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The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment
Mini Dissertation (MPhil (Corporate Strategy))--University of Pretoria, 2025.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613508928012288 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Kleyn, Nicola |
| author_browse | Kleyn, Nicola |
| author_facet | Kleyn, Nicola |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2025 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Mini Dissertation (MPhil (Corporate Strategy))--University of Pretoria, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/109192 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:16.203Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/109192 The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment Kleyn, Nicola ichelp@gibs.co.za Munyonga, Patrick UCTD Team diversity Top management Groupthink Sensing Sensemaking Mini Dissertation (MPhil (Corporate Strategy))--University of Pretoria, 2025. Top management teams are responsible to ensure that their organisations are conversant with the prevailing circumstances in their operating environment. Through their understanding of the operating environment leads to sensemaking which is required to device strategies to sustain their business. For this reason, the study of the role of top management teams in sensing and sensemaking is important. A critical review of existing scholarship as conducted in this study acknowledges that top management team diversity is beneficial to companies but may also pose certain challenges. Stemming from this realisation, the study explored how TMT diversity influences the sensing and sensemaking of the external environment among medium to large organisations from various sectors that operate in South Africa. It achieved this goal through the use of a qualitative study that used a semi-structured interview guide to collect data from twelve purposively selected research participants. Through the use of inductive thematic analysis, the study discovered that diversity among Top Management Teams contributes to deeper problem-solving capabilities, enhanced team innovation, customer base alignment and augments broader perspectives in collective sensing and sensemaking. Concurrently, the findings also highlight that team diversity, conversely, contributes to delayed decision-making, is characterised by a need for effective leadership to manage conflicting views during the sensing and sensemaking processes. Thus, the findings confirmed results from prior studies, which also highlighted the balanced perspective on its contribution in this regard. While the study has achieved its goal, the report has also highlighted its limitations based on the methodology that was chosen. Consequently, it recommends that future studies should consider employing quantitative methods and a bigger sample to enhance reliability and results generalisation. Despite these limitations, the report posits that these findings may be beneficial to both business and academic knowledge. They may serve as an input to the content of management training programmes and may also influence organisational policy and strategy. Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MPhil (Corporate Strategy) Unrestricted Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure 2026-03-23T09:38:25Z 2026-03-23T09:38:25Z 2026-05-05 2025 Mini Dissertation * A2025 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109192 en © 2025 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Team diversity Top management Groupthink Sensing Sensemaking The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| title | The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| title_full | The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| title_fullStr | The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| title_short | The influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| title_sort | influence of the top management team diversity on sensing and sensemaking of the external environment |
| topic | UCTD Team diversity Top management Groupthink Sensing Sensemaking |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109192 |