This study seeks to approach the salience of ambiguity in organizations and its factors from a phenomenological perspective. The concept of ambiguity has been dealt with for a long time, but our knowledge on this is fragmented. Identifying the ontolog...
This study seeks to approach the salience of ambiguity in organizations and its factors from a phenomenological perspective. The concept of ambiguity has been dealt with for a long time, but our knowledge on this is fragmented. Identifying the ontology of ambiguity can provide significant theoretical implications in the area of management. This study investigates what ambiguity appears in private banking businesses and what factors cause the ambiguity to appear. Based on a qualitative analysis in a phenomenological perspective, we found that in the context of Korean PB businesses, four major factors to cause organizational ambiguity were identified: bureaucratic structure, ambivalence of PB-related identity, under-developed performance management systems suitable for PB, and human resource development separate from career development. In addition, social ambiguity arising from social demands and technical ambiguity arising from changes in the technological environment were additionally captured. By specifying the organizational ambiguity and its factors to appear, this study provides theoretical implications on how organizations, ex ante, prevent themselves from making organizational ambiguity salient and, ex post, establish valid management strategies for any contingencies the organization can encounter regarding organizational ambiguity.