Making “Space for Place” in Diversity Management: Identifying and Explaining Context-Specific Sources of Tension Using Embedded Sensemaking Analysis

Abstract

By attending to the broader historical and societal contexts that shape organizational members’ interpretations of diversity management, embedded sensemaking analysis surfaces context-specific tensions that may otherwise remain hidden. The study proposes a methodological strategy that combines cue interpretation, stance analysis, extra-discursive referencing, and contextual issue-framing to trace how these tensions emerge. The approach is illustrated through a comparative case study of White men in South Africa and the United States, a group whose sensemaking is consequential for the implementation of diversity management. Analysis of 32 middle managers shows how context-specific tensions are patterned differently across the two settings. In South Africa, these tensions are explained by perceptions of compromised quality, the need to be indispensable, and the value of scarce skills. In the United States, they are shaped more by moral awakening and insider–outsider dynamics. Rather than treating these tensions as direct outcomes, the study interprets them as observable patterns through which deeper explanatory mechanisms can be inferred. On this basis, the article argues that embedded sensemaking analysis can help diversity management practitioners diagnose context-specific tensions and develop context-informed responses that are more closely attuned to local conditions.