Focusing on and Backgrounding Events Simultaneously: The Past–Present–Future Relationship of the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

This article examines how events from the past, present, and future form into event structures over time. This question is addressed by investigating the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 until the fifth anniversary in 2016. This allowed to analyze different events over time. The findings reveal that events can be used in two different ways. One process was meant to focus on events, whereas the other one backgrounded events. These different ways to use events revealed four different mechanisms of how event structures can be formed. Moreover, each mechanism has its own idiosyncratic temporal orientation toward either a nostalgic past, imagined future, “better” future or critical past. Second, the article contributes that the paradoxical ways of focusing on an event and backgrounding the very same event need to be embraced simultaneously to enable a greater sense of wholeness. Last, the article reveals multiple temporalities within and across temporal trajectories.

All for One, One for All! From Events to Organizational Dynamics in Fluid Organization

“…In short, I adhere to the idea that a frame of reference is necessary for the emergence of fluid organizational phenomena, but I propose, following the work in organization studies that has given primacy to temporality in the analysis of organizational phenomena (Hernes, 2014a;Reinecke & Ansari, 2017), to focus on how the collective definition of a temporality contributes to the emergence and evolution of the three organizational dynamics presented in this section. To this end, I use the events-based approach, which aims to study the formation of structures of past, present, and future events participating in the formation of organizational phenomena (Danner-Schröder, 2018;Hernes, 2014aHernes, , 2014bHernes, , 2017Hussenot, 2019;Hussenot et al, 2021;Hussenot & Missonier, 2016).…”

“…These results show how the staff and founders of ICI Montreuil participated in the formation of organizational dynamics by defining and narrating past, present, and future events from which, on the one hand, they justified and legitimized the creation of ICI Montreuil and, on the other hand, brought the collective of makers to life. This tells us how the actors manage to define a form of management in fluid organizational phenomena that is not coercive, but which consists more in creating (1) a common origin despite the singular paths of each; (2) a form of authenticity, despite the diversity of the productions (Foster et al, 2011;Hatch & Schultz, 2017); (3) a shared identity that allows actors collectively to define who they are and to individuate themselves (Hernes & Schultz, 2017); and (4) a desirable future and common goals (Danner-Schröder, 2018;Gephart et al, 2010;Kaplan & Orlikowski, 2013), despite the diversity of each person's ambitions. This events-driven management thus creates a sense of the collective and can orient the activities of independent workers with a more global strategy, despite the fluidity of the phenomenon.…”

“…Based on this positioning in the literature on temporality (Hernes et al, 2013;Reinecke & Ansari, 2017), the theoretical framework used in this article is the events-based approach, which was developed to understand how actors collectively define a temporality, that is, a narrative of past, present, and future events that participate in the definition of the organizational phenomenon (Danner-Schröder, 2018;Hernes, 2014aHernes, , 2014bHernes, , 2017Hussenot, 2019;Hussenot et al, 2021;Hussenot & Missonier, 2016). In this research, therefore, I rely on the events-based approach and, in particular, on the idea that organizational phenomena take shape in structures of past, present, and future events that are enacted by the actors (Hernes, 2014a;Hussenot & Missonier, 2016).…”

Toward temporally complex collaboration in an interorganizational research network

“…These asynchronies prevent a “sense of concert of time” (Yakura, 2002: 958) and can hinder collaboration. Adding to temporal asynchronies is that some network activities oscillate according to the strategic interests of home organizations (Danner-Schröder, 2020; Deken et al, 2018).…”

Transformative rare events: Leveraging digital affordance actualisation

“…For example, in 2017, British Airways was grounded for several days following a power surge that destroyed most servers in its data centre. Resembling the paralysis following the COVID-19 lockdown, natural disasters such as volcano eruptions, earthquakes, flooding, and wildfires had dramatic local impacts in affected areas (Danner-Schröder, 2020;Hedman & Henningsson, 2016). While these natural disasters do not bear the global consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the premise of this article is that knowledge about how organisations address rare events provides guidance on how IS managers form a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and propose actions on how IS organisations can leverage the response to re-establish the business post-event.…”