncertainty, i.e., that the organisation lends a sensitive ear to the dynamism of social systems and harnesses the information transmitted through the feedback processes into a part of the narrative of change-management communication. When communication is understood as an ever-changing and evolving narrative process, the management of uncertainty becomes closely linked with the management of complexity and the strengthening of the organisation’s resilience. This study supplements the scholarly discourse on the management of uncertainty and functions as an empirical window into the application of complexity-theoretical concepts to organisation research.