Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/17101
Title: Uncertainty, strategic sensemaking and organisational failure in the art market: What went wrong with LVMH's investment in Phillips auctioneers?
Authors: Samdanis, M
Lee, SH
Keywords: Strategic sensemaking;Organisational failure;Art market;Auction houses;Uncertainty
Issue Date: 2018
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: Journal of Business Research
Abstract: Strategic decision-making in the volatile and uncertain art market is not only instigated by rational interpretation of the external environment, but also by expert-based intuition. This paper investigates organisational failure at Phillips auctioneers between 1999 and 2002, a period in which it was owned by the multinational luxury goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH). To analyse this case, we develop a conceptual framework for strategic sensemaking in art organisations that includes the processes of scanning, interpreting, strategising, acting and adjusting, which take place in non-linear and recursive patterns in supporting continuous loops of improvement. Our analysis identifies the merits of intuitive decision-making when realising a novel artistic and entrepreneurial vision which established Phillips as a boutique auction house. However, it also highlights the limitations of emotional and opportunistic decision-making which could lead to blinded management if any of the processes of strategic sensemaking is ignored.
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/17101
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.08.030
ISSN: 0148-2963
Appears in Collections:Brunel Business School Research Papers

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Fulltext.pdfAccess is allowed from 21-10-20191.1 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.