Louis, M. R. (1980). "Suprise and Sensemaking: What Newcomers Experience Entering Unfamiliar Organizational Settings." Administrative Science Quarterly, 25: 226-251.

Organizational entry has been traditionally studies from turnover and socialization aspects. Mobley has been one major contributor.

Turnover Research

Newcomer's expectations are a critical factor in voluntary recruit turnover. (e.g. Wanous, 1977 1980 Mobley, et al 1979). Mobley defined the 'met expectations hypothesis".

Unrealistic Expectations

Realistic Job Previews have been shown by Wanous to be useful in reducing turnover. But Wanous also found the effect of realism on turnover was weak at best.

Unmet Expectations

However, various groups have found that unmet expectations do result in higher turnover and is not correlated to initial level of expectations. In fact, the leavers didn't differ from the stayers in intial expectations. Kotter (1973) advises to manage the "joining-up process" via a psychological contract betwen supervisor and manager where expectations are clarified.

Both of these views assume a level of rationality, that newcomers have rationally developed a set of expectations prior to beginning work.

Socialization Perspective

Characteristics of Socialization

In the literature the process of socialization is described by disorientation, foreignness, and a kind of sensory overload. p. 230. Hughes uses "reality shock". The newcomers senses are inundated with unfamiliar clues. Time and space are problematic until the necomer can develop mental maps of them (van Maanen 1977).

Stages of Socialization

Merton (1957) talks about "anticipatory socialization" (in Social Theory and Social Structure). "Learning the ropes" occupy the newcomer for the first 6-10 months on the job. Eventually newcomers become insiders when they bet broad responsibilities and autonomy, entrusted with "priveleged" information, included in informal networks, encouraged to represent the organization, adn sought out for advice and counsel by others. p. 231.

Louis feels that most socialization work has focused on how people "change into" new roles and not how the "change from".

Content of Socialization

In order to function in a new role, the individual needs ability, motivation, and an understanding of what others expect (Brim, 1966). In real organizations there is little understanding that the newcomer must learn the culture of the new organization. (Van Maanen, 1977). "How we do things and what matters around here" are conveyed by the organization's culture. p. 232

Newcomers need situation-specific or culture-specific interpretations schemes to make sense of happenings in the setting and to respond with meaningful and appropriate actions. p. 233 But there is little direct research on how necomers come to "appreciate" the values, abliitties and missions f the organization.

Characteristics of Socialization Processes

The most comprehensive work is VM & S (1979). But the internal processes by which external processes lead to outcome have not been studied. p. 234.

Critique of Both Approaches

Turnover research has been criticized for overly simplistic empirical research. Socialization has been critized for descriptive theories relevant to only one organizational setting. They are different paradigms. Louis attempts to combine the two perspectives into one view. She feels that neither perspective has sufficiently studied the ways in which newcomers cope with early job experiences. How newcomers detet, diagnose, interpret and select responses of features of the new setting, including difference between their pre-entry expectations and experiences has yet to be described.

A Model of the Newcomer Experience

Entry Experiences

Change

Schein states that newcomers cross functional, hierarchical and inclusionary boundaries.

Contrast

Some aspects of the organziation seem more different than previous experience and are thus more salient. It is largely person-specific based o their past experiences.

Also, the newcomer doesn't immediately let go of their old role, but gradually lose parts of it. As they encounter activities similar to past roles memories are released and contrasts noted. There is probably a maximum number of contrasts that that individuals can attend to simultaneously. p. 237

Surprise

Surprise can be both positive and negative and is related to the discovery of contrasts and one's affective reaction to them. The subject may be the job, organization, or the self. Anticitpations might be conscoius, tacit, or emergent. Surpises happen from unmet conscious or unconscious expectations about the job or self are not met.

How the necomer expected the new job to "feel" may also generate some surprises. p. 238. "I knew I had to (blank), but I had not idea I would feel (blank) about it.". Surprises also come from cultural expectations.

SenseMaking

The role of conscious thought in coping

First, we need to understand how people cope with normal, everyday situations that are not surprising. According to Abelson, people operate in a loosely pre-programmed way via scripts. Weick talks about schema (1979) or habitualization (Berger & Luckman, 1966). They suggest that conscious thought is not always primary in out everyday activities. Taylor and Fisk (1978) suggest that many of our everyday decision are made "off the top of our heads" p. 239 Many have suggested that we operate unconsciously until "something out of the ordinary happens".

In this situation novel behavior is unscripted (Langer & Abelson). As long as the predicted outcomes occur, thinking is not necessary. But unexpected outcomes produce dissonance that is resolved via retrospective sense-making (Lee Ross 1977 intuitive psychologist). Attribution theory is active.

How Individuals Cope With Surprise

Louis proposes a cycle where people make conscious or unconscious assumptions of outcomes . Those events that are not as predicted invoke retrospective sense-making. Based on attributed meanings, people modify behavior and update understandings about actors, actions, and settings. They alter their cognitive scripts. The cycle focuses on how people understand one's experience.

Their past experiences help them cope with new ones. They are also guided by their own personal characteristics, such as propensity to attribute causality to self or others or environment or fate.

What newcomers need

Insiders generally know what to expect in a situation -- little is surprising. The insider usually has sufficient history to interpret them more accurately and make sense based on relevant knowledge of the immediate situation. p. 242

Two types of input to sensemaking may be problematic for newcomers. Local interpretative schemes of others may not be fully appreciated. Eventully they learn to interpret the actions of superiors and others and what meanings to attach to thier actions. According to Berger & Luckman, newcomers internalize context-specific dictionaries or meaning used by members of the setting. Newcomers are in fact unaware of the need to build these dictionaries and the fact that they are unfamiliar with them.

Therefore, newcomers attach meanings to events based on their old experiences, which leads to surprises. Innappropriate or dysfunctional interpretations are produced. Newcomers might attribute permanence or stability to temporary situations. They may attribute themselves as causes of events when it was external factors.

Newcomers also have to make sense of other's intepretations. It's beneficial for newcomers to have insiders with whom they can test their perceptions and interpretations. Insiders can help newcomers intepret and deal with surprises.

Implications for Research and Practice

It is believe then that socialization practices that aid in sense-making will help make the socialization effective. Specific information is made in response to newcomers needs and not in advance. Situations where the insiders and not the newcomers are their primary information sources should facilitate socialization.

We also need to understand how cultural knowledge is acquired. p. 246

From the new perspective, one should assume that some of the newcomers expectations will be unmet and they will be surprised at some things.

It would also for newcomers to be aware of the entry experiences, and why it is they will have surprises when they enter an organization.