Meaning cannot be mandated. But it can be made possible. That is the starting question of the VIMC’s research work. Under what conditions does a sense of meaning arise in organisations, and what does that imply for leadership, strategy and culture?

The answer does not lie in motivation theory or wellbeing programmes. It lies in a more precise understanding of what meaning actually means in practice.

Meaning as a Structural Category

In the tradition of Viennese existential analysis, meaning is not a subjective feeling — it is a perceptual capacity. The ability to recognise what is essential in a given situation and to respond to it. That is not a therapeutic category. It is a competence.

For organisations, this means that meaning culture is not the sum of individual satisfaction scores. It is the quality of orientation that an organisation makes possible for its members.

Meaning. Orientation. Capacity for Action.

The VIMC operationalises this relationship in a three-stage model. Meaning is the starting point. It asks what matters and why. Orientation is the mediating structure. It determines which values and principles guide decisions. Capacity for action is the effect that counts for organisations. People who know what they are working for decide faster, take on more responsibility, and remain responsive even under pressure.

What We Develop

The VIMC’s research focuses on transferring the core concepts of existential analysis into organisational contexts. This concerns leadership theory, organisational culture, crisis resilience and the question of how values can be embedded in structures without becoming rhetoric.

This work forms the theoretical foundation for everything we do in consulting and education.